FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I'm so excited that this fly trap is going to survive! It's my oldest fly trap and it was one of my favorites but it did not have a good growth season. It was doing great right out of dormancy and then one day the soil dried out unreasonably fast and it got dehydrated. After that it kept dying back little by little. I now know that even though I brought it inside, I was continuing to keep it too dry. I think the small pots dry out quicker than I thought and this one must have more perlite in the mix or something.

I figured that out just in the nick of time. It had 1 live leaf and one with a dead trap but the rest green when I started giving it water about every other day. The leaf with the dead trap died completely with no signs of new growth. It stayed that way for a couple weeks. Then the last live trap started to die. At that point I put a riser under it to get keep it about an inch from the fluorescent bulb it's under. I also gave it some direct morning sunlight in a window a few times a week. The last leaf died back about half way down and then stopped. The fact that it stopped was a good sign. It stayed that way for about the last 2 or 3 nerve wracking weeks and then finally I saw a tiny little sprout in the center. I made sure I kept the soil wet because I've seen this happen only to see the little sprout shrivel up. In the last week it's grown into a leaf and 4 more are now coming up since 2 days ago! That half a leaf on the left, though ugly, soaked up a enough light to pull through. I'll post some updates as it grows.

Nice rescue. We learn best by gaining experience of our own. I'm glad you were able to save one of you favorite traps.

Glad to see it's going to survive. I had one that really surprised me too after I thought it was a goner, so I know how you feel. The rhizomes must be tougher than we think. Those new sprouts on yours look like they're going do just fine. If it were me, once it's gained some more size, I'd probably put it in some new soil since you've had such bad luck with what it's currently in. Let us know how it goes...

That's a good point. Now that you mention it, I've had trouble with almost every flytrap I've planted in that batch of soil in different pots. There's only 2 still living (this being one) and they've both been troublesome. I've lost about 22 plants in it (10 were tiny baby divisions) which I've attributed to mistakes on my part but maybe the soil was a factor.

Nice save. And look at all those little traps coming up, whatever you're doing now it certainly seems to like it.

With all the old dead traps around it, it looks like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

parker679 wrote:With all the old dead traps around it, it looks like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Yes! I'm naming it Phoenix.

I had one that showed no green whatsoever for a year and suddenly came back.

Wow dude I really admire you. The same thing happened to my vft the soil dryed and slowly the plant kept on blackening. I did all I could to save it but day by day it kept dying until nothing was left. I admire you for being able to rescue your vtf in that situation. Congratz man, and nice job.

Thanks learhal_traps! I've had many go the same way as yours too. Take a lookk at my RIP section in my grow list before regarding me too highly! I had to overcome my fear of rot and keep it wetter than I thought it should be to save this one. Live and learn.

Nice job on the rescue! Sounds like that one little live leaf gathered just enough energy to save the entire plant

I hope this never happens to anyone. Its basically torture to see your btf slowwly die.

oohh congrats on the great rescue! if it were me, i wouldn't know what to do.

Volle wrote:if it were me, i wouldn't know what to do.

When the same kind of thing happened to me, I just left it alone and made sure it was still getting plenty of sunlight and rainwater, and it eventually started growing again. People told me I should try digging down into the soil to inspect the rhizome, but I didn't because I figured it was already under enough stress without me poking at it. You can see photos from my experience here: http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/befor ... 17002.html