It's not really hard-but they have Exact needs.

The natural dormancy starts with decreased daylight hours and cooler temperatures. I live in Florida and it was Thirty-two last night. You may not have the cool temperatures but you have shorter days.

If you put the sarracenia and Venus fly-trap in the refrigerator it is a moot point because they will be in the dark.

Or you could try Sunbelle's technique of leaving the two outside and decreasing the water. This could be too tricky for a beginner.

The North American Sarracenia Conservacy recommends potting pitcher plants in half sand and half peat. I buy mine at Home Depot or Lowes. Use the Play Sand (it is inside with the mortar mixes.

Long-fibered sphagnum moss is used successfully by many people to pot sarracenias and other carnivorous plants.

Just stick any sarracenia or dionea in the refrigerator and that will trigger dormancy but don't freak out if they still grow. I am getting new growth and have had thirty degree temperatures several times since October.

If you give them the right potting medium, lots of sunlight, and rain or sterile water you'll do great.
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Amazing plants btw, but what kind of 'play sand'? I know it sounds funny but do you mean like play sand that goes in a sand box for kids?

Justin, I may be presuming too much but I get the feeling that you may not have much experience with plants in general. I'm talking about non-carnivorous species like fruits and vegetables, ornamental flowers, foliage plants and houseplants. If so, you need to broaden your horizon a bit.

Carnivores are, for the most part, not beginner plants. Before anyone tries to grow them, they should spend at least a little time on other species, like maybe African violets or orchids or bromeliads.

For myself, CPs are some of the most difficult and picky plants I've ever dealt with. At least they do better than my orchids. And one plant I can never keep alive is poinsettia. With orchids and poinsettia, it's like there's a razor-thin line between too much water and dehydration, and I can never get it right. Same with hydrangeas.

You are correct I've had about 2 years with pumpkins and pepper plants mostly... I got into Cps about a month ago.

Poinsettia are easy to grow, just a bit hard to get colored up in the fall/winter. Let their soil dry out almost all the way between waterings. Feed 1/4 strength whatever your fertilizer label says at every watering. Bright, indirect sun. To color up COMPLETE DARKNESS is need for 12-14 a night. I mean COMPLETE darkness. It takes about 40 days.

Justin, 50% play sand or perlite and 50% peat moss is basic CP soil. With the peat moss get the BAIL of peat moss, not the smaller bags. With Perlite DO NOT use Miracle Grow's perlite. Those idiots put fertilizer in all their products. This may be OK for NORMAL houseplants and gardens but it's NOT for CPs.

Justin: Pumice and vermiculite might be worth a try as well.

Tommy: Maybe I'll try again this year, but I've done my best to follow the recommendations and I've killed every darn poinsettia. And shade azaleas, too.

Try going to a general nursery, not in Home Depot or any other store warehouse. Go to a general nursery, they usually selll perlite and sphagnum peat moss without any additives on them. Use garden sand sold in nurseries, using 'play sand' can be dangerous because of contaminets, soil, and high alkaline particles.

If you cannot find regular perlite in your city then thee are a lot of internet stores that offer it. The link below is to one that I know to be trustworthy. You can check on Amazon.com too as they are generally reliable. There are probably many store links I could dig up but this is what is most convenient off of my Favorites.

Here is a link that might be useful: Perlite

Justin
Also easy to tell you don't have much experience with zone 10 also?? Like every other climate it has limitations but insted of cold it's heat. Any plant that requires a cool dormant period let alone a cold long dormant period is TOUGH here . Usually what people do is grow "tropical" plants . Those that originate from areas with no temp change. Most of the usual "houseplants" grow with ease here in fact most are used as landscape plants
Poinsettia and MOST orchids, Palms are perfect examples . Much easier to grow them outdoors in fact they become "weedy", really tough to grow indoors.
If you choose to grow "temperate " carniverous plants you will have to resort to artificial methods of providing the necessary dormancy. There are many species of CP that REQUIRE year around heat Nepenthes come to mind except for those that come from high altitude. Those will not tolerate summers here.
There are soooooo many choices of things that grow easily here??? Certainly not to say it CAN"T be done but will require different methods.
The difference between the zones in Florida are VERY subtle but make BIG differences in growth habits particularly with evergreens. GOOD LUCK gary