FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I know my VFT likes light a lot more than any of my plants, but frankly the light here just isn't consistent enough for (what I've observed and think) my Flytrap to grow fantastically under and enjoy. Also, the only times when the sun here gets really strong (ridiculously so) for longer than an hour is mostly in fall or midday summer, so I decided it was time to change things now that I have one readily available, high-spec setup.

So anyways, this is what I did after we repotted it last week (it needed way better soil and wasn't looking happy), I put it under the light that my seedlings are also using (the soil is the same as the seedling's too) for some 'rehab' (and recovery from potting- nicely enough I don't think one trap died, it didn't even seem to notice?)
Since the pot is even taller than the domes on my seedling setup, it's been pretty close to the light (about two or more inches away), and so I moved it a bit aside in case it got burnt. But then I noticed it sprung up another trap and the leaves actually seemed to be raising from the ground (which is why I've always thought the sun here is too weak for it- the traps before then hadn't gotten any coloration even when opened, and for a while now it's been just flat and small, as though it didn't have any motivation to reach for the sun), and overall it was just looking livelier. So I moved it under a bit more but still not all the way just in case.

The only fact that may be telling me it could be a bit too much light, and I want to make sure here and now that it isn't causing and problems, is that the new growths at the base are all red. I observed this same sort of thing with my Nepenthes and realized that it was actually getting too much light and it caused a lot of the leaves and pitchers to die.
Here is a picture: You can also see the trap on the left side, and if you look closely at the 'teeth' you can see this sort of reddish striping/spots, and I've seen on a few of the smaller traps that the teeth have gone pinkish.

I've heard that it's good when Sundews get nice red coloration when under a strong light, but does this work the same way for flytraps? The growths at the base are all red, which worries me, but the rest of the plant seems to enjoy it? (One developing trap sprung up a lot and the end went reddish, while the leaf stayed green)
Will the new traps die if left to grow like this? Is this a sign of something like 'sunburn' for a plant?

The light specs are here:
https://www.rona.ca/en/fluorescent-03175318--1

Tell me what you think and what you think I should do about this if it's bad~

Short answer, you can't really give them too much light unless you cook them by being too close. The new leaves coloring up is a good sign. The older leaves show that it was not getting nearly enough light. Keep an eye on them for a few weeks and see how they adjust.

Smooter80 wrote:Short answer, you can't really give them too much light unless you cook them by being too close. The new leaves coloring up is a good sign. The older leaves show that it was not getting nearly enough light. Keep an eye on them for a few weeks and see how they adjust.

Alright, that's good to know for one. Ironic too, considering how my 'Sun' dew gets red spots from a bit too much light, but the flytrap can't get enough of it, lol.

Cooking them could be a concern because that light gets pretty hot but otherwise it's well ventilated so yeah I think as long as it's not touching it or like a millimetre away it should be good for now I think.

Really? Can a flytrap like turn all red if the growths look like that, or is it just the traps more?
Yes I'm not surprised. Even the leaves always felt rough and limp too me, probably from too much water sometimes and definitely too little light.

Thanks for the advice. I will do that. Yeah, it's very true that with plants only time can tell. And flytraps seem to be some of the slowest growers to me. I'll see how the new growths do especially because I do not want them dying. I think I might turn them away from the light a bit and let the older leaves get more exposure, because they seem to both need it more and do better with adapting to it.

On a last note, I saw one recent post on someone worried why their flytrap was so yellow (which turned out to be not anything to be concerned about), will mine possibly get a more yellowish hue from all the light it's getting? And why is 'coloring up' a good sign?

Thanks for answering my questions

I'll let someone else cover the other questions but yellow is most commonly from miniral burn. It can be from UV burn when a plant is adapting to sunlight. I guess it also could happen with the older leaves not being used to strong artificial light but that's just a guess.

Most healthy VFTs will have some red in the traps. All green in most cases mean they need more light. There are exceptions like all green clones.

I should add, some yellow can be perfectly normal and healthy.

You can't really give the majority of Drosera too much light either. Most will blush a beautiful red under strong lighting.

A lot of CPs turn red under strong lighting. It doesn't mean they're burnt, it means they're getting a lot of light. Burnt plants are brown. Humans turn red when sunburnt because of extra bloodflow, plants turn brown when sunburnt because the leaves die.

You cannot give a flytrap too much light unless the heat is cooking it. Sometimes the old leaves that are used to low light will die off, but that's okay, the plant will grow lots of new, healthy, full-light-adapted ones. Most flytraps will get bright red inside the traps when well-lit, excluding all green clones, and there are species that are bright red everywhere in good light.

Update:
I'll have to get a picture, but the new growths are turning a nice red. Around the base/leaves around the growths it's turned yellowish. The ends of the growths have gotten pretty red, almost a burgandy color. I'm going to turn them more away from the light because they're getting pretty dark and don't seem ready for full light. The leaves on the older traps are looking much healthier and the younger traps are leaning up a lot towards the light. The older traps' "teeth" for some reason seem to be getting lots of red spots and getting dark. They might die, because they're not used to it?
The young traps that were just barely forming before putting it under the light seem the healthiest (though there's not many of them). They're reaching happily for the light and aren't going overly dark in places, so they seem to deal with it best.
Also I realized my trap now has 3 divisions, the 3rd one I think being the one with new red growths. I'll have to monitor the little shoots but right now I don't like the way they're looking, so I'm going to expose them a little less.

Your VFT may just produce more red than other flytraps, and has not been getting enough light this when time. In my opinion, if the new growth is not turning black, you should keep giving it more light.

Older traps that are used to low light might die under increasing amounts of light, but that's fine as long as the plant is healthy otherwise. The rhizome is the important part, not the leaves, and the rhizome is underground where it can't be sunburned.

Red on new traps is fine, that just means you have a plant that'll be nice and red once it grows properly. As long as the new shoots aren't dying (as in, turning brown or black), they'll grow just fine.