Should I repot?
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.
Venus flytraps do not need much room for their roots to grow, they’re quite happy living in teeny weeny pots (4 cm x 6 cm is usually big enough) and most pots bought from garden shops usually come with pots around this size or bigger. Repotting your Venus flytrap can shock it and slow down it’s growth, or even kill it.
Having said that, there are good reasons for deciding to repot, including improved soil aeration and possibly faster growth. A larger pot can often help protect your plant during freezing temperatures, although you should always protect your plant from freezing temperatures as they don’t like it.
If you are going to repot, then make sure you read the potting mix post for tips on what type of soil to use. If you are going to repot, I suggest doing it as they leaving their dormancy period (early spring or very late winter). If you must repot at any other time of the year, then make sure you keep the root system intact or your plant will probably die.
Rick responded on 22 Apr 2008 at 2:28 pm #
I wrote the same question under another topic. ima n idiot sorry. my big mouth flytrap is in a 3 inch pot and its growing really well and getting really big. It has a humidity lid on top of it because I live in Nebraska. Its traps want to go outside the pot. I dont want the humidity lid to touch the traps but I dont want to repot either. should I just leave it alone and let the traps touch the lid?
Ryan responded on 24 Apr 2008 at 7:42 pm #
Interesting question Rick.
I have a similar problem with my window sill at the moment. Some of my traps are touching the window and I’m not sure it is particularly good for them. I’m not concerned about the physical touching, but the temperature gradient may be a problem as the window is often very cold whereas the room is quite warm. This doesn’t apply in your case though, so I wouldn’t worry too much.
If you have room for a bigger pot, then you could try moving it, but if not, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem to leave it in it’s current environment. You could trim the offending traps off I suppose, but it seems a pity to remove otherwise healthy traps and probably wouldn’t do the health of your plant any good.