When the flower of a Venus flytrap is fertilized, many of the small black seeds form in it. You can grow new plants from these. How to harvest the seed and how to grow Venus flytraps from it.
How to harvest and sow Venus flytrap seeds?
To harvest Venus flytrap seeds, pollinate the flower, then let it dry out and collect seeds. Store cold and sow in spring. Use the seeding mixture of peat and sand. The seeds need light to germinate and high humidity.
How to pollinate the flowers of a Venus flytrap
The flower of the Venus flytrap is hermaphrodite. Pollination occurs via insects. Even in closed rooms there are usually enough pollinators.
To be on the safe side, you can also pollinate the flowers yourself. To do this you need a fine brush (€4.00 on Amazon) or a cotton swab. Run a brush or stick over the stamens of each flower. Feel free to repeat this process several times.
It takes some time for the flower to fade and for the fruit capsules containing the black seed to develop.
Harvesting and storing Venus flytrap seeds
If the flower has dried up, there are several ways to harvest the seed:
- Cut off the flower
- Tie off the flower with a plastic bag
- Place a plate under the flower
Since Venus flytraps are cold germinators, you must store them in a cool place after harvesting. Place them in an opaque paper bag in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator. They stay there until the time comes for sowing in the spring.
Sowing Venus flytrap seeds
At the beginning of March it is time to sow the seeds of the Venus flytrap. To do this, prepare cultivation pots that you fill with a mixture of two-thirds peat and one-third sand. The substrate must be well moistened.
Sprinkle the seeds thinly and press them down gently. Venus flytraps germinate in light, so the seeds must not be covered with substrate.
Place the pots as sunny and protected from drafts as possible. To maintain humidity, experts recommend covering the pots with plastic film or glass panes.
Care for seeds until germination
Make sure that the surface and therefore the seeds do not dry out. Spray them more often with a fine stream of rainwater. However, the substrate must not become too moist.
If you have covered the pots, ventilate them regularly to prevent seeds and substrate from rotting. Make sure the pots get enough light.
Fresh seeds should germinate after three weeks. If it takes longer, it is probably an old seed that may no longer germinate. After emergence, separate the small plants. Place larger specimens carefully in their own pots. They will now be cared for like adult Venus flytraps.
It takes several years for the first flowering
It takes several years for plants propagated from seeds to bloom for the first time. The flowers usually only develop after four years.
Tip
There is only one species of the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), and no subspecies or varieties. So you can't breed different species, you can only multiply the plant.
