Question
I recently purchased several Venus Flytraps. They came in individual plastic containers. I wish to grow these outside. I've read on the containers that they need the containers to keep the humidity level up and yet i've also read that they can grow outside in the California weather. I live in Santa Barbara. How should I keep them outside and grow future traps?  

Answer
Hi Dennis,

They certainly don't need to be in those containers, and in fact, they will harm the plants over time.  Here's the catch, however.  You need to harden the plants off before moving them to a new home outside.  This means keeping them in a bright, but sunless window for a bit, and opening their containers a little at a time over the course of a couple of weeks.  This would mean opening the lids a little at first, then a couple days later a little more, etc... until they can handle normal room humidity.  Be sure to keep them watered with either rainwater or distilled water.  After they can handle normal room humidity, move them to a full sun window without the enclosures.  Just keep them sitting in a shallow dish or tray of water, but no more than 1 inch of water.  

Depending upon your weather, February would be good time to transplant them, and move them outside to stay. They should be potted in 5-6" pots in mixture of 50/50 peat moss to perlite.  Never use any kind of potting soil or garden soil.  It's also best to buy the peat moss in the bales rather than small sack. (Too many soil manufacturers put fertilizer in the small bags; toxic to flytraps.)  After transplanting place them in a sunny spot outside sitting in a shallow water tray.  Don't worry if you see some leafburn since this is normal when first going outside.  The new foliage will be strong and healthy, ready to catch bugs.  For more information on growing Venus flytraps visit:  http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=page


Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com