FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I have just dug up my flytrap that lose all its traps and even any kind of leaf over the past few months. It did tried to grow a few small leaves and a trap 2 weeks ago but then it died back. The rizome look like this. I tried to squeeze it a little, it's not mushy. Still firm.

Is this dead or still recoverable?




Regards,
Eric

generally speaking if the rhizome is white and solid/not squishy and roots on it, planted like a regular plant with leaves and oriented the proper direction and cared for like normal there is a good chance it will spring back to life, the one red flag for me would be addressing the reason why the growth above soil started to develop and died and fixing that when repotting.

can you detail more about where you are located, where your plant is kept, what was it planted in? (medium/container) what type of water?

Hi riveraXVX,

I'm from Malaysia. There are only 2 seasons here - Hot and Rainy. Got this flytrap in late August last year.

Pot - medium depth plastic pot with drainage hole
medium - 100% long fiber sphagnum moss
water type - rain water (drained down from the roof)
watering method - tray with around 1 inch standing water
last plant location - indoor, in front of window with shaded sunlight

the previous plant location was outdoor on a shaded location but will occasionally getting few hours direct sunlight. it was at this location for 1 - 2 months until October last year. one day the plant just drying up, so I moved it indoor but it didn't recover since. Initially very confused but after some reading, thought it's just hibernation. so reduced standing water to half an inch. sometime the tray is dry.

then one day, it started to sprout again for 2 - 3 weeks and there was a baby trap forming. however, it suddenly just died back and here we are. Still very confused, and out of idea why it die back. Is it possible that it is really hibernating and not ready to come out of it?

Jump_912 wrote: watering method - tray with around 1 inch standing water
last plant location - indoor, in front of window with shaded sunlight

the previous plant location was outdoor on a shaded location but will occasionally getting few hours direct sunlight.

This sounds like your problem. Flytraps need between half a day and all day direct sunlight. Being light deprived and very moist-wet all the time will kill it - although since your rhizome is not rotted, your moisture level may have been correct. Put it back in sphagnum moss about 2 cm below the surface (make sure you orient the roots downward) and give it as much direct light as you possibly can. You don't want the sun directly hitting the rhizome because it will burn it but the direct sun will help keep the moss breathing and will ensure that when the rhizome does send up a new shoot, it gets enough light to grow and recharge your plant. Give it as much water as is required to keep the moss around the rhizome moist. Not too wet but never allow it to fully dry out. It you can manage that, it should start to grow back within a month.

Once it's healthy again, months down the road, you'll need to reconsider dormancy which requires cold temperatures so you will probably need to do a fridge dormancy. But for now just focus on getting it growing again!

^ spot on there -- with those instructions you should end up with new life again most likely. the lack of proper lighting / excess water for not growing is the likely culprit for sure.

Thanks!

How about like this?

The sun is really strong in this part of the world and when under direct sun, it is not humid, it just dry hot. Will it be ok to just leave it like this?

Yep, looks good as long as that spot gets 4 hours or more of direct sunlight. As long as you keep your moss damp, the ambient humidity doesn't matter. The only time humidity is important to a VFT is when moving a flytrap that has been growing in extreme humidity to lower, average humidity in which case it needs to be acclimated slowly. Since yours doesn't have any leaves left, that's definitely not the case here.

Good luck! Please keep us updated. I love a success story!

P.S. Depending on how invested you want to be in it, you could buy a TDS meter (they're not too expensive) and verify the rain water you are collecting is pure. It should be in the 0-15 ppm range. Or you could use a different source of pure, distilled water for the time being. Usually roof runoff is fine, though.

You must grow nepenthes pitcher plants they are native in your country and like all year humid.


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Thanks for all the helpful advices! Just a quick updates on the plant status:

The flytrap I'm trying to rescue - nothing happening. Been keeping the moss moist, root not exposed, under direct sun every day. I'm ready to give it up at this point. But I will check the root again. Is there anything else I can do?


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My other flytrap - after watering with only RO water and keep it under direct sun all day, it seem like it is very happy. in fact, it seem a little crowded there. I noticed there are at least 2 roots inside. Should I split it and repot into 2 separate pots?

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Sundew - same care as the flytrap, but doesn't look too happy. leaves been withering away on daily basis. is this normal? What should I do?


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that looks like a very healthy rhizome bulb. plant it and it will grow.

Unless that sundew is D. capensis "Alba" it's not getting enough sun and it might also be suffering from too much heat.