FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

We had such a heavy downpour of rain the other day from a sudden thunderstorm that it totally flooded all my pots in a matter of minutes, even *with* the protective cover in place over the top of my squirrel cage. Some of my smaller VFT's were literally completely underwater for a while, and when the flood waters finally receded, I found some of them were left choking on perlite. (These photos show one of the pots I planted this past spring while I was too sick to take the time to mix up a top layer of just peat and sand like I usually use for the top couple inches of soil. I don't like using LFS as a top dressing because I can't see how dry the soil is getting underneath it.) Anyway, I know this can't possibly be good for them, but I'm not sure how to remedy it. Using tweezers or water from a spritzer bottle to try to dislodge all the perlite would only trigger the traps to try to close and waste energy by choking them on things they can't digest.

Yep, perlite sure is a pain for that reason. Sorry to see that.

If you flood them again and use a net, you can scoop off most of the perlite

A topping of LFS will also solve that issue.

I get peat and perlite in my traps all the time, and it pretty easy to get all the junk out of the traps. Here's a few pointers:

1) Spray the junk out with a squirt bottle on "mist." (spray setting is usually too rough and just splatters peat everywhere) This seems to get the majority of all the stuff out of the traps.
2) Spray towards the outside of the traps, that way the stuff doesn't go back into other traps.
3) Try to only clean out half or even a third of the traps, wait a day or two, and then repeat. I have found that doing them all at once seems to drain the plant's energy, and may put it into shock.
4) If you manage to get some traps clear without setting them off, feeding the plant some flies seems to help offset any other wasted energy.

Finally, there will most likely be some kind off outward evidence of shutting all the traps. (like drooping petioles, leaves that don't look as green) So don't worry if your plants don't look bright and cheery. Just give them a week to recuperate, and they should be back to normal!

I have had similar issues in Tennessee. Since it has been such a rainy year so far, I am considering switching to LFS in some of my pots because they appear to get waterlogged pretty easily and LFS seems to air out more quickly. Others appear to be OK and I won't mess with them unless they start showing negative signs.

To clear perlite/peat off the traps, I just use a toothpick and gently scrape anything that isn't in an active trap. If it is inside a trap, sometimes I'll gamble and try to clear it without springing the trap but I'm not always great at it.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Like I said, I'd prefer not to use LFS. Everything I've ever put in that stuff has always died, either from staying too wet and rotting, or because I wasn't there at the precise moment when it dried out and burned to a crisp. I'm thinking about switching to nothing but peat and sand next year, at least in the top half of the pots. When I was repotting some of my VFT's this spring, I couldn't stand up for more than 5-10 minutes at a time, so I just couldn't take the time to mix up two separate kinds of soil. I did try to clear away some of the perlite today, but I wound up triggering several traps, so I guess I'll just be having yet *another* setback now.

Leo756 wrote:Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Like I said, I'd prefer not to use LFS. Everything I've ever put in that stuff has always died, either from staying too wet and rotting, or because I wasn't there at the precise moment when it dried out and burned to a crisp. I'm thinking about switching to nothing but peat and sand next year, at least in the top half of the pots. When I was repotting some of my VFT's this spring, I couldn't stand up for more than 5-10 minutes at a time, so I just couldn't take the time to mix up two separate kinds of soil. I did try to clear away some of the perlite today, but I wound up triggering several traps, so I guess I'll just be having yet *another* setback now.

Don't sweat it too much, they're pretty resilient plants. I switched from the 50/50 mix to LFSM, perlite going everywhere was a big reason as well. But I did notice when I put my S. purpurea into a 50/50 with some LFSM layering the top, it helps hold the perlite down so its not always rising to the top, also helps with the splattering issue. I have found when removing things from my traps (dead bugs, bloodworms, etc.) it helps best when the trap is already wet/damp. I do my best to be careful and use a toothpick, brush, or something thin and scrape it out. Just do your best not to trigger it, although it will happen.

Remember, in nature it rains hard. Traps will close on nothing because of this. I know its disappointing to see this, but I tell myself this when I see it and it helps. Rain can cause a trap to close for no reason, it will waste some energy but it'll spring back open and bounce back just fine. Feed it a bug or two (as mentioned before) to help offset some energy wasted and try to get them as much sunlight as you can.

I read in "The Savage Garden" that you shouldn't use more than 20% perlite because it will break down and affect the pH of the soil, so I haven't used 50/50 since reading that. I usually use 5 parts peat, 3 parts sand and 2 parts perlite, but I think next year I'll just use 50/50 peat and sand if I can. (My nerve damage makes lifting heavy things really painful sometimes, and perlite sure weighs a lot less than wet sand does!)

Good point about how it rains really hard on them in the wild. I try to keep that in mind too, but it sure was disconcerting when I saw that they were literally sitting underwater during the heavy downpour. If I'd known the perlite was going to do this, I would have put on a rain jacket with a hood, run out, and swished the water (and floating perlite) off the top of the pot. With my luck though, I probably would have gotten struck by lightning in the process!

Leo756 wrote:I read in "The Savage Garden" that you shouldn't use more than 20% perlite because it will break down and affect the pH of the soil,

I was wondering about that, because perlite is nothing but glass. And last time I checked, glass doesn't affect PH... I'll go do some digging on that!

stubbingsj wrote:I was wondering about that, because perlite is nothing but glass. And last time I checked, glass doesn't affect PH... I'll go do some digging on that!

I don't have a copy of The Savage Garden because I just borrowed it from the local library for a while, but I just found the page where I read that online:

http://books.google.com/books?id=5J2RRC ... ph&f=false

Hope that long link will work. I had to add "carnivorous plants" to my search criteria because entering just "Savage Garden" alone would only yield results about the Australian rock band by that name! (One of my all-time favorite groups, by the way!)

That's interesting information that I wasn't aware of (the pH of perlite being 8 -- slightly alkaline -- and not using more than 20% or so in a mix). I had read the Savage Garden cover to cover, but I didn't recall that tip. Thanks for bringing it up here, Leo!

You're welcome, Matt. When I borrowed it from the library, I didn't really read it cover to cover since I don't grow every kind of CP, but I did take notes on the kinds that I do grow. Some of my plants were in 50/50 peat and perlite back then, and when I read that about perlite, I gasped and immediately rushed to transplant them into different soil. That was one of the few points in that book which really stuck out in my mind since it was one of the few things I'd never heard here or anywhere else online.