Removing flower stalks
When Venus flytraps flower, they are often left in a poor state for a considerable time afterwards (often up to a year). They usually do not grow as quickly during this time and are likely to look sickly, limp and are more susceptible to dying.
To avoid this, most growers remove the flower stalks before the flowering process takes place. The flower stalks look different from regular trap growth as they are not as flat as the trap stalks. If you are unsure if your stalk is from a trap or a flower, then you can let it grow out a centimetre or so and if it doesn’t look like a trap by then you can safely chop it off. Don’t let it grow any further though as your plant may suffer for it.
If you don’t pay much attention to your plant or haven’t read this till you’ve discovered a 20+ cm long stalk with a small bud at the end growing out of the center of your Venus flytrap, then you may as well just let it flower as it’s too late. Enjoy the beauty of the flower in all it’s glory as chopping it off now is unlikely to help. Your plants energy was wasted growing that stalk.
Photos on this page are courtesy of Torgrim Johansen
Kish Roslan responded on 13 Feb 2008 at 10:22 am #
hi, my plant has gone limp and looks considerably weak. im really sad cause i just recently bought the plant 2 months ago. after going through loads of websites i discovered that it had like a stalk like thing growing from the middle and i suspect it to be a flower stalk. im not sure how to remove it. is there a special way of chopping of the flower stalk? and its about 2 inches long. can my VFT still be saved?
help!
kish roslan
Ryan responded on 14 Feb 2008 at 1:23 am #
Your plant should be fine. Venus flytrap’s often shows signs of weakness a few months after purchase. This is normal and they usually survive fine. It is possible that something else is wrong with your plant, but normally this is not the case with new plants.
The flower stalk is easily removed by cutting it with a knife or scissors. I usually use scissors as there is less chance of accidentally slicing the surrounding leaves. I usually remove them as close to the soil as possible.
Kish Roslan responded on 14 Feb 2008 at 10:32 pm #
thanks for the quick reply
im a regular visitor at ur site ever since i got my VFT and it has helped me a lot in caring for hindraf (name of my VFT).
Anne responded on 16 Feb 2008 at 5:38 pm #
my venus fly trap has split into 3 bulbs and it has flowered. only 3 flowers have bloomed. will all bulbs be sffected or can i separate them and see what happens to the on that flowered?
thanks
Ryan responded on 16 Feb 2008 at 7:58 pm #
No, you can leave them all in the same pot. If one plant flowers, it should not negatively affect the other plants.
J-Man responded on 28 Feb 2008 at 5:21 pm #
HI there, i bought a small VTF about 3 weeks ago, it grew nice leaves but having very small traps not opening at all ( doesnt even look like traps). I discovered a flower stack about one inch long now and the plant is getting brownish at several spots and im scared its going to die, do you think it’s too late to cut the flower stack or can it be caused by other reasons like not enough air circulation?
Tx
Ryan responded on 01 Mar 2008 at 4:34 am #
J-Man - chop the flower stalk now and you should be fine.
If you are worried about your plant not growing as healthy as you would like, then the best thing to do is to place it in optimal conditions. In particular, this includes keeping your plant watered with plenty of quality water and giving it as much sunlight as possible.
Re responded on 06 Mar 2008 at 9:28 pm #
Oh no, im that person who just found a 20 cm flower stalk and checked this webpage… the rest of the plant looks pretty weak but there are still tiny new traps growing…luckiliy it will start to get warm and humid here very soon…. will we be ok?
Ryan responded on 10 Mar 2008 at 10:06 pm #
Hi Re.
Well it will be interesting to see how your plant goes. It doesn’t sound good so far, but fingers crossed it doesn’t take too much of a hit from having to flower. Despite all the doom and gloom you may read about Venus flytraps struggling to survive the flowering process, there are plenty of reports around of people putting their plants through absolute torture and the plant surviving the process fine and quickly opening a bunch of new fresh big red traps afterwards.
Good luck!
rick responded on 10 Apr 2008 at 7:43 pm #
I just got a fytrap and it is relatively young and small but there is a small stalk in it the bulb is extremely small and not a dark green like the one above I’m not sure wat it is and can young plants flower? Its the shape like the one above but real little. Should I cut it?
Ryan responded on 15 Apr 2008 at 4:13 am #
Yep, you should definitely cut it.
Unless you want your plant to flower of course!
The colour is largely irrelevant, different plants are coloured differently.
Venus flytraps usually don’t flower until they’re about two years of age. But it is possible that some plants may flower at an earlier age.
Rick responded on 21 Apr 2008 at 8:35 pm #
I have a big mouth flytrap plant and it came in the dome like lid that my other four traps came in. It is growing really really well and the traps are huge. The new traps are trying to go beyond the area of the pot. The humidity lid is too small for it. I dont want the lid to touch the traps but i dont want to repot either. How should I prevent the traps from touching the lid but and still maintain humidity? this might be a stupid question I dont know.
Ryan responded on 24 Apr 2008 at 7:43 pm #
Since you posted this twice, I’ve only answered it on the second one … http://flytrapgrowing.info/should-i-repot/#comment-444
Matthew responded on 03 May 2008 at 1:14 pm #
Hi, my VFT has 2 flower stalks out of the same plant. 1 is like 40cm long and the other is around 20. I cut the 20 one of and decided to leave the other ones. I have read that this might now kill my VFT when it is still producing healthy traps. WIll my VFT be ok? It looks to have to seperate plants with the flower stalks only coming out of one. Sonow knowing that my plant might die how can i pollinate it with only one flower? Will i have to use the pollen of another plant, if so does it matter if its of a cactus or a normal plant. Thanks For the help.
michelle deery responded on 03 May 2008 at 1:20 pm #
hi, i bought a fly trap and it has flowered now. the plant seems to be strong and healthy, should i cut the flower stalks away now it has finished or just let them stay?
Ryan responded on 04 May 2008 at 2:44 am #
Just let them stay. If the plant has flowered then it’s spent all of it’s flowering energy already. You may as well enjoy the flowers while they last
Ryan responded on 04 May 2008 at 2:46 am #
Hi Matthew.
That sounds like something out of a science fiction movie.
You want to cross a Cactus with a Venus flytrap? Cross species pollination? Not likely
Matthew responded on 04 May 2008 at 3:11 am #
Ok thanks for the reply, I have now noticed that the plant is split into 2. One side there is no flowers and loads of small traps and on the other there is the main plant that had 2 stalks on. I cut one of and i have let the other one to grow. On that plant there is only 2 traps and they are really big ones. The flowers look about ready to open. will my plant be ok? Thanks If needed i will get some photos of it now.
Ryan responded on 10 May 2008 at 5:10 am #
Hi Matthew,
I’m not sure I can help without seeing the plant. Feel free to post some links to photos if you like.
Matthew responded on 10 May 2008 at 5:57 am #
Ok, 3 flowers are now open. One the middle bit if fury so i got a cotten bud and took pollen of one and gave it to the one with the fury middle. But im not sure that it has been pollinated, how can i tell? I dont think i might post some pictures in a seperate comment a bit later on. Thanks for the help.
Matthew responded on 10 May 2008 at 6:05 am #
Here are some photos the other day i cut some dead leaves of so there is a big gap. I am hopeing it wil produce some seed then i can place them in the same pot as they are slow growing.
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj51/thebullet1992/101_0011.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj51/thebullet1992/101_0010.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj51/thebullet1992/101_0012.jpg
Person responded on 10 May 2008 at 10:55 am #
HELP! I left the stalks grow and they flowered and now my flytrap is looking sick, I just cut the shoots off. Will it die?
Matthew responded on 10 May 2008 at 11:10 am #
I just added some photos but they have gone
Matthew responded on 10 May 2008 at 11:49 am #
Oh there back, Nevermind sorry about that
Ryan responded on 15 May 2008 at 8:41 pm #
Hi Person,
I have no idea if your plant will die or not. If it is in good health, then probably not.
Ryan responded on 15 May 2008 at 8:44 pm #
Jeepers Matthew! That’s one BIG flower stalk.
I’m not an expert on polination of flowers unfortunately so probably not the best person to be handing out advice on such things sorry.
Matthew responded on 16 May 2008 at 9:42 am #
Yes, its even bigger now and half of the flowers have died. But by looking at it do you think it will survive i think it will but its what you think.
Thanks
Matthew responded on 21 May 2008 at 1:20 am #
I am going to make a teranium with a half cut bottle. I am going to place it over the top when the flower finished its not very humid in the room that it is in and i think it would really benefit.
Ryan responded on 27 May 2008 at 6:14 am #
Those bottle terria work quite well, I haven’t used a bottle, but I have a large beaker on top of one of mine at the moment.
The main beneft I find is that it means I don’t need to worry if I forget to water it for a few days as it won’t dry up. Sometimes my plants get left for up to a week without water and they don’t like drying up to that extent at all. The beaker/bottle on top prevents that quite nicely.
Matthew responded on 27 May 2008 at 11:53 pm #
Mine is outside now, it has been for a few days now and has withstood 3 almost solid days of rain, i hope it will benefit from this.
Sue responded on 24 Jun 2008 at 4:55 pm #
Hi, I got a venus fly trap a few months ago and, after reading your page, I think the bulb must have split as it has lots of little traps growing from under the bigger ones. It seems to be going through a growing spurt and growing lots of new traps at the moment. Can I split the bulb into other pots and if so should I wait until it has calmed down with the growing?
Thanks
Ryan responded on 28 Jun 2008 at 10:22 pm #
Hi Matthew,
Sounds like you have had some pretty bad weather lately! It should be good for your plant though
Ryan responded on 28 Jun 2008 at 10:27 pm #
Hi Sue,
The most important thing to wait for before splitting your bulb is the right time of year. Most growers recommend repotting in spring as they are coming out of dormancy.
Matthew responded on 02 Jul 2008 at 10:21 am #
The flower pods have split open and now i have taken the seeds and sprinkled them onto the serfice of the soil. I can now already see 2 new leaves growing out of the main plant, so it has recovered from the flowering season.
Thanks
Ryan responded on 09 Jul 2008 at 5:36 am #
Hi Matthew,
Good to hear your plant is growing nicely