What to do with a moldy Venus flytrap
It is not uncommon for Venus flytraps to grow mould. I’ve often had this problem growing plants in my own house as the temperature tends to be too low which causes the formation of mould. I have never had any problems with the mould and it doesn’t seem to have caused my plants any issues, however it is rather gross to look at if there is too much mould then the plant could potentially be receiving less light onto it’s leaves than it ought to and even worse, the mould could start feasting on your healthy plant tissue and kill it. To get around this situation I have tried removing the mould with tweezers, but this tends to be a bit of nightmare to maintain as the mould quickly grows back. It is also imperative that you don’t accidentally poke your plant and damage it whilst removing the mould. Manually removing the mould is also only fixing the obvious symptom of weird looking white fuzz stuck to your plant. The underlying cause and infection with mould will not be removed.
The best way to fix the problem is to simply remedy the situation which causes the mould in the first place. Usually moving the plant to a warmer, sunnier environment will rapidly cure the problem. My mold problems have been fixed within about two weeks after placing my plants into a better environment.
It’s possible that you may be able to remove the mould with some mould removing chemicals, but this will likely kill the plant in the process. If you have tried this approach I’d love to hear about the results in the comments below. I suspect it is a recipe for disaster, but without having tried I’m not sure how well (or unwell) it would work.
It is not uncommon for Venus flytraps to grow mould. I’ve often had this problem growing plants in my own house as the temperature tends to be too low which causes the formation of mould. I have never had any problems with the mould and it doesn’t seem to have caused my plants any issues, however it is rather gross to look at if there is too much mould then the plant could potentially be receiving less light onto it’s leaves than it ought to and even worse, the mould could start feasting on your healthy plant tissue and kill it. To get around this situation I have tried removing the mould with tweezers, but this tends to be a bit of nightmare to maintain as the mould quickly grows back. It is also imperative that you don’t accidentally poke your plant and damage it whilst removing the mould. Manually removing the mould is also only fixing the obvious symptom of weird looking white fuzz stuck to your plant. The underlying cause and infection with mould will not be removed.
The best way to fix the problem is to simply remedy the situation which causes the mould in the first place. Usually moving the plant to a warmer, sunnier environment will rapidly cure the problem. My mold problems have been fixed within about two weeks after placing my plants into a better environment.
It’s possible that you may be able to remove the mould with some mould removing chemicals, but this will likely kill the plant in the process. If you have tried this approach I’d love to hear about the results in the comments below. I suspect it is a recipe for disaster, but without having tried I’m not sure how well (or unwell) it would work.
If your plant is already in a mildy humid environment, you may wish to leave a small air hole, this will not increase the humidity as greatly as with a fully covered terrarium but will improve air circulation.
Venus flytraps come from swampy areas of the United States of America (USA) or more specifically, swampy areas of the states of North Carolina and South Carolina. Green Swamp in Brunswick and Columbus counties of North Carolina is the best known area for finding large numbers of Venus flytraps, however much of this areas has been destroyed by humans and it is possible that this amazing area will be eventually destroyed. For more information about the conservation of Green Swamp please visit the 
There are a wide range of opinions on what the best potting mixture to use for a Venus flytrap is. However the one thing everyone agrees on is that the soil must be low quality. You can’t use rich, nitrogen filled soils as your plant will not like it at all. Venus flytraps evolved to catch bugs as a response to low soil quality and they don’t cope well when they’re out of their usual environment. And whatever you do, don’t add any fertilizer as you will likely kill your plant.
Most tap water supplies in first world nations is treated with chlorine and/or fluoride and often contain large amounts of calcium and magnesium. These chemicals are toxic to Venus flytraps, in fact they’re probably not much good for plants in general, but Venus flytraps are particularly sensitive to chemicals in their water supply and it’s use can slow down the growth of your flytrap and sometimes even kill it.
This is a follow up to my previous post on not using tap water.
Well the first question to ask is why do you want to repot? If your answer is because the pot your plant came in is small and you ‘think’ your plant will grow better by repotting, then the answer is most likely no, don’t repot.
Using the wrong potting mix, tap water or worst of all adding fertlizer to your plant is sure fire way to eventually kill it. However, if you have done one of these then don’t panic, there are solutions!
If you are growing your plant outside, make sure it is watered regularly during dry spells. Venus flytraps do not like being dry. Don’t panic if your plant is saturated with water as they are used to this happening in the wild and cope with being submerged in water for weeks on end. However if they dry up they will rapidly die so make sure you keep it wel watered in dry environments.