Mine has bloomed as well and is probably making seeds now. They often self-pollinate, but usually do not produce many seeds. If you want, you can rub the inside of the flower gently with a cotton swab to displace the pollen, then tap the swab over the flower to try to aid in pollination, but you do not have to.

I have some blooming right now too. Usually, I cut off flower stalks because it is very exhausting to the plant but I let one grow from time to time. I also put some pics on my web site of one going through the flowering process if anyone wants to see it but doens't want to risk the plant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aracknight's Deadly Delights

Is your plant inside or outside? If inside I would be inclined to snip flower stalks. From what I have read recently, it isn't so much the stalk or the flowering that is exhaustive to the plant, but the seed production.

My plant is inside. It gets morning sun thru a picture window.
If it survives the flowing should I let it recover before repoting it? It seems to be in great shape at this time.

How is the best way to repot it? I dont want to trip the traps but don't know how to avoid that.

Hello crylady,

Mine is inside too, but I made sure that it was getting enough light to produce some red coloring in the traps, that it could fully close and digest prey, and that it's trap closure was less than a fraction of a second. That indicates that the plant has enough light to flower without exhausting itself, however; might still slow down in trap production. If the plant is healthy, it will resume trap production after flowering.

You can repot the Flytrap virtually any time during the growing season, preferably in the spring or early summer so it has time to reestablish it's roots. You can wait till after it flowers to do that, just wait for the flowers to blacken and collect any seeds, then repot. If the soil is not old, you might just move the entire plant with soil to another, larger pot. That reduces any root stress. When repotting, you can just tap the sides of the old pot and press slightly in the sides to loosen the old soil, then turn it upside down with your hand cupped over the plant and soil. Some of the traps might get tripped, but that is almost unavoidable in some cases. Just repot, being careful not to snap any roots off, and make sure the new media is moist and of the proper acidic mix of sphagnum peat moss and perlite or horticultural sand in a 50/50 mix. Make sure that none of the new soil has any fertilizers or mineral supplements in it. The moss you want is the bale of dry Canadian premium sphagnum moss in a plastic wrap, not the bags of fertilized stuff. Repot it into a 5-6 inch pot with drainage and place an oversized tray under it, like an inch or two wider than the pot. When you water it, let the excess drain into the tray up to an inch or so and let it dry over time, rewater when the tray runs too low or dries out. Never let the plant soil dry out. Thats pretty much it.

Can you add artificial lighting to the plant? Window sill light is not enough energy for VFT's, in the long run.

Thnax for the detailed information about repotting. Will wait until flowering is done be for trying that.
I'm keeping a close eye on "Snappy" and will be sure it strong before doing that.

I got a lot of info from all of you and feel certain I can keep this plant going for a while. Is there a live span to be aware of?

If you keep it inside and don't give it a yearly dormant period it probably only last a few years. These are outside plants. FULL SUN. Full sun in a window is not the same. it's less intense believe it or not.

Tom

There are many other CP's that do well at window sills, such as butterworts, bladderworts, and many sundews.

Yeah, VFt live for about 10-20 years or even longer in the wild. In cultivation, it has always been seen that they live longer outside in full sun than inside. Even a window, as tommyr indicated, cuts down on ultraviolet light and some of the actual intensity of full sun. In any case, some people have grown them successfully indoors with supplemental artificial light and a window, but keeping them alive indoors is much harder in virtually all cases. It just takes more work and care.

I intend to get mine outside as soon as I move to a place amenable to such.

Good luck with your plants.