In most cases, bottled water is not acceptable to use when watering Venus flytraps because minerals (salts) are usually added for taste, which can be damaging or even fatal to Venus flytraps. Instead, distilled water should be purchased (usually costs about $1 a gallon) and used for watering.
In case you're new to growing flytraps, here are the basic things Venus Fly Traps require to stay healthy:
1. Sunlight - at least 4 hours of direct sunlight per day to be at its healthiest
2. Water - rain, distilled or reverse osmosis water only
3. Soil - Nutrient poor soil such as peat moss
4. Dormancy - Venus Fly Traps require a 3-4 month dormancy period
Venus fly traps like lots of light. Try to give it at least 4 hours of direct sunlight a day. The more you can give it the better. It is best to grow your fly trap outside where it can get plenty of sun and catch its own food. You don't actually have to feed a Venus Fly Trap anything other than sunlight and water. If you do choose to feed it, it only needs a few bugs a month and don't feed it anything other than insects.
Venus fly traps need water that is low in mineral content. Usually tap water will not do. It is best to use distilled water, rain water, or reverse osmosis water. Venus fly traps need water with a TDS (total dissolved solids) measurement of 50 ppm (parts per million) or less. In order to get this, you probably need to buy distilled water or reverse osmosis water or collect rain water. Their soil should be kept moist at all times except during the winter when it should be just barely damp.
Contrary to what many people believe, Venus fly traps are not bog plants and do not require high humidity conditions, so be careful not to over water the plant. The best way to water it is using the tray method. Allow the tray to dry out for a day or two before refilling it with an inch or so of water (assuming you're using a fairly deep pot), and you should let the tray dry out longer (6 to 8 days or until the soil is barely damp) when the plant is dormant.
For soil you can use a combination of peat moss and/or perlite and/or silica sand. Most growers use a 50:50 mix of peat moss and perlite. Venus Fly Traps aren't picky, but be sure to use some form of peat moss or sphagnum peat moss with perlite or silica sand to ensure that the media is nutrient poor. I typically use 5 parts peat, 3 parts silica sand and 2 parts perlite. This provides good aeration to the soil so that they can grow a healthy root system and get very large. Also, deep pots with good insulation help the plant grow larger and stronger by giving them more room and protection for their roots.
Finally, without a dormancy period, your plant's health will start to decline and it will eventually die. You can read more about dormancy here:
http://www.flytrapcare.com/venus-fly-tra...
If you have any more questions, you should join the forum on my site and ask them there:
http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/
According to my son who has the same plant, I have to go and buy water from a car shop (distilled Water) as it has no addatives. bottled water could have unknown minerals that may kill the plant.
I have had mine for 43 years, it is as big as a small car, I do not give it water at all, it drinks blood, at first I fed it bugs, then small animals, then large animals, now people I do not like, want to come over and see my plant? hurry, he needs fed again
I just bought a venus flytrap I read the instructions but it dint say is I can give them bottled watter or not
