Question
Hi, Jacob,

What do I feed these guys?  How often?  Less or none when they're dormant in winter?  (Your website doesn't have a clear avenue to feeding instructions. . .at least, I didn't find it.)

My best,
Dorothy

Answer
Hi Dorothy,

Contrary to popular belief about carnivorous plants, feeding them is the least important part of their care.  On a scale of 1 to 10 of importance, feeding is only a 2.  Keep in mind that carnivorous plants are plants, plain and simple.  They're not animals, so they don't get their energy from food or bugs.  They're plants, so they get their energy from sunlight.  Bugs are simply a form of fertilizer.  So rather than getting their trace nutrients through their roots like regular plants, carnivorous plants get their trace nutrients through their leaves.  Because carnivorous plants are adept at capturing their own insects, they don't need to be fed.  Carnivorous plants are also well adapted to survive on minuscule amounts of nutrients.  

As with all plants, the most important parts of their care are sunlight, water and soil.  If any of these three are supplied in improper levels or quantities, plants will fail to thrive, carnivorous or not.  So if lighting is improper with your carnivorous plant, no amount of bugs will fix this, just as no amount of fertilizer will help a tomato plant growing in full shade.

The plants you have are outdoor plants.  They require full sun, just like tomatoes and roses.  Avoid growing them indoors, which will weaken your plants.  We grow our Sarracenia species strictly outdoors throughout the year.  They all get sunlight from sunup to sundown.

Once you have your plant outdoors in full sun (six or more hours of direct sunlight), if you want to feed your plants, you can.  However, avoid feeding them meat, such as chicken or beef.  This is the wrong type of protein for carnivorous plants.  Feed only insects, which is the type of protein they are adapted to assimilate.  Just keep in mind that feeding is not at all necessary and is not a replacement for sunlight, water and soil.  Feeding is something we don't even do at our nursery.

For more information about growing these plants, read the brochure that I included with your plants.  Also read the care sheet that I have on the website:
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheet

The care sheet online contains more details about sunlight, water, soil, and winter care.  

Good growing!
Jacob Farin