FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So i bought a VFT from a local grocery store in June of 11. Being naive i tried to dormant it in early October and...completely forgot about it. So in January i found it dead,dried, just dirt. Just for the heck of it i got it out of my cupboard and started watering it. Last night i determined it was dead and bought some seeds from here to start from scratch. Now today i went to bury my dead one and after brushing about an inch of soil from the top low and behold there was fresh green. Only about 1 centimeter VERY small but a starting of a leaf with an every so small hook. My question is what should i do? So far its been on my counter no sunlight about 50-60F. Should i move it in to the light or wait for it to grow some more?

move it into light and let that baby soak up the sun!

yes give it good light now but all so start watering it , it Will need very moist soil to help to grow again , water first then light , rehydrate the potting mix completely asap if not now , cp's can not live with out water make sure its rain water too nor tap or filtered water or RO water, use a soak try to help rehydrate the mix quicker!!
J

After saturating the soil, I wouldn't keep it soggy all the time, especially if the plant experiences less light and cooler temperatures, but make sure it has enough water and light and although it might take a while, this tiny living bit of plant can slowly turn into a very nice Flytrap.

These guys have given you good advice.
Good luck, and i hope you flytrap gets back to it's former glory!

Be careful about how much light you give it right away too. If it's had no light like you stated, I would slowly adjust it back to the light. You don't want to fry the new leaf!

I agree with Steve. Ive had success only when keeping the amount of water perfect. Wet soil has caused mine to turn to mush and die.

Just curious, how wet is too wet when it comes to a vft? I've always found that flytraps to be surprising tolerant. I've had plants do fine after many days soaked in rain and brief spells where the top of the soil is dryish. Is circulation also a factor?

DragonflyGuy wrote:Just curious, how wet is too wet when it comes to a vft?

That depends on the temperature, depth of the pot, etc. But in general if it's cool and wet, a rhizome will rot.

DragonflyGuy wrote:I've always found that flytraps to be surprising tolerant.

They definitely are. I've seen people grow them like swamp plants and they do OK. Though the reason that many growers lose their plants during the winter months is often because they're kept too wet.

Thanks for the responses! I moved into the sunny window of my house. It will be getting about 4-6 hours of light in warm temps. Im making sure that the soil is moist not really wet.