Carnivorous Venus Fly Trap 3"

Little Pot of Horrors
Venus Flytrap · Dionaea muscipula

Meet the plant that bites back. Little Pot of Horrors is a living Venus flytrap — the famous snap-trap carnivore from the bogs of the Carolinas — ready to sit on a sunny windowsill and quietly police the fruit flies. Those hinged leaves aren’t decoration. They’re working jaws. Touch the trigger hairs twice and the trap slams shut in a fraction of a second. It’s science class, horror movie, and houseplant in one little pot.

This is a real plant, not a novelty toy. Give it what it evolved for and it will stay green, colorful, and hungry for years.

Care at a glance

Light
Full sun. Outdoors: 6+ hours of direct sun. Indoors: the brightest south-facing window you have, or a strong grow light 12–14 hours a day. Weak light = long, pale leaves and traps that never color up.

Water
Distilled water, rainwater, or reverse-osmosis water only. Never tap, well, or softened water — minerals build up in the soil and kill the roots.
Keep it in a shallow tray with about ½ inch of water during spring through early fall. Refill when the tray goes dry. In winter, keep the soil just barely moist.

Soil
Nutrient-poor and acidic. Use a carnivorous-plant mix or 1:1 sphagnum peat moss and perlite (no fertilizer, no regular potting soil, no compost).

Food
It catches its own insects. Do not feed it hamburger, raw meat, or fertilizer. Don’t poke the traps for fun — each snap costs the plant energy. A healthy plant in good light will feed itself.

Winter dormancy
This plant needs a rest. From late fall through winter, growth slows and many leaves blacken. That’s normal. Move it to a cool spot (about 35–50°F) for 3–4 months and water less. It will bounce back in spring.

Don’t

• Use tap water
• Fertilize
• Plant it in regular potting mix
• Keep it in low light
• Skip dormancy if you want it to live more than one season

Bring one home, set it in the sun, fill the tray with the right water, and let it do what it does best: wait.