Carnivorous Plant Care Guide

Keep your bog plants thriving with these basic rules from Wild Growth:

💧 Water

  • Type: Use ONLY reverse osmosis, distilled water, or rainwater for your carnivores. Minerals in tap water and spring water will burn the roots and kill your plant.

  • Method: Keep the pot sitting in a tray or saucer filled with water at all times.

☀️ Light

Carnivorous plants—especially Venus Flytraps and American Pitcher Plants—require at least 6 hours of direct sun per day.

  • Windowsills: A bright, sunny windowsill works well, especially for Sundews (Drosera) and Pinguicula.

  • Outdoors: Sarracenia pitcher plants, and Venus Fly Traps perform best outdoors in full, direct sunlight.

  • Grow Lights:

    • Choose full-spectrum LED lights or T5 / T8 light strips.

    • If using T5 or T8 light strips, ensure at least two strips per shelf to deliver sufficient intensity.

    • Run artificial lights for 12–14 hours per day.

🪴 Soil & Feeding

⚠️ Important: NEVER use regular potting soil or standard fertilizers. The minerals and nutrient salts will burn the roots and kill the plant.

Soil Mixes

Carnivorous plants thrive in acidic, fertilizer-free soil media:

  • Standard Mix (Flytraps, Sundews, Pitchers): 50% fertilizer-free peat moss mixed with 50% horticultural sand or perlite.

  • Rocky Mix (Pinguicula): Pinguicula prefer a chunkier, rockier substrate. Mix equal parts:

    • Peat moss

    • Perlite

    • Pumice

    • Washed horticultural sand

Feeding

If your plants aren't catching insects on their own, you can supplement their diet:

  • Dilute 1/4 tsp of MaxSea fertilizer per gallon of water.

  • Lightly mist the foliage about once a month.

❄️ Dormancy

Temperate carnivores such as Venus Flytraps and Sarracenia Pitcher Plants require a winter dormancy period from mid-October to mid-March.

  • Environment: Keep them in a cool spot with temperatures between 35-50 degrees.

  • Care Adjustments: Reduce watering (keep soil damp, not submerged). Growth will slow down or stop entirely, and leaves may die back. The plant is not dead—it is simply resting until Spring!