A Venus fly trap is an amazing plant.
This carnivorous plant is visually stimulating and a great way of controlling pests.
But pests really won’t be enough to sustain them.
So, they’ll also need a good amount of water to live just like other plants.
The amount of water your plant requires depends on so many things like stage of growth, type, and weather. You’ll need to regulate the frequency of watering based on that you know.
Just do remember, a Venus fly trap is a bog plant (semiaquatic plant and won’t have an issue growing in soft wet land). So it’s fine to keep the soil moist but not saturated.
Watering too much, and you’ll cause root rot, which will eat the roots away and eventually kill the plant.
Watering infrequently or too little and it will be too weak and will sag, droop, or dry out the leaves.
How Often to Water a Venus Flytrap?
Knowing how often to water a Venus flytrap (Dionaea) is super significant in keeping a healthy and lively plant.
To water, Venus flytraps are to use distilled or rainfall as they are not tolerant to water that has dissolved minerals, salts or chlorine.
Venus flytraps need to be watered enough that their soil is never completely dry, and is always damp when touched. Depending on location and climate, watering can vary from only 10-14 days to every 2-3 days.
When Dionaea is dormant, keep the soil moist but not soggy. When you touch the soil, only a couple dots of peat moss should stick to your finger, and it shouldn’t feel wet.
You should feel it damp to touch like a garnished sponge, if grown in long-fiber sphagnum, but it shouldn’t be so wet that it seeps water when I pushes or squeezes.
During the growing season, water Venus flytraps when the soil is just barely damp. Depending on colony pot size and how hot and dry, to get the soil well saturated may mean watering everyday, and then allowing it to dry to be just damp before watering again.
Smaller Venus flytraps can dry out in a day if the caveat is sweltering and dry during the summertime. However, during most of the ear, even the tiniest are routinely watered every 2 to 3 days.
Quick Tip: The soil in a Venus flytrap should always be kept damp. However, just keeping the soil wet will not provide assurance that your Venus flytrap is healthy. With a little time and proper care, you will soon have a prosperous and thriving plant.
How to Water a Venus Flytrap?
The type of pot and the soil mix (medium) the Venus flytrap is growing in will either grow or kill this plant even when watering is great.
Watering During Dormancy
its best to let the growing medium dry almost all the way before watering again. This may mean just watering only once or twice a month.
It’s best to let the growing media completely dry before watering again.
At dormancy, or cool/cold weather, is very important for you to keep your Venus flytraps damp.
Tray Watering
If the plant is getting a ton of direct sunlight, or if you are gone for a few days relaxing on vacation and can’t check on your flytrap, the tray method may be your best option.
Caution: Also, it’s worth noting that this method is best suited when your flytrap is actively growing and not in dormancy.
Drainage Holes
Ensure your Venus flytrap pot or planter have adequate drainage holes and place your pot in a tray no less than 1 inch deep of water.
The soil should be really good at retaining moisture and the plant will suck the water right up from the tray through the drainage holes.
If you have the ability to observe your Venus flytrap and it’s not in as much direct sun, another method would be more optimal in providing water to your plant.
Normal Watering
If you are able to monitor your Venus flytrap, this watering method will be best!
It involves watering with whatever you want and checking to see how wet the media is.
As long as it is kept moist, never totally dry, super wet, or soggy.
Factors That Affect How Much to Water a Venus Flytrap
| Factors That Affect Watering Frequency |
|---|
| Size of the plant |
| Season and dormancy |
| Humidity |
| Indoor-outdoor setting |
Venus Flytrap Watering Frequency Factors
Size of the Plant
Most Venus flytraps are pretty small inside, averaging roughly 5 inches in diameter.
But, whether large or a little small, they all are similar in one way; they don’t like to be overwatered or underwatered. And obviously the bigger the plant, the more water it will need.
So, instead of looking at the size of the plant, checking for the right moisture level in the soil will help regulate watering amounts.
You will just feel the soil and make sure it is kept damp most of the time and not wet or soggy.
Season and Dormancy
In the spring, summer, and fall, the watering regimen for Venus flytraps is regular (daily if necessary) to keep its potting mixture always moist.
However, during the winter they stop growing, and most of their leaves turn black and die. All of the mechanisms that cause any remaining traps to close are non-functioning.
At this point, you recognize winter is the natural hibernation the plant prepares for every year. During this phase you should only water the plant two to three times per month, letting the soil dry out nearly complete.
This period of water deprivation will allow the plant rest from regular growing conditions as it experiences naturally in the wild.
Humidity
The Venus Fly Trap doesn’t require high humidity (yes a humidity over 50%); therefore, it survives in low humidity dry climates, and very humid conditions.
However, you will have to watch for them to evaporate water and refill water as you feel necessary.
Indoor-outdoor Setting
Venus flytraps can either adapt to being indoor or outdoor plants.
If your plant is outside in a hot or dry area, just give it four to six hours of morning sun and wrap the container in foil, or plant them in white pots to limit heat absorption.
This will allow light to reflect because you won’t have any evaporation for an indoor environment, and if you have to water it, water them when they’re just about dry.
| How Much To Water |
|---|
| The bigger the plant, the more water it will require. |
| In summer and fall water regularly. In winter water two to three times per month. |
| Water as often ensuring humidity level is over 50% |
| For outdoor settings allow it to get only four to six hours of morning sunshine and minimize heat absorption. For indoor settings water when the soil is almost dry. |
Venus Flytrap Watering Frequency
Why Is It Important to Water Venus Flytrap?
Plants are living things that need water in order to be successfully grown and reproduce, here are a few reasons water is critical to Venus flytrap plants!
- Photosynthesis: Like all plants, carnivorous plants get their energy from photosynthesis; this is how plants make their food. They use carbohydrates with water, which is essential when it comes to bringing energy to all parts of the plant. If there is not enough water, the plant won’t be able to make enough food to remain healthy.
- Transpiration: This is the process in which plants lose water to the atmosphere. Water is often lost through microscopic pores on the leaves called stomata. As the vapor water is lost, it evaporates into the atmosphere, cooling the immediate area around the plant. This process keeps the temperature of the plant healthy. If the temperature becomes too high, plant cells can start dying.
- Nutrient Distribution: Each part of the plant requires specific nutrients in different properties. The Venus flytrap engages in eating insects and arachnids to capture nutrients that are absent from the environments. Water helps transport nutrients.
Final Thought
Along with light and oxygen, a Venus flytrap requires proper watering to grow.
To water a Venus flytrap, you should always use pure water. It is neither a water plant or desert plant; thus, it should not be seated in swampy/soggy or dry conditions.
Take the watering levels into consideration as well. It’s good to avoid over watering or under watering your Venus flytrap, as both of these conditions can harm or kill the plant.
It can be difficult to maintain the right level of water while caring for a Venus flytrap, but the good watering practices mentioned above,could help your plant to continue to grow healthy.
Besides how often you water a Venus flytrap, plant size , type of season and humidity would also affect the watering process, which leads to the survival of this plant.