Venus flytraps typically grow around about 4-15 leaves.
Dozens of traps
If your plant is growing 16+ traps and some of them are reasonably sized (1 cm across), then it is possible that you may have more than one plant growing in your pot. This isn’t a big deal and don’t panic. Your extra plants will usually happily coincide in the same pot no problem at all. If they are already in a very small pot (4 x 7 cm) then you may need to repot at some stage to give them room to grow.
If your plant is brand new, it is possible that it is fresh out of tissue culture. Many plants sold in shops are grown in labs with all sorts of exotic chemicals, nutrients and hormones. This process often leaves the plant in a rapidly growing state and they may not get over this for a few months after purchase. They should eventually slow down however, many of the traps will die and the remaining few will hopefully (fingers crossed) grow nice and big.
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.
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’ve been watering your plant with tap water for many months and your plant is looking a little unhealthy, then it is advisable to flush the plant 4-5 times with clean water to get rid of those horrible inorganic residues which are killing your plant. Your plant should still live and re-potting shouldn’t be necessary.
If you’ve used the wrong potting mix or even used fertilizer and it’s late winter or early spring, then just repot and your plant should be fine. If it’s not late winter or early spring you will still need to repot your plant, but make sure you give your plant lots of light, keep it watered well and make sure you follow the advice here on flytrapgrowing.info as repotting at the wrong time of year is very hard on your plant. If you used a water soluble fertilizer such as potassium nitrate then you should be able to rinse it out with a good rinsing of water; fill your pot up with water and let it drain 20x or so to remove all of the fertilizer.