repot into a terrarium?

[ZZalapski]

I have a Venus flytrap that I bought last May. It's still alive, but unfortunately it's receiving suboptimal sunlight, as it's by a window that faces west. As such, it stopped growing red traps well before winter set in.

I've read the general stance against repotting by novices, and how VFTs are not particularly well-suited for terrariums, but in this instance I'm wondering whether it'd be advisable to repot "Audrey" in early April in a terrarium so that it can have its own light source in a overhead fixture. Also, a terrarium would provide more room for growth; at five inches tall, and with stringy green traps extending this way and that, it's starting to look cramped in its bottle terrarium.

Or maybe my best course of action would be to move where I can put "Audrey" in front of a south window...

Thanks for any help that can be provided.

EDIT: Whoops, this should've been posted in the Indoor Growing section.

[ryanhellyer]

I see that you live in America, so April is probably about the right time to repot, although late May may also be okay - depends on what your seasons do I guess.

I think that repotting it would be a good idea. If you are willing to build a full terrarium, then your plant will thank you for it. It would be easier if the plant was healthier before doing the repotting though. Plants with stringy green leaves are less likely to handle the shock of transferring pots than a healthy plant with nice big red traps.

Repotting isn't that hard, the trick is to make sure that you follow the instructions and it should go fine.
I have some brief tips about repotting here ... flytrapgrowing.info/should-i-repot/, but there's probably more detailed instructions at sarracenia.com. Make sure you water it with lots of good quality water.

[ZZalapski]

Thanks for your reply, Ryan. When you say "full" terrarium, what would be the minimum suggested capacity for the bowl/tank? Would a 12-in high drum fish bowl be too small, even if it's just for one VFT?

[ryanhellyer]

I'm not sure there is a minimum size. As long as you don't overheat the inside it shouldn't matter too much. Whether you overheat the inside will depend on how much light you are irradiating it with and what the ambient temperature around the bowl is.

[Hikenyura]

In my opinion I don't advise terrainiums. I know it gets cold over where you live though. It would be better just to take your flytrap outside when winter is over and take it inside when winter begins. Flytraps prefer the outdoors and can grow in the low humdity of the outdoors (after a slow down at growth, it'll go back to normal).

[turkeypig]

I thoroughly agree. I have grown my VFTs in my low humidity backyard in dry Ol' Portland (OR) for several years and they were very robust. Now to see this years' growth... in the family bog! Oooo, I cant wait...