FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello Y'all! It's been a minute since I've posted a pic of my handsome little finetooth x red. He's doing well, coming out of dormancy nicely, IMO I am going to be repotting soon and will using LFSM. I'm kinda nervous as I have been tending to this little guy hand and foot for almost a year, and will be heartbroken if I kill it. I've been combing the forums for any and all info for the best way to repot, and have some questions.. Do I need to soak this stuff before I use it? Or is it ready to go? Anybody have any good tips as to how to get the roots untangled without destroying them? What should I be looking for in the case it starts going south after repotting? Like, wilted leaves, or small tiny screams from the shock and pain?? Then, I start wondering.... Should I just have ordered the peat mix? Hell, idk at this point! Now, on to the next question; I also ordered a new plant and I'm wondering if I should change a few things I did to the last one in hopes that it has an easier transition into it's new home. I had quite a few black spots and deformed leaves and traps on the last one, shortly after I got him. I think I may have sunburned it and maybe not transitioned it into direct sunlight slowly enough, maybe? Well, I think that about sums up of the gist of my questions, for now! Here's a pic of my little plant, I thought he was looking very pretty last night, so we did a little photo shoot, lol!

Soak the moss first, it's dehydrated. Get it sopping wet, then squeeze it out until it's that kind of moist-but-not-wet that flytraps like. You may want to mix a handful of perlite in for extra drainage, if you happen to have a handful of perlite. Pack it gently into the pot so that it's settled a bit but not all crammed in, and make a hole down the center for the roots.

To get the plant out, just kinda stick your fingers into the moss around it and lift. You should end up with a handful of plant and moss. Since you're moving the plant out of non-degraded moss, you don't have to worry about cleaning the roots off too much- just give it a light shake to get the loose stuff off.

Place the plant in the hole, and stick your fingers down around it to push the root-tips down into place. If a leaf or root or two breaks off, that's OK, just set the broken bit on top of the soil and keep it moist- you might get more flytraps growing off of it. Besides, that's a big healthy plant, it can lose a bit or two.

Once all the roots are more or less straight up-and-down in the hole, kinda just smoosh the edges of the moss in around it. Make sure the rhizome is completely wrapped/covered.

Give the whole plant a gentle soaking to help it settle in, and voila!

It's not going to keel over and die, don't worry, you're putting it in a substance that VFTs like. It might be kind of unhappy at being moved, but that just means not growing, it won't die.


As for the new plant, it's best to start new plants out in bright light gradually. Give them an hour of sunlight the first day, two hours the next day, and so on.

Great, thanks for the info! That's exactly what I was looking for. But, I don't have any perlite.. Think that's going to be an issue and I should grab some? If so, what do I do with it when I get it? Rinse it as well? Should I slowly reintroduce direct sunlight, or just go all in and stick it back out there all day?


Glad to hear my plant is "Big and Healthy"!!! That makes me so happy, you have no idea! I was thinking about maybe trying to split it and maybe get another small one out of it... Or maybe I'll wait since I'm kind of a chicken...

Perlite isn't a must with fly traps. I grow mine in all LFSM. It's more important in peat mixes since peat tends to compact not allowing roots to breathe.

Me personally I like the look of a pot full of hungry mouths, so I wouldn't divide it. That's my opinion though. Since you are repotting it won't hurt to divide them now if you want.

Don't be a chicken either, these plants are very resilient as long as you can provide them with good growing conditions, and from the looks of it you can do that.

Happy growing

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Like boarderlib said, they are very resilient. I tore all the roots off of one while repotting and it grew back just fine. It just took a couple of weeks to see any new growth. So get in there and just get the job done. They will survive I'm sure.

Nope, it doesn't need to be re-acclimated to sunlight. Just pretend you didn't do anything to it, that's the best way to keep plants happy. That's also why you shouldn't clean the roots off very much- you want to change as little as possible.

You can definitely split it. Look for the two areas where the new leaves are coming from- those are separate plants still stuck together by the rhizomes. Try breaking them apart. You might end up with multiple pieces, but any piece with rhizome, roots, or both will grow into an entire plant.

Alrighty y'all. I finally did it..! I repotted for the first time in my life, and I REALLY hope they survive lol. I will have to say, it was a Son of a Gun trying to get that stuff untangled from the roots!!!!! Geezum! I have a few concerns though. I'm not sure if I put them in the pot high enough? Bc just looking at the Low Giant I got the other day, the plant is perfectly centered on top on the LFSM like a little snowball. But, mine don't look like dat... So, I'm wondering if I pushed them down too far and they should be more towards the top of the cup? I also got 2 lil babies off of it, and tried to plant those also. I'm sure hoping that they survive. In ya'lls opinion, how do they look (judging by my crappy pictures) ?

Well congrats Nicole on making it through your first repot! The first step is always the hardest. The bottom one in the bottom pic you could wrap a little tighter to kind of hide that white by the growth point, but other than that they look great, at least to my eye.

It's always better to have them a little higher than the top of the pot. That will allow for settling, and keep the pot from blocking the sun. That's not really a necessity though.

Never base your potting ability on anything you receive from FTS, Leah is the master of disaster when it comes to potting fly traps. She probably does it with her eyes closed out of boredom and it'll still be perfectly centered.

Best of luck with them! Keep us updated too.

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Ok, cool!!! I did notice that their plants came out like, A-Mazingly awesome..! I was like, uh, yeah that ain't happenin!!!

Should I try taking it out and trying to fix it a little bit? Or just add a little more to the top to cover up the white part? Or should I just let it be and see how it does?

Thanks for the advice and pep talk!!!! You've put my busy lil mind at ease

nicole2423 wrote:Ok, cool!!! I did notice that their plants came out like, A-Mazingly awesome..! I was like, uh, yeah that ain't happenin!!!

Should I try taking it out and trying to fix it a little bit? Or just add a little more to the top to cover up the white part? Or should I just let it be and see how it does?

Thanks for the advice and pep talk!!!! You've put my busy lil mind at ease

I'd just add a bit extra around the base instead of entirely uprooting it again. The media and plant will also settle a little bit over time, so a little touch-up is completely normal.

nicole2423 wrote:Ok, cool!!! I did notice that their plants came out like, A-Mazingly awesome..! I was like, uh, yeah that ain't happenin!!!

Should I try taking it out and trying to fix it a little bit? Or just add a little more to the top to cover up the white part? Or should I just let it be and see how it does?

Thanks for the advice and pep talk!!!! You've put my busy lil mind at ease

Besides with good care in a couple months it'll be full of hungry, waiting mouths.

Nick took care of the advice.

Glad I could help. Post some pics of it basking in the sun this summer.

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