FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello, I know you guys probably get a lot of threads like these but please bare with me... My name is Henrique and I am from Portugal, my girlfriend got me a VFT for my birthday which was on the 23rd of September (just so you know how important this plant is for me) ; ) The plant was looking pretty bad then, almost no growth, small traps, almost no red inside the traps at all, you know, stuff like that.. I was thrilled but I felt pretty overwhelmed because a lot of people had told me they were really hard to grow and take care of, and I never had a plant of any kind before. So, like any other CP lover, I read a LOT about these kinds of plants and now I can say I know a bit about them, enough to take care of one at least :p

It's planted in a 6" (15cm) wide and 6" deep vase, the medium is sphagnum moss, no sand or perlite mixed in (there will be when I repot it next spring), with some clay balls under the sphagnum moss to keep the humidity and water. The vase is sitting on some more clay balls with a bit of water (the vase doesn't touch the water though) on a tray to help keep the humidity around the plant. It is near a window facing East - Northeast which doesn't get much direct sunlight during the day I don't think, it gets some in the early hours (I will move it this weekend probably) and I sometimes put the plant outside because it's cooler, you know with dormancy and all... OK I think that's all the info you guys need :p

So for my question, some of the leaves and traps have been turning yellow and dying, I know some of the leaves are supposed to die when the plant enters dormancy but are they supposed to be turning yellow before they die? I thought they turned red when they were dying, and then black. I have included a picture so you can see what I'm talking about, the leaves might not look very yellow but that's because of the camera..



Looking forward to the replies, I dont want my plant to die! :S Thank you in advance.

PS: I love this site, lots of useful info and without it, I'd be lost ;D

it looks pretty packed in there, the yellow is probably due to some of te leaves not getting enough light because of othe leaves ontop if them,the 2 traps the are dyeing look like theyve exauhsted themselves by trying to eat something too big. any more questions just ask

oh yeah just to add i think you might have a few divisions in that pot

Yeah, that pot looks pretty crowded.

"Dormancy or dying"? Neither. Your plant is fine and looks healthy.

Those are just a couple of old leaves at the end of their lifespan. The plant looks healthy and fine. All leaves die eventually, replaced by new ones. Sometimes a few of the older leaves will all die at the same time.

When the traps turn black, just cut them off. When the entire rest of the leaf turns black, just cut it off. Or wait until the entire leaf is black and dry and shriveled, and then cut it off if it doesn't pull off easily.

Often at the end of a growing season quite a few older leaves will die, but that is not necessarily a sign of dormancy. Perhaps the easiest way to judge when the Flytrap wants to become dormant is to observe the rate of new growth. The new leaves grow shorter and more slowly, often with smaller traps, until it seems like the plant is barely growing at all. At this time some older leaves will die, leaving a smaller, more compact rosette.

When the plant's growth slows and almost stops, is when it is entering dormancy and should be kept cooler and drier. (not too wet for too long in cold conditions, or fungal and bacterial rot may be encouraged)

Nice Venus Flytrap!

Looks like you've already gotten some good advice. I just wanted to say hello and welcome to FlytrapCare. And that you have a very nice looking flytrap there

Thanks a lot for the replies and advice guys, I'm feeling better already.. ;D It's good to know my plant isn't dying :p However, I think it might be going dormant since it's growing very slowly, some of the traps don't even close any more and some leaves are dying, like Steve said.

I'll post pics of my plant next spring, where it will, hopefully, look much better than now hehe. Thanks again!