FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello everyone!

I am a bit concerned about my baby flytrap. I know it’s normal for flytraps to turn black in dormancy, die off, and regrow. However, I recently bought another flytrap from the flytrap store and received a care sheet with it. The care sheet stated that I might need to reach out if the majority of my traps are black.

I haven’t had this flytrap long and this is my first flytrap ever. I received it as a gift from a coworker at the very beginning of January (around the 2nd). I was able to repot it somewhere around January 10th.

Due to the freeze and frost temperatures here, I have only been able to get it outside a few times. It probably needs sun because there have been a lot of overcast days, but I’m trying to just have it outside without using any artificial lighting. The past few days it’s had to stay in my unfinished basement beside the window due to the outdoor temperatures, but it should be able to be outside for most of the remainder of the week (however it is supposed to rain Thursday through Sunday all day, I’m not sure if I should leave it out the whole time as I don’t want it to be overwatered).

My concern is that at least 5 or 6 out of 10 of my flytraps have visible blackening, and all of the flytraps at least have some black specks. A lot are still green but look to be turning black. Also two of my flytraps seem sort of yellow along with having black. Is this cause for concern? I recently had to move some soil off of the grow area, I found out I had it buried when I repotted it but uncovered it over the weekend after receiving feedback on a separate post. It’s potted in soil perfect plants carnivorous plant soil (I bought this soil before I discovered this forum/website) in a 6” plastic pot. I checked with Matt about the ingredients and he said they should be ok (in the future I will buy the soil off from the store here). The water is damp and I use the tray method, but I don’t let it sit in water all day since it’s pretty cold already. I last watered it around 2-3 days ago and it is still damp.

Should I be worried or do I need to do anything? I’m attaching a picture from Saturday- you can’t see as much black as there is now or the yellow parts, but the plant is currently still standing up the same way and isn’t sagging like it’s dying.

Help! Thank you in advance!

Also I should note that the plant came from Lowe’s and these are all the same flytraps (no new growth yet unless those two little stubs are baby flytraps?). Before now there’s only been 1 flytrap that turned black that I was able to trim off before I repotted it.

A couple things. It is dormancy time. Pick a good spot and leave it there. Do not concern yourself with the traps turning black. They ALL will die off eventually and will grow new ones when it is time. You are doing more harm than good by constantly moving it. It looks to be OK to me but maybe reveal a little more of the rhizome.

Ok thank you so much! I don’t move it to the basement from outdoors unless it gets below 32 degrees, I was told that I need to move the flytrap inside near a window if the temperatures drop to freezing. The temperature was in the teens the past few days.

The link under this is a photo log of my flytraps from winter then re potted and onto blooming. I leave my flytraps outside in the freezing weather, night times here freeze a lot but day time it always thaws.
This should let you see how they look in a natural winter and how they put back out.

post436449.html

Oh wow yours are beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing!! So it’s ok to leave my flytraps outside if the temperature falls below 32 degrees?

Where i live i get many nights in the 20'sF some lower teens but when the sun comes up temps rise above freezing 99.9% of the time. I live about a 4 hour drive west of where they grow wild so pretty much the same weather. The photo's show pretty much how they look year after year i do cover my plants with a tarp if it freezes in the daytime that has only happened twice for me so far.

IMO, it takes long term deep cold (20's) to cause real damage. if you are in the south and all you get is night time freezes like me you should be fine. But if you freeze even in the day time find protection.

Thank you so much! I live in Virginia and it has been freezing a lot recently at night and for the past few days in the night and day time, it should be in the 40’s and 50’s for the next week or two and hopefully will stay that way!

sswitzer7198 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 23, 2024 3:15 am Thank you so much! I live in Virginia and it has been freezing a lot recently at night and for the past few days in the night and day time, it should be in the 40’s and 50’s for the next week or two and hopefully will stay that way!

Learn about fridge dormancy.

For VFTs, in mid – October (zone 6) once the plants are well into the start of dormancy (they need both shorter photo period AND cold like in nature) I drain off excess water from the pots, hit them with a SULFUR based fungicide and place in zip lock bags and pop them in the bottom of the fridge for 3 - 3 1/2 months. I occasionally check them (once a month) for fungus and hit with the fungicide if needed. Late winter around February 1st I take them out and clean them up, repot any that need it, hit them with SULFUR based fungicide again and place in a south and west window and some under florescent and white 'daylight' LED lights until night time temps. regularly stay above freezing then slowly acclimate them to full outdoor Sun. I've been using this method for 15 years with no losses.