FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I received by Young size VFT on 7-20-16, unpacked very slowly and carefully and even before taking it out of the box I noticed that all traps were closed. I continued to finish unpacking it and put it on my front deck, a special place for my new Baby. It looks very healthy except for a little bit of black showing up on the edges of 2 of the traps now, but my main concern is how long are the traps going to remain shut?
None of them are showing any sign of opening up... Its been going on 3 days and it's starting to worry me because I paid a lot for it.
I understand that it has gone through the re-potting right before shipping, the shipping, the unpacking and all that but I'm just getting worried, and I am an impatient person...
Any advice, input or help that anyone can give me?
Thanks a Lot!

This is not a hobby for the impatient, but pictures would help. Often times a lot of the old traps die when it's put into a new environment, could be why they're not doing much. Pictures would help.

If they are digesting food, it will take around 7 days for them to open.

Thanks for replying quickly!!
Hey, I feel dumb, but how do I add pics?? I tried looking up working with BBCode, added my pictures to google photos, and other things, just can't figure it out!

I have a note for Deftinwolf: FYI, my impatience has helped me save many an orchid, houseplant, carnivorous plant, and other rare species; all of which I have a lot, and have been in this hobby for decades...(I just care/worry about ALL of them due to all I have put into them, and I adore each and every one of them...)

You can use photobucket to add pictures, that's what I do. There is also a picture attachment button on the advanced posting options.

If the trap is fully sealed as said before, it can take up to a couple weeks for it to open again. Traps that aren't fully sealed typically take a day or two to fully open back up.

First of all THANKS FOR ALL THE REPLYS!!!
OK, I think I have the picture deal figured out; thanks pieguy452!
But first some updates, ok the traps are still not opening, and now they are showing some black coloring on the teeth areas on 4 of the traps!!!
I'm starting to think, that all the steps these VFTs go through; repotting, packing them up, the shipping trip, unpacking, new environment/location, etc., just flat out shocks the heck out of them!
God, I hope it doesn't die on me!! It is putting out new growth (hope the new growth doesn't bite the dust), or I would REALLY be upset...
OK, let me try and post the pics; first a picture of it on the day I received it, 7-20, then 2 pics of the traps showing the blackening and that the traps are STILL closed, 7-23, and finally one of the new growth:
1.
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2.
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3.

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4.

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The instructions say for the first week to put it outside only for the MORNING sun, and then after that, leave them out, so that is what I am doing. Also, I only water with distilled water, and do not over-water it.

Can anyone help give me hope that this expensive VFT is not on it's way out? It does seem to be VERY tightly packed in the pot with NZ sphagnum moss....
My Plant Hobby is huge and have been into it for decades; I take care of all kinds of orchids, houseplants of all kinds, other carnivorous plants, and other rare species of strange types of plants.

I will appreciate some hopeful advice, suggestions, or ideas that anyone may have, thank you so much!

It looks shocked to me or it was over fed before shipping causing more stress. The first week I moved my indoor VFT outside nearly every single trap caught a fly and nearly all the traps turned black and died but the new growth is fine. Just give it some time and proper care and it should bounce back

That was my first thought actually; that it had been fed, either on it's own or was hand fed before it was sent to me. And I even tried to check out the traps in good light to see if I could see outlines of bugs or something, and most of them did show that.
There was one trap that was, by the coloring of it, on it's way out anyway, so I gently pried it open and it had a really big bug in it! (I do not do this normally, but I just had to see if my thinking was going in the right direction...)
Anyway, so I am following your advice in giving it "tender loving care" and keeping my fingers crossed that it bounces back to the growing mode, and will look better before the cold hits here, where I live, which won't be until late Dec. to Jan. or so...
Thanks for the hopeful reply
I'll keep everyone posted... Just gotta be patient

Sometimes these plants do too good of a job trapping bugs and all of that energy going into digestion will add to the shock that a new plant is already going through. As long as you keep showing new green growth out of the center I would not worry about the old traps dying off.

A small flashlight shining through the opposite side of the closed trap will show you what it caught. I do this in the evening or early morning, the darker out the better. My neighbors must think I'm nuts.

I have noticed that for some reason, traps that have captured insects will typically die after the shock of shipping. The new growth looks good, which is what ultimately matters. As long as the new growth doesn't die off the plant is in good shape.

I appreciate all the replies so much, thanks!
I was wondering, do any of you know of any tricks or "extra care" that can make the plant's new growth start moving along with more gusto?
It has that one new leaf coming up that you can see in the pictures, and 3 others are on their way up! They are way down, different lengths, in the very center, but so small to tiny. I want to try to get a picture of them, but I am not a good photographer... lol
Just wondering if anyone knows of a safe additive that might give it a boost!
I have some great additives for my Orchids that help them get over shock, and others that do many other helpful things for my Orchids, but they ARE NOT for carnivorous plants...
Just wondering.....

Hey Big-Jack, same here, and I do a lot of other things with all my plants that I'm sure my neighbors think I am nuts! Oh well, the things we do for our plants!!

For the most part, you want to stay away from fertilizing flytraps. Just give them plenty of sunlight and keep them hydrated. Proper growing conditions are what really matter.

Just leave it outside, and let it do is own thing. Before long it'll be feeding itself and boost its own growth. They are very good at catching their own prey when they are hungry, or even if they are not. Lol. The only plants I feed are my terrarium plants, and that's because they don't have access to an abundance of bugs.

Good luck with your new little one!

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