FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi,

Spike was my first Venus Flytrap and was growing beautifully until he went into dormancy, then bit by bit his leaves and traps started growing black until they'd all died off. Kept him indoors in the coldest room and watered him slightly was trying to bring him out of dormancy but its still very cold here in the UK, guess deep down i know its not gonna happen have posted a pic is there any hope? and what went wrong?

I can't really see the VFT in that picture. How much light was it getting indoors? Artificial, natural? Number of hours per day?

Bellasia wrote:my first Venus Flytrap and was growing beautifully until he went into dormancy, then bit by bit his leaves and traps started growing black until they'd all died off. Kept him indoors in the coldest room and watered him slightly was trying to bring him out of dormancy but its still very cold here in the UK

Sorry to hear about your plant.

If you're growing your flytrap indoors during dormancy it shouldn't loose every trap. A few of the older spring growth will die back but the newer leaves should continue to be green. The fly trap should enter a new growth habit prier to dormancy and then just significantly slow in growth but continue to grow very slowly. The new pre-dormant growth will be ground hugging with broader leaves and smaller traps. So, if your fly traps are loosing all of their leaves while indoors there's probably something wrong.

When you say you watered slightly what does that mean?

You still want your soil to be moist and never let it dry out. I grow all my flytraps on window sills in the winter and have never lost one and have had no problem with them going dormant. The only thing I change about my watering during dormancy is the frequency. I water the exact same way as I do in the summer. I fill the tray they are in with an inch or two of water let them sit for 30 minutes or until I remember them. By the time I remember them they should have soaked up all the water they can. You can tell by the weight of the pots. Once they have soaked up all the water I remove all the extra water. Then I wait a few day usually in the winter for me its once a week. Again I lift the pots and determine how dry they are from weight of the pots and re-water when they need to be.

To get a feeling of when you need to water, lift your pot before you water to feel how light it is and then water your plant. After you water lift your pot again and feel the difference in weight. After you do that a few times you can really start to tell when you need to water just by the weight.

I'm assuming your soil mixture is appropriate and you're using the right kind of water?

Also, by the look of the picture it seems like you have a shallow pot. Deeper pots encourage root growth downwards. It can also help keep you media from drying out to quickly due to a larger mass of soil.

I hope this doesn't keep you from trying again.

dantt99 wrote:I can't really see the VFT in that picture. How much light was it getting indoors? Artificial, natural? Number of hours per day?

All the traps and leaves turned black so i removed them, he was by a window so natural light maybe it wasn't enough?

how cold did it get next to the window you placed your VFT?

akinkysnorlax wrote:how cold did it get next to the window you placed your VFT?

Well pretty cold its been a nasty winter i live in the UK (but not as bad as being outdoors) do you think it was due to temperature being to cold or not cold enough?

Hes definatly dead then no chance at all, cant bear to dispose of him yet

I am not sure what the cause of death is, but I can honestly say I think it is dead. It would not die back as far as yours did if it "was not cold enough". It can die though if it actually froze next to that window. I lived in England for a couple of years and I did not recall it getting cold enough to freeze something from the inside, although there is definitely some crazy weather over there....besides the snow. It seems like the entire UK shuts down for even an inch of snow haha

Bellasia wrote:he was by a window so natural light maybe it wasn't enough?

What direction was the window facing? The key is it gets direct sunlight.

akinkysnorlax wrote:I am not sure what the cause of death is, but I can honestly say I think it is dead. It would not die back as far as yours did if it "was not cold enough". It can die though if it actually froze next to that window. I lived in England for a couple of years and I did not recall it getting cold enough to freeze something from the inside, although there is definitely some crazy weather over there....besides the snow. It seems like the entire UK shuts down for even an inch of snow haha

Lol sad but so true snow and the UK are not a good combination. I dont think it was the cold then that leaves overwatering or not enough sunlight could be either one i guess

dantt99 wrote:

Bellasia wrote:he was by a window so natural light maybe it wasn't enough?

What direction was the window facing? The key is it gets direct sunlight.

Maybe this is where the problem lies as i moved him to the kitchen which is at the rear of my property in the front room he was growing so well and also was getting direct sunlight when i placed him outside, when he went into dormancy i placed him in the kitchen and did not put him outside at all do you think this is where i went wrong?

Matt wrote:The most common things that kill plants grown indoors are:
1) Too much water
2) Not enough sunlight
3) Tap water or other water high in mineral content (i.e. well water, bottled water).
4) Wrong soil -- assuming the plant didn't come potted and it was potted by the new owner.

Looks likely to be 1 or 2 just trying to narrow it down

Bellasia wrote:Looks likely to be 1 or 2 just trying to narrow it down

My guess is two, but one might be a factor as well. Always remember when watering a VFT to make it moist, not wet, not dry.

Several of my VFTs died back to nothing during dormancy but have sent up growth after bringing them inside under lights. My plants which are outside are only just beginning to wake up. Im also in the UK, Bristol to be precise.

Best thing to do would be put it back where it was before dormancy and give it a few months to wake up. Or poke down through the soil gently to see if there is any white rhizome present, if there is put it back where it was happy and keep the soil damp. Then give it a chance to wake up.