Venus Flytrap from seed

I haven't grown venus flytraps from seed in years.  I used to enjoy it, so I gave it another go recently.  Growing Venus flytraps from seed takes more patience and time than just getting a mature plant, but the seedlings are so cute.  Each seedling is genetically unique so you can end up with some interesting looking plants.

Venus Flytrap not too long after germinating

Days to germinate Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
Seed planted             13/03/2019      Day 0
Germinated              08/05/2019       Day 56

I had one seed that was even slower!
Seed planted             13/03/2019      Day 0
Germinated              21/09/2019       Day 162 - over six months

At this size they catch fungus gnats

From memory, it usually doesn't take this long for Venus flytrap seedlings to germinate, and it certainly doesn't usually take this long for it to produce carnivorous leaves.  Slow germination can be caused by a few things.  Older seeds take longer to germinate (or don't germinate at all), but I don't think that was the issues this time.

Colder weather slows the germination process considerably, I think it was just too cold for fast results.  I suspected it was too cold before I planted the seed, but I was too impatient.  I got some seeds and just couldn't wait to plant them.


Edit to add: I planted some more seeds in warmer weather.  They germinated a bit faster but still took six weeks:
Seed planted             30/11/2019      Day 0
Germinated              11/01/2020       Day 42



WARNING: do NOT buy venus flytrap seeds from ebay.

Many ebay seed sellers are thieves.  They may be local, have 100% positive ratings, super low prices, large numbers of seed per packet, and incredibly fast postage, but it means nothing.  Almost all seeds for venus flytraps on ebay are not real, they will send you seeds from some packet of cheap flower seeds.

Never buy seeds for blue venus flytraps because they don't exist.  They will not even send you venus flytrap seed, they will send cheap seeds for some type of garden flowers, by the time they have grown and you realise something is amiss it will be too late to leave negative feedback or get your money back.  You will have lost your money and supported thieves.  Blue venus fly traps don't exist, the people selling seeds of them are thieves and liars. 

If you think blue venus flytraps are real (there is at least one very aggressive ebay thief who claims they do exist and says horrible things about buyers who claim they don't) then send me one, or send me seeds, or even send me a leaf pulling or a cutting from a flower stalk.  I will grow them, and photograph them, and link back to you, so thousands of people will see them and many will buy from you.  Seriously, thousands of people will see your amazing plants and I will link to you so you can make a fortune selling them.  None of these thieves will ever take me up on this offer because blue venus flytraps don't exist and they never will exist.

For a full list of vegetable days to maturity (I know that flytraps are not really vegetables) please click here.