Venus flytrap outdoors in winter?!

[AntiqueBooks]

Hello all

I always thought of a Venus Flytrap as an indoors plant.

The internet is telling me tho that they can survive outside during a UK winter. But it's giving me conflicting advice on whether to put it in the shed (protection from frost) or leave it outdoors so it still gets light.

I don't have a greenhouse or cold frame. Wish I did!

All thoughts welcome, thanks.

Why not keep it indoors? They like warm humid conditions!

@DeQuin just kind of as an experiment! B&Q are selling a pack of 3 so what I'm going to do is put 1 in the front garden, 1 in the back garden and keep 1 indoors on windowsill.

Maybe I should buy/make some cloches!

They are outdoor plants in North America they also die back over winter. Also an endangered species in the wild.

I kept mine on my south facing kitchen window all year, it does get quite cold in winter but generally it seems happy there. I lost it recently to a fungus caught from an orchid so annoyingly I’ve lost a lot of indoor plants.

I’d be very interested in your experiment results.

Re cloches the fly traps are tiny the bottom of a clear lemonade bottle with a few holes in would work.

Thanks all.

@Billybagpuss if you wish to start taking notes on my experiment (ooh, fun!), my front garden is south facing and my back garden north facing. I'm 1 mile from the coast, near Edinburgh.

So I suspect this is all in hope rather than expectation but hey!

Hello all,

My 3 plants arrived about 5 days ago. I had initially planned to put 1 in the front garden and 1 in the back but I reckon there's no way a venus would survive my front garden. It gets SO hot and sunny there during the summer. It would be literally impossible to keep it moist enough.

So I currently have: 1 venus out the back, in its original plastic pot and then put inside a clay pot, under a plastic cloche (with ventilation hole). Godspeed to it and I shall keep you updated!

(The other 2 I have kept indoors)

(I ended up buying some cloches because I am using some for my young thistle and seaholly plants and there weren't plastic bottles big enough)

Update:

Venus on sunny windowsill: only gone a tiny bit black on one trap and has grown a big new shoot

Venus on shadier windowsill: all the traps went black and dried up but a few small new shoots are growing.

Outdoor venus: I ended up taking the cloche off it as wasn't convinced it was actually good for it. Has gone a bit black but some remains green, even after the frost/snow last week so we shall see...!

So excited for your update happy the sunny window was the best as that’s where mine are

Thanks @Billybagpuss I should have said that I have moved the venus which was on the shady windowsill to the sunny windowsill now, next to the other one. As the plants had made their feelings known!

Godspeed to the outdoors one, I hope it can make it!

I got a fungal bug thing on all my plants initially from an orchid so had to start again.

my sarracenia are looking amazing

I lost mine last winter so this winter I have put it in an unheated greenhouse. Fingers crossed

@Billybagpuss you and I must be twins! I chucked 2 orchids this year. 1 for having caterpillars and 1 for having flies. Tried various things to get rid of the pests but nothing worked, so into the brown bin they went!

@Celiathebanshee that's interesting, can you tell us more? Had it survived previous winters outside? Whereabouts in the country are you/what sort of temperatures?

Ah yes I can see that might have been useful info! I have never managed to keep one through a winter - so they have died on my kitchen windowsill (not hot but also not cold. 17-18 degrees? No sun though) and in a draughty cold frame. I am starting to think the amount of water might be key but goodness they are fussy buggers and who knows what the right amount might be!
I’ve overwintered sarracenias with much more success (but they have also gone out to the greenhouse for a bit of dryness this winter, I might regret reading what you are supposed to do) and I’m trying to keep a pitcher plant alive on the kitchen windowsill because apparently they don’t like to dry out
I’m in Chester so we suffer more from wet than cold. Although it is bloody cold today

@Celiathebanshee you know that they pretty much always go black in winter and that it doesn't mean they've died? Especially if they are indoors. Just don't let them dry out completely and they should come back.

I thought you had perhaps had success with the holy grail of keeping them alive OUTSIDE!

Yes. Unfortunately mine didn’t come back 😭

I have a collection of insectivorous plants including a Venus fly trap. All the non tropical ones, including the Venus fly trap, overwinter outdoors. They are together in plastic pots covered in clear bubble wrap in an unheated green house (although it was so cold a couple of weeks ago I did put a small heater next to them overnight for a few days). This is the Venus fly trap’s 3rd overwinter and he is looking a mixture of green and black leaves. He usually loses around half his leaves over winter. Obviously you have stated you don’t have a greenhouse, but a cold frame or cloche should achieve a similar effect. The other thing to note is that I am in Greater London so it doesn’t usually get that cold. I might get different results further north. Good luck - I love them.

Thanks @Firefly100 I'm in Edinburgh so not quite as balmy!

The venus flytrap which has spent this winter outside still has some green traps and shoots so I'm quietly optimistic...!

Still time for snow before spring tho...

Well it's almost completely black now and showing no signs of new growth. Whereas every other plant in my garden is noticeably growing now.

So, I know it's hard to believe but NO - venus flytraps will not survive outside in Scotland!