Best Pots & Planters For Venus Flytraps: Keep Your Flytrap Alive & Safe!

Today we are going to talk about the best pots and planters for venus flytraps. It’s important that you have the right housing for your carnivorous plant. If you follow the quick answer below, you will probably be able to pick out a great pot or planter for your venus flytrap. If you want more information, definitely keep scrolling as we give some great examples and break it down for you! 

Make sure to spread the word below if you find this article helpful or interesting! Pinning, liking, sharing this info helps me out so much! 

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Best Pots & Planters For Venus Flytraps Quick Guide
To find the best pot or planter for a venus flytrap make it’s made out of plastic, resin or a fully glazed clay pot. Avoid terra cotta or un-glazed pots. The porous materials can cause your substrate to dry quickly by absorbing the water. They can also leach minerals that are harmful to your venus flytrap into the substrate. Make sure your pot or planter has good drainage in the bottom as venus flytraps need good water flow. Try to get a pot or planter that is at least 5-10 inches deep as Venus flytrap roots like to have room to grow. The width of the pot is not as important, just make sure it allows room for growth.

The pots below are a couple examples of planters that meet all the criteria. They are functional but also stylish, which can be a little tricky to find. Check them out and see if there is anything you like! I’ll make more suggestions below, but these are some of my favorites! 

I double checked, the first planter below is great for indoors and outdoors. It’s glazed on the outside and inside, which means it won’t leach minerals into your substrate and won’t be porous and dry your soil out. 

No products found.

La Jolíe Muse Flower Pot Outdoor Indoor Garden Planters, Plant Containers with Drain Hole, Marble (8.6 inches, 1 Pack)
  • UNIQUE MARBLE DESIGN - This attractive marble pattern flower pot (8.6”D x 6.7”H) is the ideal...
  • RAISED DRAINAGE HOLE - This planter comes with 4 pre-drilled, built-in drainage holes that create a...
  • LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS - Made from durable recycled plastic and natural stone powder, the planter is...
  • WEATHER RESISTANT - Allow you to enjoy this plant pot for outdoor plants in all types of weather....
  • 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED - We want you to love your purchase, therefore we strive to satisfy...

Last update on 2024-05-12 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Table of Contents

Best Pots & Planters For Venus Flytraps

Now that you have been given the quick and simple answer, lets dig in a little more. I’m going to give you a checklist of sorts for things to look for when picking out a growing pot for a venus flytrap. When selecting a planter, there are a few things you will want to take into consideration.

It’s important to know what you are looking for as venus flytraps can be a little more demanding than a typical houseplant. There may be some considerations you need to think about that you wouldn’t normally with a houseplant. 

I’m going to give you a quick checklist below, then I’m going to give you some suggestions on cool venus flytrap pots and planters I have found. Some will be purely for functionality while others will be for style. You can can have both if you find the right pot or planter! 

Venus Flytraps Pots & Planters Checklist

Let’s go over some of the most important things to consider when looking at pots and planters for venus flytraps. There are a few different things that are really important when deciding which planter you want. I’m going to go over all the things to consider below to help you make the best choice for your venus flytrap pots. 

Buy Carnivorous Plants Online!

Buy carnivorous plants from the most reputable and trusted carnivorous plant nursery, California Carnivores. We have partnered up and are giving all my viewers an exclusive 10% discount on your entire carnivorous plant order! Just enter CPHUB at checkout! Get the coolest venus flytrap cultivars, sarracenia, nepenthes and much MUCH more! You can even buy your next bag of premium carnivorous plant soil from them!
Order Plant Mail, Click Here!

Materials

The material of your pot or planter for a venus flytrap is probable the most important factor when looking at which are best. I’ll talk a little bit about the most popular planter choices and go over why you should or should not choose this material. 

Fiberglass/Resin

This is probably your best choice. If you can find a nice fiberglass or resin fiberglass planter this is probably the top choice for venus flytraps. They will help keep your flytrap well insulated during dormancy but also won’t leach any minerals into your substrate. They are affordable and durable in both indoors and outdoors. Almost all my planters are either a plastic or resin/fiberglass resin. 

The nice thing about resin is that they make some really stylish planters made out of resin, like the examples below. 

 


Click Here To See Price & Photos of The Planter Below On Amazon

best pot for a venus flytrap

The resin planter above is always a favorite. I’m such a sucker for anything in a whiskey barrel. It’s a nice aesthetic but also will be a great functional pot for your venus flytrap. 


Click Here To See Price & Photos of The Planter Below On Amazon

planter for a venus flytrap

I really like this set of 3 wicker style resin planters. The great thing about this set is that you will have the planters ready to go as your venus flytraps grow. As they grow and multiply instead of looking for a new pot, you just replant them in the next size up. This set of 3 is a perfect mix of nice looking planters along with the well insulated strong resin. 

Click Here For A Large Selection Of Resin Planters On Amazon!

Plastic

Plastic is probably the most functional and least expensive option. The biggest growers typically like to keep it simple and just keep their plants in simple plastic pots. If you don’t care much for looks and just want something simple and easy then plastic is the way to go. 

Do keep in mind, if you live in an area that has a more harsh winter, the thin plastic pots may not give your venus flytrap the insulation it needs in winter time. You may need to work a little harder to keep your plant safe if it’s in a plastic planter. If you are in a warmer climate without a harsh winter plastic just might be the best option for you. I’ll share some of my favorite plastic planters below. 


Click Here To See Price & Photos of The Pot Below On Amazon

plastic pot for venus flytrap

The plastic pot above is actually quite nice looking. It’s just a thin plastic and wont insulate as good as resin but you may not need insulation! If I was going to get a cheaper plastic pot that I could show off to my friends and family, I’d get a pot like the one above! 


Click Here To See Price & Photos of The Pot Below On Amazon

plastic planter for venus flytrap

The plastic planter above is the king of functionality. I do like the grooves on the plastic as it gives it a little bit of character rather than the just normal smooth plastic. You can get a 12 pack of these for around $20, so the price is right. These also come with the tray! 


Click Here To See Price & Photos of The Pot Below On Amazon

No products found.

Maybe you need a little color in your life? These are wonderful looking 6 inch plastic pots for your venus flytrap. They come with plugs you can put in the drainage holes. They look really nice, they really don’t even look plastic. They have more of a ceramic look but with the functionality of plastic! 

Click Here For A Large Selection Of Plastic Pots And Planters On Amazon

Ceramic

When you are looking at ceramic pots there are two different choices. You have fully glazed or un-glazed ceramic pots. You really need to avoid any kind of un-glazed ceramic pots. The porous material that ceramic pots are made out of can actually sap the moisture from the substrate. You really don’t want your pot or planter absorbing water from the soil. 

The other problem with un-glazed ceramic pots is they can leach minerals into the substrate. They are commonly full of sodium and if that sodium leaches into the soil it can be fatal for your venus flytrap or carnivorous plant. These plants need a substrate that is devoid of any minerals. Leaching can be really bad for your venus flytrap. 

If you want to go with a ceramic pot I don’t blame you. They can be some of the most aesthetically pleasing. They also have some really interesting and neat ceramic pots. Just make sure if you go ceramic that the pot or planter is fully glazed. The glaze on the inside ensures that no leaching will occur. 

I went ahead to did some research for you and found a  few different examples of really nice fully glazed ceramic pots below for your venus flytraps! 


Click Here To See Price & Photos of The Ceramic Pot Below On Amazon

ceramic pot for venus flytrap

These ceramic pots are fully glazed and absolutely beautiful. They are simple but look quite nice. The seller hand makes these ceramic pots and would look wonderful with a venus flytrap. I might actually be getting some of these for my next project! 


Click Here To See Price & Photos of The Ceramic Pot Below On Amazon

No products found.

This ceramic pot will be a show stopper with venus flytraps planted inside of it. This will be one that really grabs some attention. The hand made ceramic glazed pot along with the wood stand are just beautiful. If you really want the pot thats going to get the attention from friends and family then this should be your go to. 

Imagine busting this bad boy out and showing everyone your venus flytrap devouring a fly. Prepare for some oohs and ahhs for sure! It is a little pricier but definitely worth it, check out the price by clicking the link above! 

There are so many really cool ceramic pots to choose from. Just make sure they are fully glazed, check out the selection below! 

Click Here For A Large Selection Of Glazed Ceramic Pots!

Terracotta

Terracotta pots and planters are extremely popular. They are not a good choice for carnivorous plants or venus flytraps. I would avoid them at all costs. They are extremely porous and will drink in a lot of the water. They also are terrible at leaching minerals into the substrate. If you can avoid terracotta, I would do so at all costs for a venus flytrap. 

Clay Pots

Virtually the exact same for clay pots as for terracotta. Unless the clay pots are glazed, I would avoid them entirely for the same reasons were avoiding the terracotta or un-glazed ceramic pots. 

Venus Flytrap Info Via Carnivorousplantshub.com

Drainage

It’s extremely important that your pot or planter for a venus flytrap has good drainage holes in the bottom. The water needs to have a place to escape to prevent root rot. At the same time, you need to make sure to have holes in the bottom if you are watering with the tray method. 

drainage holes in venus flytrap planter

Keep in mind, if you find the perfect planter that doesn’t have holes in the bottom you can always easily drill your own holes with a power drill. It’s pretty straight forward and simple. Plastic or resin is much easier to drill the holes than ceramic. With ceramic pots you do have a higher chance of breaking the pot when drilling a hole. It’s usually easiest just to find a pot or planter with pre drilled holes. 

It’s important to note the pots and planters I showed you above all had pre drilled holes! 

Color

Even the color can be important depending on what are you are in. If you are in a hot area and leave your venus flytraps in full sun it might be a good idea to aim for a light color. I have seen people that have fried their plant by leaving it in a black planter in full hot sun. 

If you live in an area that has less harsh summers and temps rarely go above 100, then you probably don’t have to worry about it as much. California saw many days this summer with temps well above 100. A venus flytrap in a black planter could have easily become way too hot in those conditions. 

Try to stick to white or even just a lighter grey color. Other colors work well too as long as they aren’t dark. 

Size

I would recommend that you at least get a pot or planter that is at least 5 inches deep. The width doesn’t matter as much as you just want to make sure that you leave enough room for the venus flytrap to grow a little bit. 

You want to go at least 5 inches deep since venus flytrap roots like to grow straight down. They don’t usually grow in circles or clusters, they go straight down. If you ever buy one from a grower you will often see the roots shooting out through the bottom of those little 2.5 or 3 inch plastic pots. That’s a tell that they need a deeper pot. 

size of a pot for a venus flytrap

It’s tempting to get a smaller pot due to the amount of really cool ceramic pots that have been made for all the succulent lovers out there. Succulents have much smaller root systems and don’t need that depth. I know it’s tempting but avoid the cute owl planter unless it’s at least 5 inches deep. 

Get What You Like

Most importantly guys, get the venus flytrap pot or planter that you really like. I suggest looking around and don’t get too stuck up on price. It’s very important that you love looking at your plant. Venus flytraps are beautiful and will make any old planter look amazing, but get the planter you love. Find one that speaks to you! 

There are so many options out there you can really find a good planter for your venus flytrap that matches your personality. Have fun with it! Buying your planter should be fun and exciting. When you get done planting your venus flytraps in your new pot or planter you should be ready to take a photo and share it with the world! Check out my most recent replant below, I love it! 

Conclusion

I really hope you learned everything you needed today so you can pick out the perfect venus flytrap pot. Having the right planter is so very important and will help you fall in love with these plants! 

If you thought this article was helpful, it would mean so much to me if you shared it on your favorite social media platform. Whether it’s Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook, it helps me out a lot! 

I have a dream to open my own carnivorous plant nursery some day and I’m using this website as a platform to learn and interact with the community. Thank you for your support, it means more to me than you could ever know! 

Also, make sure to check out our YouTube channel, it has all kinds of fun venus flytrap and other carnivorous plant content. Your subscription or video like helps me out a lot! Check out one of our videos below! 

Also, check out the carnivorous plant society below if you are passionate about learning more or conservation for carnivorous plants! 

https://www.carnivorousplants.org/

https://youtu.be/j6UkfpWpe7U

How Long Does It Take Venus Flytrap To Grow

Buy Carnivorous Plants Online!

Buy carnivorous plants from the most reputable and trusted carnivorous plant nursery, California Carnivores. We have partnered up and are giving all my viewers an exclusive 10% discount on your entire carnivorous plant order! Just enter CPHUB at checkout! Get the coolest venus flytrap cultivars, sarracenia, nepenthes and much MUCH more! You can even buy your next bag of premium carnivorous plant soil from them! Order Plant Mail, Click Here!

Venus flytraps are one of the coolest plants in the world. You are probably here because your wondering how long does it take for a venus flytrap to grow. This is a great question and I am excited to answer it for you and talk about venus flytraps today! 

The quick answer is. The venus flytrap seeds germinate quickly, in as little as 10-14 days. Be patient however as the venus flytrap does not grow quickly. It can take 2-4 years to grow 3-6 inches tall and about 5 inches in diameter at full maturity. 

how long does it take to grow a venus flytrap

Now that you have the full answer, lets dig more into why they grow so slow and talk more about their growth patterns. 

Also, before we get too far into this, please take a look at one of my other care/guides on venus fly traps. Each one takes you to another page on this website full of excellent information on your venus flytrap!

Ultimate Venus Fly Trap Care Guide

How Does A Venus Flytrap Work?

Venus Flytrap Soil Mix And Potting (Maybe one of the most important things to note)

Picking A Pot or Planter For Venus Flytrap

Venus Flytrap Dormancy (Yes, they hibernate and yes you need to know about it!)

What/How To Feed A Venus Flytrap – How to feed and what to feed a venus flytrap!

Venus Fly Trap Watering Guide – Learn how often and what kind of water to give your plant!

How Long Does It Take For A Venus Flytrap To Grow

Venus Flytrap Germination

Venus flytraps, although slow, are actually easy to germinate and grow. They produce seeds in the Northern Hemisphere from April until June. They can germinate in most carnivorous plant soil mixes but do the best in a peat moss and sand mix. In order for the seeds to sprout they must be kept moist. Within two to three weeks the seedlings can be transplanted or once the first true trap leaves begin to appear. 

grow a venus flytrap from seed

Venus Flytrap Flowering

A venus flytrap can live for 20 years but take a very long time to mature. A venus flytrap can definitely be misleading as some of the trap characteristics will appear soon after germination. It actually takes 2-4 years for the venus flytrap to flower. Small clusters of small white cup shaped plants grow in groups of 4-10, these little white flowers can grow up to 12 inches in height. After the flowering occurs, around 6-8 weeks small black pear shaped seeds are released. 

There are quicker ways to grow a venus flytrap than with seeds. Propagating from cutting and dividing plants can be a quicker way to grow the plant. 

Vegetative Propagation

If your asking the question, how long does it take to grow a venus flytrap and you want to know what is the quickest way this will be the best method. This can cut down the time it takes to reach maturity to 1-2 years vs. the 2-4, basically in half. Another reason this is a popular method is that when doing vegetative propagation the plant that grows is genetically identical to the parent plant. 

There are two ways you can accomplish vegetative propagation.

  • Multiple Growth Points 
  • Leaf Pullings

Multiple Growth Points

This is probably the easiest way to grow a venus flytrap. You simply let them grow! Venus flytraps naturally propagate by forming growths in their rosette. This is noticeable with a venus flytrap when the leaves seem to be crowded and it appears that the plants are growing out of a center point. Once this has become noticeable leave the plant alone until the following spring. At this time you can separate the rosettes and repot both venus flytrap plants. 

If it doesn’t appear that the new plant has a good root system, it’s probably best to leave them together another year so it has a better chance to take root. 

grow a venus flytrap with leaf cuttings

Leaf Pullings

You will need to uproot the plant and expose the rhizome. Once the rhizome is exposed you will want to find a leaf that is on the outside that is very healthy. You want to grab the leaf and give it a gentle jerk downward. The main focus is to get as much of the rhizome, which is the white part, as possible when you remove the leaf. Trim off the trap and place it in soil that is made for venus flytraps. You will want to give it a lot of light and keep it pretty moist. Your shooting for a 13 hour photoperiod.  

It may take up to 2 months before you see any growth, be sure to be patient with this process. The first noticeable growth will be little nubs and then it will turn into little leafs. 

Make sure that you only pull leafs from healthy plants. You can pull from unhealthy plants but your success rate drops pretty drastically. You should also avoid pulling leaves from any plants that are flowering. If done correctly and pulled from a healthy plant, your venus flytrap should have a 75% chance of of success. 

If you want to know more about how a venus flytrap works, you can click here to find out!

Check out the second video below to see how to do the leaf cuttings and what it looks like. 

Cool Video Showing How To Grow A Venus Fly Trap From Seeds

How To Grow Venus Flytrap From Leaf Cuttings

How Long Does It Take For A Venus Flytrap To Grow

Just as a recap to how long does it take for a venus flytrap to grow. If you want to know how long it takes a venus flytrap to grow from seeds, your looking at 2-4 years. If you go through the propagation process and pull a leaf you can reduce this by half and get new venus flytraps in 1-2 years. 

Keep in mind, if you propagate with an existing venus flytrap, the plant that grows will be an exact genetic replica of that plant. Growing from seeds can see some genetic variancies.

Thank you so much for stopping by and talking venus flytraps with me. I love these plants and am excited to see people researching and growing their own. 

Don’t worry about how long it takes for a venus flytrap to grow. Plant the seeds and be patient. With a little love and care, they will sprout up! 

If you found this article helpful, please feel free to share on your favorite social media platform, this really helps us out! Share on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram!  

How Does The Venus Fly Trap Work?

Buy Carnivorous Plants Online!

Buy carnivorous plants from the most reputable and trusted carnivorous plant nursery, California Carnivores. We have partnered up and are giving all my viewers an exclusive 10% discount on your entire carnivorous plant order! Just enter CPHUB at checkout! Get the coolest venus flytrap cultivars, sarracenia, nepenthes and much MUCH more! You can even buy your next bag of premium carnivorous plant soil from them! Order Plant Mail, Click Here!

If you have ever wondered how does the venus flytrap work, you have definitely reached the right place. Venus Flytraps have fascinated me from the first time I ever saw one. I didn’t even think they were real, I thought it must be movie magic. There can’t be a plant that eats bugs, right?!?!

I was dead wrong. The venus flytrap is an incredible plant that has evolved into something that eats bugs to make up for it’s typically very low in nutrient soil. It has taken millions of years to evolve into the incredible fly eating trap we see today. I’m so excited to have this opportunity to talk to you about how the venus flytrap works. 

The quick answer to how does a venus fly trap work, is… The head of the venus flytrap opens wide and invites prey. As soon as the prey lands on the venus flytrap it triggers short stiff hairs called sensitive or trigger hairs. When the prey makes contact with these trigger hairs and bends them the head of the venus fly trap snaps shut and traps the bug or insect. This all happens in less than a second. It then will breakdown and absorb the nutrients the insect offers.

how does a venus flytrap digest its food
The venus flytrap doing what it does, trapping a fly!

How Does The Venus Flytrap Work?

Now that you have the quick answer to how does a venus fly trap work, lets start getting into more details and breaking down each part of what happens. To understand how the venus flytraps work, it’s important to understand why they need to work. 

Also, before we get too deep, once your done learning about how a venus fly trap works check out some of my other guides/articles all about venus fly traps below! All pages will take you to another page on my site!

Ultimate Venus Fly Trap Care Guide

Venus Flytrap Soil Mix And Potting (Maybe one of the most important things to note)

Picking A Pot or Planter For Venus Flytrap

Venus Flytrap Dormancy (Yes, they hibernate and yes you need to know about it!)

What/How To Feed A Venus Flytrap – How to feed and what to feed a venus flytrap!

Venus Fly Trap Watering Guide – Learn how often and what kind of water to give your plant!

Why Does A Venus Fly trap Eat Insects?

venus flytrap

The answer to this question is really the answer to most evolutionary questions. It comes down to basic survival. The venus flytrap needs to have food and nutrition and the best place for them to get it is from trapping insects.

To fully understand the venus flytrap and how it works you really need to understand where they come from. They grow naturally in bogs which are one of the harshest places for plants to grow. The soil is extremely lacking in any nutrients and due to the moisture everything is always in a state of decay. 

If this plant was going to evolve and live, it had to come up with a way to obtain nutrients by other means than the soil. You can start to see why the venus flytrap had to figure out how to obtain it’s energy via other sources than it’s soil. 

Within the Droseraceae family there are around 150 living species all of which are carnivorous. This means that all 150 species obtain their energy through eating insects or animals. Of these species only 2 types of plants have developed quick closing traps to catch and breakdown their food. The Venus Fly trap (of course) and the Waterwheel plant. These two are essentially sister species. 

It should also be noted that venus flytraps were maybe named incorrectly. I’ve heard experts refer to them as venus spider traps as flies only account for about 5% of their total diet. They do eat flies, but they eat many more spiders and other crawling bugs. 

how does a venus flytrap eat
The venus flytrap is more likely to catch a spider or crawling critter than a fly.

How Does A Venus Fly trap Catch Its Prey

The Venus Flytrap has small trigger hairs that grow on each side of the trap. These hairs are pretty small at only 0.2 inches or 0.5 centimeters. There are many things in nature that could cause a false alarm for the venus flytrap. If something triggers the trap and doesn’t provide any nutrition it’s wasted energy for the venus flytrap. This is energy it needs to help catch its prey. 

In order to avoid any false alarms a trigger hair must be bent twice or two different hairs must be triggered within a 20 second period. After the 20 seconds it restarts the clock. This helps avoid being triggered with a rain drop or a leaf that falls. It’s incredible how evolved and smart the venus flytrap is. 

how does a venus flytrap work

Once these trigger hairs are tripped in the correct way the trap will close in less than a second, capturing its prey. The trap will close most of the way but not all the way at first. Scientist believe this is so that smaller insects can get away and the venus flytrap doesn’t have to waste energy breaking down an insect that will not be worth the effort. 

If the venus flytrap is triggered and it’s a false alarm it can take 5 to 12 days for it to reopen. This is a long time with no opportunity to eat. This is why it has developed safe guards against being triggered falsely. Hopefully this helps you understand better how a venus flytrap catches its prey. 

How Does The Venus Fly Trap Digest Its Food

Now that the venus flytrap has closed it’s trap on a fly, it now has to breakdown that fly and convert it to energy. The venus flytrap will seal its trap so no air can get in or out. Through this process it’s basically turning itself into a stomach. Enzymes are produced by glands that break the fly down. There are two distinct sections of the insect that the enzymes breakdown. First you have the exoskeleton made of chitin then the hemolyph which is the nitrogen rich blood of the insect. 

Once the venus flytrap has extracted and absorbs all the useful parts of the insect it opens back up and the “shadow skeleton” of the insect blows away in the wind. 

It’s a little gross and a lot awesome hopefully this helps you understand the question, how does the venus fly trap digest its food. 

cool red and green venus flytrap

How Does The Venus Fly trap Reproduce

To fully understand the question, how does a venus flytrap work, you really need to also know how they reproduce. This is the one area a venus flytrap isn’t completely different from other plants. 

The first way the venus flytrap reproduces is through pollination. Once the flowers are pollinated they can create seeds. The seeds will take 4-6 weeks to mature. Once they are matured they will become pear shaped and black. The seeds are then released and spread to grow new venus flytraps. 

They can also reproduce asexually. A bulb root can be created when the roots of the flytrap extend into the soil. A new venus flytrap can grow from the bulb. The new bulb and original plant can be separated by a gardener but cutting the connecting roots and replanting both. It’s definitely a little strange, hopefully this answers how does the venus flytrap reproduce. 

Video Of The Inside Of The Venus Flytrap

Enough with the reading already! Can you just show me how the venus flytrap works on a video? Sure thing, check out the video below to help you understand these amazing little plants!

Conclusion

Sometimes it’s really hard to grasp how this plant has evolved. It’s incredible to think that over years and years a plant can evolve to understand more efficient and beneficial ways to obtain its food when it lives in such deprived locations. Like Ian Malcom of the Jurassic Park universe says, “Life finds a way”. 

Is the venus fly trap even from our planet? Sometimes it almost seems alien. I’m so glad that you stopped by to do some research on this captivating little plant that has been capturing the imagination of many children and adults alike over the years. I always love sharing knowledge around one of the coolest plants in the world. 

If you thought this was helpful and cool, you can really help us out by sharing this on your favorite social media platform. Whether its Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, we really appreciate it! 

I hope this answered your question, how does the venus fly trap work!