FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi guys!
I'm new to the site but right now I'm desperate to save my plant so I'm looking for some help.

Before I repotted the plane, it was completely just wrapped in sphagnum moss and kept in a container soaked in water, it lived okay from September. During winter it grew very short stalks and small mouths, but it was still growing.

Now I recently repotted it because I wanted to trim off the browned leaves and give it a better look. I bought this bag of soil and repotted in a biodecomposable pot (not sure if relevant). As usual I used only distilled water. It's definitely dying now.

Another thing that probably caused it's death was I wasn't feeding it consistently. When I first got it, it naturally caught A LOT of flies because my bf's house had flies around the kitchen since it's near the backyard. The traps weren't digesting the whole flies so I thought I overfed it. Then I moved it to my house where there are no flies at all. Didn't quite know what to feed it without buying insects from the pet store. I read beta fish pellets would work, but at this point there are not traps to feed at all. I'm so sad!
The plant is very dry to the touch, almost brittle. So I figured it probably wasn't watered enough, but I've been watering it. Maybe I damaged the roots while repotting??

I'm not certain, but the pot may be leeching dissolved solids into your soil and burning the roots. I'd suggest a repot into a plastic or foam container with good drainage. The little guys might also need a little more light as well.

looks to be too wet. when they are inside you won't have to water as much. being too wet in low light and low airflow can lead to problems. these are NOT inside plants unless you have very strong adequate lighting that damn near mimics outside full sun (think T5 high output lights with "daylight" or 6500K bulbs). about the only time they should be inside is dormancy (which is when they form the little ground-hugging leaves and smaller traps) unless you can leave them outside year-round (if you have that kind of climate then you are lucky lol). they are not dependent on bugs to survive; they get most of there food from photosynthesis (even though bugs do give them a nitrogen boost). the pot could also be "burning" the plant (what kind of pot is it exactly? some of the yellowing looks like mineral burn).

looking at it you can see from the large "heart-shaped" leaves that it's light deprived (mine are waking up and I had to get them a couple of lights for cold days because the leaves started looking wide like yours). what direction/window do you have it in? as soon as it's possible to get your plant outside (as long as the temp is above 32 degrees you're golden) get it outside for some light and airflow (even cloudy day light is better than inside light) and while inside back off on the watering. let the top 1/2" to and inch go dry before watering again. I go by weight; if the pot feels light and the top part is drier than wet I water. if it feels like it has weight I don't. let it dry out some, get it into some sun, and hopefully it should be okay and get growing again!!!

Nick wrote:I'm not certain, but the pot may be leeching dissolved solids into your soil and burning the roots. I'd suggest a repot into a plastic or foam container with good drainage. The little guys might also need a little more light as well.

I was thinking this too. I use styro cups for mine lol...cheap to get and they are good at insulation for the roots

bubusaur wrote:Hi guys!
I'm new to the site but right now I'm desperate to save my plant so I'm looking for some help.

Before I repotted the plane, it was completely just wrapped in sphagnum moss and kept in a container soaked in water, it lived okay from September. During winter it grew very short stalks and small mouths, but it was still growing.

Now I recently repotted it because I wanted to trim off the browned leaves and give it a better look. I bought this bag of soil and repotted in a biodecomposable pot (not sure if relevant). As usual I used only distilled water. It's definitely dying now.

Another thing that probably caused it's death was I wasn't feeding it consistently. When I first got it, it naturally caught A LOT of flies because my bf's house had flies around the kitchen since it's near the backyard. The traps weren't digesting the whole flies so I thought I overfed it. Then I moved it to my house where there are no flies at all. Didn't quite know what to feed it without buying insects from the pet store. I read beta fish pellets would work, but at this point there are not traps to feed at all. I'm so sad!

unnamed.jpg

The plant is very dry to the touch, almost brittle. So I figured it probably wasn't watered enough, but I've been watering it. Maybe I damaged the roots while repotting??

unnameda.jpg

I,m not an expert but it looks too wet and light starved. Hope it helps .


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Thank you all for the suggestions! It takes some experience too notice the specific causes of symptoms.

I live in Southern California so I've been leaving it outside, but it's been raining on and off recently (weird for SoCal) so I brought it inside. I'll be leaving it outside most of the time.

The leaves are actually really dry to the touch, like withering and brittle almost like paper. Would it be like this if it's too wet? The soil I used is okay right? Almost all the time, the top feels dry to touch, and the water just runs down through the bottom drain holes into the bigger container. I don't know if that's supposed to happen. It doesn't seem to retain water that well. I might not have mixed it evenly during potting and grabbed more of the perlite.

The pots...I'm not sure what it's made out of but I'm definitely taking my plants out of that. It's one of those "recycled, biodegradable" pots, but a quick search shows that it is usually made of organic material (duh). I'm going to switch to cups then. So Styrofoam is a good idea. Would those red plastic party cups work? Or wax-lined, Starbucks paper cup?

I like Styrofoam cups because they are easy to make holes at the bottom for drainage and are also tall enough for Venus flytraps if you get the 16oz or bigger sized cups. Also, the bigger the pot and the more media/soil mix it contains, the less often you have to water it!
Rain isn't a problem, and will be helpful to wash off any built up dissolved solids from the soil mix. The one you have is the standard mix for carnivorous plants, and is fine for your plants.

Hope it helps!

Okay, everything earthy said is spot on, as well as Nick's comment about the pot.

Now I see another issue that is more than likely part of the mineral burn issue which looks like the problem. Some sphagnum is notorious for being very high in total dissolved solids. Which will burn and eventually kill your plants if it's not dealt with quick enough.

Find some nutrient free sphagnum peat moss, or LFSM and either silica sand or perlite, also nutrient free. If you get LFSM you don't need sand or perlite. Get a plastic pot if that is a clay/ceramic pot.

Get the plant out of that media and soaking in clean water, you want to remove all traces of minerals from the roots. Mix up your clean media, and repot that plant. Peat mixes are usually 50 peat and 50 silica sand or perlite, whichever is readily available to you.



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LAKJP wrote:I like Styrofoam cups because they are easy to make holes at the bottom for drainage and are also tall enough for Venus flytraps if you get the 16oz or bigger sized cups. Also, the bigger the pot and the more media/soil mix it contains, the less often you have to water it!
Rain isn't a problem, and will be helpful to wash off any built up dissolved solids from the soil mix. The one you have is the standard mix for carnivorous plants, and is fine for your plants.

Hope it helps!

truth! I seem to have to water my 8.5oz and 16oz cups more than my 20oz ones lol...especially in warmer weather

boarderlib wrote:Okay, everything earthy said is spot on, as well as Nick's comment about the pot.

Now I see another issue that is more than likely part of the mineral burn issue which looks like the problem. Canadian sphagnum is notorious for being very high in total dissolved solids. Which will burn and eventually kill your plants if it's not dealt with quick enough.

Find some nutrient free sphagnum peat moss, or LFSM and either silica sand or perlite, also nutrient free. If you get LFSM you don't need sand or perlite. Get a plastic pot if that is a clay/ceramic pot.

Get the plant out of that media and soaking in clean water, you want to remove all traces of minerals from the roots. Mix up your clean media, and repot that plant. Peat mixes are usually 50 peat and 50 silica sand or perlite, whichever is readily available to you.



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does the brand matter? I use Premier brand which I think is Canadian and I haven't had any issues. then of course I rinse it twice before potting then again like 3 times once the plant is in there to settle the medium lol...

Earthy wrote:

LAKJP wrote:I like Styrofoam cups because they are easy to make holes at the bottom for drainage and are also tall enough for Venus flytraps if you get the 16oz or bigger sized cups. Also, the bigger the pot and the more media/soil mix it contains, the less often you have to water it!
Rain isn't a problem, and will be helpful to wash off any built up dissolved solids from the soil mix. The one you have is the standard mix for carnivorous plants, and is fine for your plants.

Hope it helps!

truth! I seem to have to water my 8.5oz and 16oz cups more than my 20oz ones lol...especially in warmer weather

Right? I've used even smaller pots and they dry out like crazy! Even temperatures are more stable in bigger pots due to more water content in the bigger amount of soil mix.

boarderlib wrote: Canadian sphagnum is notorious for being very high in total dissolved solids.

Okay, I'm going to try this again. My last draft got deleted. I should have not worded it that way to begin with. My mistake. I'll correct that. I specified Canadian, and it should've said some.

boarderlib wrote: Get a plastic pot if that is a clay/ceramic pot.

This was just a brain fart. Lol I was writing this while I was working, so I knew the pot was a problem.

Earthy wrote: does the brand matter? I use Premier brand which I think is Canadian and I haven't had any issues. then of course I rinse it twice before potting then again like 3 times once the plant is in there to settle the medium lol...

The question is really moot when you hydrate, flush, flush, flush, and flush some more. But to answer it the Home Depot Premier is usually fine after several flushes. It should be noted that brand by brand, bag by bag, peat TDS readings will change (another reason I recommend ditching the media). So be safe and either test it, or repeatedly drown your plant.

If you don't have a TDS meter on hand water softener stores (possibly pool stores too) usually have a TDS meter on hand, and will test a sample if you take it to them.

The key is in the prep. I personally hydrate mine usually overnight, but sometimes just an hour or two. Then I pot my plant up, rinse (when I say rinse, I really mean drown) 2 or 3 times. Float my pot until it sinks, I don't float it if I hydrate the peat overnight. Then rinse 2-7 more times, depending on what I use in my media and the type of plant.

Once a plant is subjected to that much burn, I want to give it the best chance of survival. So it's a completely clean start. Hence why I recommended ditching the media, and cleaning the plant, as well as ditching the pot.

http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 30434.html
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boarderlib wrote:

boarderlib wrote: Canadian sphagnum is notorious for being very high in total dissolved solids.

Okay, I'm going to try this again. My last draft got deleted. I should have not worded it that way to begin with. My mistake. I'll correct that. I specified Canadian, and it should've said some.

boarderlib wrote: Get a plastic pot if that is a clay/ceramic pot.

This was just a brain fart. Lol I was writing this while I was working, so I knew the pot was a problem.

Earthy wrote: does the brand matter? I use Premier brand which I think is Canadian and I haven't had any issues. then of course I rinse it twice before potting then again like 3 times once the plant is in there to settle the medium lol...

The question is really moot when you hydrate, flush, flush, flush, and flush some more. But to answer it the Home Depot Premier is usually fine after several flushes. It should be noted that brand by brand, bag by bag, peat TDS readings will change (another reason I recommend ditching the media). So be safe and either test it, or repeatedly drown your plant.

If you don't have a TDS meter on hand water softener stores (possibly pool stores too) usually have a TDS meter on hand, and will test a sample if you take it to them.

The key is in the prep. I personally hydrate mine usually overnight, but sometimes just an hour or two. Then I pot my plant up, rinse (when I say rinse, I really mean drown) 2 or 3 times. Float my pot until it sinks, I don't float it if I hydrate the peat overnight. Then rinse 2-7 more times, depending on what I use in my media and the type of plant.

Once a plant is subjected to that much burn, I want to give it the best chance of survival. So it's a completely clean start. Hence why I recommended ditching the media, and cleaning the plant, as well as ditching the pot.

http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 30434.html
http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 31990.html

Sorry this might be a noob questions but what do you mean by rinsing rehydrating the media, or floating?

I just repotted my plant in a plastic cup and I'm giving the soil mix another try to eliminate the pot issue. I mean, it's still too early to tell how it's going to react.

This fly trap and a cactus is the only plant I have in the apartment, so I'd appreciate not having to buy perlite, silica, and moss separately.

Also last question, it has to be distilled water right? Would Brita-filtered water work?

bubusaur wrote:

boarderlib wrote:

boarderlib wrote: Canadian sphagnum is notorious for being very high in total dissolved solids.

Okay, I'm going to try this again. My last draft got deleted. I should have not worded it that way to begin with. My mistake. I'll correct that. I specified Canadian, and it should've said some.

boarderlib wrote: Get a plastic pot if that is a clay/ceramic pot.

This was just a brain fart. Lol I was writing this while I was working, so I knew the pot was a problem.

Earthy wrote: does the brand matter? I use Premier brand which I think is Canadian and I haven't had any issues. then of course I rinse it twice before potting then again like 3 times once the plant is in there to settle the medium lol...

The question is really moot when you hydrate, flush, flush, flush, and flush some more. But to answer it the Home Depot Premier is usually fine after several flushes. It should be noted that brand by brand, bag by bag, peat TDS readings will change (another reason I recommend ditching the media). So be safe and either test it, or repeatedly drown your plant.

If you don't have a TDS meter on hand water softener stores (possibly pool stores too) usually have a TDS meter on hand, and will test a sample if you take it to them.

The key is in the prep. I personally hydrate mine usually overnight, but sometimes just an hour or two. Then I pot my plant up, rinse (when I say rinse, I really mean drown) 2 or 3 times. Float my pot until it sinks, I don't float it if I hydrate the peat overnight. Then rinse 2-7 more times, depending on what I use in my media and the type of plant.

Once a plant is subjected to that much burn, I want to give it the best chance of survival. So it's a completely clean start. Hence why I recommended ditching the media, and cleaning the plant, as well as ditching the pot.

http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 30434.html
http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 31990.html

Sorry this might be a noob questions but what do you mean by rinsing rehydrating the media, or floating?

I just repotted my plant in a plastic cup and I'm giving the soil mix another try to eliminate the pot issue. I mean, it's still too early to tell how it's going to react.

This fly trap and a cactus is the only plant I have in the apartment, so I'd appreciate not having to buy perlite, silica, and moss separately.

Also last question, it has to be distilled water right? Would Brita-filtered water work?

Distilled, rain or reverse osmosis water only. Anything else will kill it .


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bubusaur wrote:
Sorry this might be a noob questions but what do you mean by rinsing rehydrating the media, or floating?

I just repotted my plant in a plastic cup and I'm giving the soil mix another try to eliminate the pot issue. I mean, it's still too early to tell how it's going to react.

This fly trap and a cactus is the only plant I have in the apartment, so I'd appreciate not having to buy perlite, silica, and moss separately.

Also last question, it has to be distilled water right? Would Brita-filtered water work?

Sphagnum peat comes dehydrated, which means you have to basically leave it soaking in water, or manually mix it like some guys do on here to get it to absorb water. Otherwise the water essentially runs over it, instead of it holding water like it's supposed to do.

Floating is when you find a bowl just bigger than your pot, and fill it with water. Set your pot in it. If the peat in the soil is properly hydrated the pot will settle down on the bottom. If it's not the pot with float there, trying to tip over. You should follow this step as a precaution.

By rinsing, top watering it until everything is soaked good. Basically the top layer should be a pool of water. Then you let that drain out and repeat, and repeat, and repeat, I'm sure you see where that's going. You should follow this step since you used the same media. It'll flush the worst of anything out of the soil if that was part of the problem.

Then I would suggest ordering some quality LFSM. That's a very easy and efficient mix, for a couple plants. It's also less work for potting up a small number of plants. http://www.flytrapcare.com/store/growin ... agnum-moss
A small bail of that should fit your needs. I believe, not sure but that should fill a few 3 or 4 inch pots. Fly traps grow just fine in pure LFSM.

Brita filters don't remove all contamination, that's actually one of the ones that removed the least amount of dissolved solids(350 after filtered). The zero water filter as long as replaced when needed will remove the total dissolved solids needed to safely grow CP's. However for a small collection, a gallon of distilled water is less than a buck.

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