How to Make a Venus Flytrap Terrarium
For a long time now, Venus flytraps have been a major hit, captivating the minds of its lovers. Well, it’s probably not anybody’s fault that they are left spellbound by Venus flytraps. After all, they are one of nature’s strangest wonders. After learning about Venus flytraps and all its surprising characteristics, most people want to own one. And after reading this you’ll know just how to make a venus flytrap terrarium of your very own.
The issue, however, is that the terrariums they come in are usually tiny, and in dire need for an upgrade. If you’ve fantasized about owning one of these beautiful creatures before, then there’s no point backing out now. That’s because of the smallness of the terrariums that they come in – not when you can make your Venus flytrap terrarium with objects that you can easily find around your home
Here, we are providing a thorough, step by step guide that will help you in your quest towards setting up the perfect terrarium for your Venus flytrap. Remember that we are highlighting flytrap here. But, this method can work for nearly all species of carnivorous plants that you know.
To start with, let’s highlight the items you will need to have at hand before you can set up the perfect Venus flytrap terrarium. You don’t need much. Remember we’ve mentioned earlier that with just a few household stuff, you can make your terrarium.
The Essential Items Needed for Making a Venus Flytrap Terrarium
• The Plant
The Venus flytrap plant itself or any other carnivorous plant you are building for, as the case may be. And if you haven’t already, here’s one of our article on how you can care and grow your Venus flytrap plant at its best.
• Your accent plant
A lot of people prefer to make use of Utricularia to place around the Venus flytrap for a beautiful effect. It is a tiny carnivorous plant that looks just like grass too. Moreover, it can produce some of the cutest little flowers you will ever know. Other plants can work well as accent plants for the Venus flytrap. For this, a simple search would get you a lot.
• Venus Flytrap Terrarium
Well, we have to mention that too. But, it doesn’t even have to be excessively big. That’s because Venus flytraps are not precisely known to be large plants.
Of course, some Venus flytrap can grow incredibly to make quite a significant size. However, you can still safely prune it to keep everything under your control. Ensure that the terrarium is not made to be completely closed off, considering there’s still a significant need for fresh air to get in.
We have taken the liberty of suggesting a few designs from both Amazon and Etsy. Your local home decor store, Homegoods, Pier1, Pottery Barn are all excellent options too.
• Soil Mixture
We can find soil anywhere, and that is why this item is not a problem. However, you need to understand this aspect fully. You will need a unique mixture of soil for your Venus flytrap to survive.
Step One: Soil Mixture
After getting all the items that you need ready, it’s time to drive into serious work. What other places can you genuinely start work than from where it matters – the soil. Like in most other plants, Venus flytraps need good soil to survive. The difference, however, is that this creature obtains nutrient from by catching insects and it does this for a reason. While fly traps need good soil, they don’t often grow in areas that are characterized with good soil. Of course, you need to think in the direction of getting a new and right mix of the soil to get it going as good as you desire.
The unavailability of sufficient nutrient in the soil means that the plants develop their traps to make up for what their root can’t catch. The Venus flytraps cannot adapt to the absorption of nutrients. They can hardly adjust to excess nutrients, and this makes them susceptible to developing issues from excessively nutritious soil. What we are simply speaking here is that they can cope in poor soil formation. It means that soil rich in nutrients can cause its root to begin to damage and that on its own might mean the eventual death of the plant. For this reason, you will need a mix of your soil, so that it can as much as possible imitate their natural habitats.
A quick stroll around the internet and you will find many different recipe suggestions for soil recipes for the Venus flytraps. However, we’ve seen the following materials commonly used:
- Perlite
- Sphagnum moss
- Sphagnum peat moss
- Silica sand
These materials are particularly recommendable because they are nutrient-free; hence, do not pose any serious threats to the health of the Venus flytrap.
The most common soil mixture for this purpose consists of equal parts of pear and perlite. Because of the unsustainable nature of the peat, however, some growers would prefer making the sphagnum moss slightly better instead.
Usually, you should be able to find these materials by yourself. But, if you don’t fancy all the problems involved in trying to find them, then you can always place your order for a pre-made mix of Venus flytrap soil. Note though that not all plant stores and garden center, but you can check in one of the favorite online carnivorous plant stores.
Don't feel like mixing your own carnivorous soils?
We recommend these options from Amazon for Venus Flytraps
Step Two: Setting Up
A lot of people get scared of this stage. However, you don’t have to be because setting up your Venus flytrap terrarium is very simple, with uncomplicated processes.
Once you have all your supply available, make sure that the soil mix is ready for use. At this moment, think a little on what you would want the end product of your terrarium to look like. After that, you can start planting.
If the plants are not bare-root from the stores, then you should carefully take off the pots and get the roots free. I always like to reuse the medium that my Venus flytrap was planted in before arrival, as it is usually peat and I think it doesn’t pay to want to waste anything. So if you’d like to be like me, mix the peat into the soil mix as well as possible, and then plant the Venus flytrap in the terrarium.
At this stage, you should be able to add anything else you wish to, from most to accent plants, bladderwort, and even decorations. Once done, that’s it! Your Venus flytrap terrarium is good to go.
Step Three: Maintenance of The Venus Flytrap Terrarium
Now that we’ve talked so much about how to make a perfect Venus flytrap, it is also essential that we talk about its maintenance, after all, of what essence is it to have a good enough terrarium for your flytrap and still lose it in a short while because of poor maintenance ability. Many people get into this trouble, and I can tell that it is not a great experience at all. For this reason, you should follow a proper maintenance routine should. Here, after careful research and personal experimentation, I’ve come up with my maintenance tips that will suit your Venus flytrap terrarium.
Please, note that the process of maintaining a terrarium designed for your Venus flytrap isn’t as tricky as a lot of review sites make it look. Nevertheless, there are a few essential things that you should keep in mind throughout the process of owning one.
• Watering of Venus Flytrap Terrarium
As you probably thought, water is vital. However, you must be careful about the type of water you give. Remember that in the earlier part of this article, we talked about how exposure to nutrients can have adverse effects on your plant since they can’t absorb these nutrients as most other species do. As much as possible, put them away from tap water as it can potentially damage them. Instead, water them with nutrient-free distilled or demineralized water.
For a start, the terrarium is a relatively closed environment compared to regular pots. Therefore, you won’t need to water the Venus flytrap as often as you would have needed to if they were regular pots.
• Keep the Soil Wet as Much as Possible
Venus flytraps by their nature won’t mind some water at all times. Try to gauge your watering level and balance it with the weather at all times. While you can water during summer, slow things down or even completely stop watering during the winter period.
Now you can see that making a terrarium for your Venus flytrap is more comfortable than a lot of people make it sound. All it requires is a strong dedication and commitment on your part, and you would be good to go. Also, it will be great to pay attention to maintenance too. That’s because it plays a crucial role in determining the longevity of your Venus flytrap terrarium.
