Carnivores in need!
My Venus Fly Trap and Tropical Pitcher Plant share a pot and were recently moved out of a plastic box acting as a terrarium. They haven’t been looking too good since I moved them. What’s going on and how can I fix it?
#CarnivorousPlants
#CarnivorousPlants
7
Hi. What are they in? The substrate looks dry. Which would be a death sentence. If the looks deceive, other things that can be dangerous are
- the wrong water. For vfts only use distilled. No fertilizer.
- energy drain.
If you have recently moved her and touched her traps too much (or some people did that in the shop), maybe the traps are dying because they have reached their limited amount of "trapping cycles". Each trap can only open and close a certain amount of time and that costs the plant enormous effort. If they close empty too often, that might even kill the plant.
- no dormancy.
Did you get it from a trusted source? VFTs need a dormancy period each winter. If they don't, they over extend, get weaker and fade away at some point.
From the looks however, I'd say all the last points are unlikely. Too me it looks like dehydration due to a) possiblydead roots because of too many minerals or b) letting the substrate go dry. It's common practice with VFTs to always keep them on a saucer with a continuous supply of distilled water (maybe 0.5-1 inch high), so that doesn't happen. Whatever the cause, I hope it will bounce back
- the wrong water. For vfts only use distilled. No fertilizer.
- energy drain.
If you have recently moved her and touched her traps too much (or some people did that in the shop), maybe the traps are dying because they have reached their limited amount of "trapping cycles". Each trap can only open and close a certain amount of time and that costs the plant enormous effort. If they close empty too often, that might even kill the plant.
- no dormancy.
Did you get it from a trusted source? VFTs need a dormancy period each winter. If they don't, they over extend, get weaker and fade away at some point.
From the looks however, I'd say all the last points are unlikely. Too me it looks like dehydration due to a) possiblydead roots because of too many minerals or b) letting the substrate go dry. It's common practice with VFTs to always keep them on a saucer with a continuous supply of distilled water (maybe 0.5-1 inch high), so that doesn't happen. Whatever the cause, I hope it will bounce back
Oh, another possibility of course are fungal/ bacterial infection. Often old traps might rot away (though that's less worrisome, it still is best practice to remove old plant matter regularly). But since the pot is huge, if indeed you have supplied constant water, maybe your substrate got moldy with a more aggressive fungus that also attacked the leaves? Not extremely common, I think, but that pot is rather big.
Also, in my own (be it rather limited) experience, they are quite dramatic and do not love to have their roots disturbed. A recent repot at the very least might be the cause of some limpness directly after.
Also, in my own (be it rather limited) experience, they are quite dramatic and do not love to have their roots disturbed. A recent repot at the very least might be the cause of some limpness directly after.
@MusicalRedmint They’re in a wood substrate with some sort of soil—I’m just using what they came in. I got it from Lowe’s. Thank you for the tips on what the issue could be.
@MusicalRedmint The pot isn’t actually that big—the pot and plant are both really small. The photo is just close up. I did consider an infection as a possible issue. Thanks for the added info!
When talking pot size, we usually mean relative to the size of the plant. Even a 4inch pot is huge of its a tiny plant with small rootsystem.
Woodsubstrate sounds wild to me for a CP. I'd think that's way too airy and doesn't keep or transport the water the way the plant needs it. But since it came in that, maybe I am wrong. The seller or nursery would have chosen something it can survive in, I assume.
Generally, when you choose your own substrate at some point, think bog. (Relatively) dense, water retentive medium is generally the goto for VFTs.
Woodsubstrate sounds wild to me for a CP. I'd think that's way too airy and doesn't keep or transport the water the way the plant needs it. But since it came in that, maybe I am wrong. The seller or nursery would have chosen something it can survive in, I assume.
Generally, when you choose your own substrate at some point, think bog. (Relatively) dense, water retentive medium is generally the goto for VFTs.