I finally got a Venus Flytrap! So excited!

First of all, I do realize I should water them. On the tiny instruction following, it says it always have to be wet and the people at the flower store clearly haven't given them too much attention.. But I also realize they have a lot of flowers and it's a lot to keep up with..

I don't know a lot about these, I did some research two years ago, when I decided I wanted some.. But they had none in my town and I got busy, but today I randomly saw them at the store and just had to get one..

I have a couple of succulents that was in a way too small pot and had gotten "wounds".. I can't see any of the flytrap, but they are hanging a lot over the edge and my anxiety keeps kicking in..

Do they naturally lay down like this? If so, should I repot them and give them more space?
They seem to overlap and some of the smaller traps have been forced shut under the weight of the others..



There's also some old, deas traps under, plus some traps that seems to be dying, should I remove them?






How do I water it? Soak it or spray? The manual said not to get the traps wet?

I live in the artic and the first frost came today, so I can"t have it outside.. Maybe I could eventually take it out in the summer on warm days.. But I can keep it in my room, as long as it's by the heater?

FYI, These are not houseplants. They need to be outside in full all day Sun. Acclimate them to it SLOWLY. Use rainwater, distilled water or R.O. water ONLY. They will need 3-4 months of winter dormancy between 35 and 40 degrees F.

During dormancy keep them moist only. During the growing season sit them in about an inch of water.

I live in the Oklahoma panhandle and our extremes can be 114 F in the summer and - 20 F in the winter. I set VFT outside years ago in our hot sun and they were dead within 3 days. So now here is what I do with my Venus flytraps and they are healthy and big enough to eat medium sized crickets and large cockroaches. I bought some powerful LED full spectrum plant lights from Amazon so I can grow them indoors. I put them in an 8 inch pot not a terrarium as that fosters mold. I filled a spray bottle with distilled water and mist them several times a day. In the winter I use a mini fridge that is empty save for the plants set on number 1 setting which is 50 degrees then after 14 days reduce the setting to about 40 degrees. Oh I might add I put a thermometer in the fridge to get the exact temp. I put the whole pot in for 12 hours over night then take it out and put it back under the light 12 hours. It has worked great as I bought the plants last November and they are thriving and each year the traps get bigger. I guess to keep them outdoors you need to live further south than Northern Oklahoma. It doesn't harm them to over lap or hang out of a pot mine look like big ol bushes with so many traps. Get a flower pot tray to put under it and keep it filled with an inch of distilled water. You can buy peat moss and put them in a large pot they get 8 inch roots so need a deep pot to flourish. I hope this is more helpful for you to grow them indoors.

If you want to try raising them like this go ahead and ask me any other questions you have about what lights work best etc. Also do cut dead or dying leaves off to prevent mold and use a sulphur based fungicide mixed in with distilled water to generously spray them with if you use the fridge dormancy method. Never use copper based fungicide it will kill them!!!

For VFTs, I drain off excess water from the pots, hit them with a sulphur based fungicide and place in zip lock bags and pop them in the fridge for 3-4 months. I occasionally check them (once a month) for fungus and hit with the fungicide if needed. Late winter around February/March I take them out hit them with sulphur based fungicide again and place in a south and west window until night time temps. regularly stay above freezing then slowly acclimate them to full outdoor Sun. I've been using this method for almost 10 years with no losses.

That was the way I used to do it but I bought the mini fridge and started out with it at 50 degrees inside then gradually reduced it to 40 after several weeks. It is easier this way as I just leave them in the pot and place them in the empty little fridge over night and take them out and put them back under the lights in the day time. Most of the traps get very tiny but about 4 of them got even bigger in their dormancy stage.

@Alpakatt

If you edit your garden.org profile to include some region and climate zone information, you will get better information from the community here.

These things need a winter dormant period, their native habitat is Zone 8 in the Carolinas. It's referred to as "humid subtropical", but winter nights get down to around 15°F. The refrigerator method is proven, but maybe you could find a spot in a garage which would stay in the right temperature range. If you run them under lights while dormant, adjust the photoperiod to mimic winter. Mine always hold a few leaves over winter, it might make a difference in their health.

Water on the traps shouldn't really be a problem, although under certain artificial growing conditions (wet, dank, inadequately-lit terrariums) it could be. It's humid, and rains quite a bit where they come from, but in the wild they also get full sun and good air circulation. Strong light builds strong, healthy plants.

I grow mine in 20/80 perlite/peat. I give a light application of quarter strength MaxSea 16-16-16 about three times during the growing season to give them a boost. (Avoid fertilizers with calcium—I understand it's like Kryptonite to flytraps.)

There's no summer rain here, so I use reverse-osmosis water and the plants stand in saucers with about 1/2" of water in them. I dump and clean the saucers occasionally, and remove them during the winter so that the rain can flush the soil mix.

@okiecowboy
Which light did you buy? I went a little overboard on succulents this season and many of them are going to need to be under lights for the winter. I'd like to try an LED, but there are so many mind-boggling choices, and the ones which throw purple light are supposed to be great for plants, but look a little strange.