You can do leaf cuttings by plucking a leaf from the Venus Flytrap. Make a downward tug, your goal is to get the whitish base of the leaf. You want the whitish base to be fairly smooth. If you have a jagged break line cut it straight with a razor blade, don't remove anymore than you have to. Cut the trap off too. Place the Venus Flytrap leaf right side up on a peat/sand mix, peat/perlite mix, long fiber sphagnum or milled sphagnum in a propagation container. I generally use 70% peat and 30% perlite or sand.

Take a pinch of soil or whatever your using and place it over the base of the Venus Flytrap leaf. Try to keep the majority of the Venus Flytrap leaf in contact with the soil. Place a couple pinches of soil on the leaf to help hold it down. Keep the soil very moist but not wet. Cover and place in bright light or within 6" - 8" of fluorescent lighting for 16 hrs/day. In several weeks you should see plantlets growing from the base or along the margins. In a few more weeks they should have four or five leaves and starting roots.

Once the roots have started cut the Venus Flytrap plantlets away from the starter leaf if there is an abundance. I generally leave about a ¼ inch of the leaf around the base of the plantlets if possible. Soak the plantlets in SuperThrive for several minutes before potting up. Leaf cutting will produce mature Venus Flytraps within one or two growing seasons.

Humidity is the key to all leaf and root cuttings, without it they dry out. You must use some type of propagation container. All you need is a shallow container with a clear lid. I like to use clear plastic 4" - 8" water trays or Chinese take-out containers (see main propagation page or Propagation Chamber page). A 1/2" of soil is plenty. Damp-off fungus can be a problem, if so use a fungicide. You can sterilize moist media by placing it in an oven at 250° for 1.5 hrs or nuke it for 1 minute per cup of moist media. Zip lock bagies work well too. Anything that lets light in and keeps humidity up is fine.

   

Here is a cutting we did, this picture was taken 12 weeks after the cutting was placed in the propagation chamber. Flytrap cuttings take a long time to get started. This leaf looked dead, almost black, before growth emerged. Keep the media moist at all times, never let it dry out. Don't give up.

If your Venus Flytrap produces offshoots you can divide it. Once both, or all, sections have individual roots you can cut them apart using a sharp knife. Make sure each section has its own roots. Soak all sections in a solution of SuperThrive then pot up normally. Plants should be divided at the tail end of dormancy just before growth starts or shortly after it has started. Once you get good you can generally get by with it at anytime.

If you can get Venus Flytrap seed that is only a couple days old it can be sown immediately. Otherwise it needs a wet cold stratification period before they will grow. Meaning flytrap seeds must experience a moist cold period before they will grow. You can achieve this one of two ways.

The first method involves putting them in the fridge for 6 weeks. You want them to stay moist at all times and they should be sealed to help prevent fungus attacks. One way you can do this is place the seeds in a small zip lock bag with a moist piece of long fiber sphagnum moss. Any technique that results in a cold/moist environment will do the trick. I have also used baby food jars to place them in the fridge.

The next method is much faster. If you do not want to wait you can use Gibberellic acid. This is my preferred method but Gibberellic acid is generally hard to find and pricey when you do. There is a link to a place that sells Gibberellic acid (GA3) in the links area if you are interested. I add 1/4 of a "smidgen" of Gibberellic acid to 2 oz of RO water and soak them in it for roughly 24 hrs. Soak them in water for 6 - 10 hrs before the GA3 to soften the seed coat. Once mixed it will keep approximately 2 weeks if stored in the refrigerator. For instructions see the Gibberellic acid information page.

When the Venus Flytrap seeds are ready spread them sparsely on the growing medium. Do not cover the seeds with soil. Humidity of 40 - 50% is best. A 1/2" of soil is plenty to get them started.

Optionally you can sow them in pots and cover them with a water tray to help with humidity if needed. Place the container in bright light or within 6" - 10" under a fluorescent light set on for 16 hrs/day. Within one to several months they should start to grow. Damp-off fungus may be an issue here too so use a fungicide if needed. When they have several leaves and some roots they can be removed and placed in pots. Acclimate them before moving and be careful not to damage the tiny roots. Seed grown Venus Flytraps take 5 - 7 years to mature.

If you have tissue culture supplies TC the seeds. It helps prevent fungus attacks and gives the plants a one to three year head start. Even if you don't tissue culture the seeds you should still sterilize them in 10% bleach for 10 - 15 minutes. See the sterilization section for more details.