FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Ok so I have my plants out on my back closed in porch. Its sort of like a mini greenhouse out there. So today the humidity was the same as always, the temperature was actually about 5-7 degrees cooler (Farenheit) than it has been in the past week and I watered them all just like I usually do. I come home from work and all my sundews are dewless, my Nep that im growing out there looks like its been without water for weeks, my tray full of seedlings the soil is dried completely out and feels like it hasn't been watered in days and my Desmodium Gyrans looks like its about to die. So My question is: What would cause this sudden dramatic change in my plants (I know it sounds like dehydration but I don't see how with the same humidity/temp range and amount of water that it could dehydrate in 8 hours when normally they go 2-3 days between needing water at higher temps) OR Maybe my wife really did shut the window that I had cracked and allowed the AC Cooling unit to overheat the porch. Thoughts?

It's hard to say why. If the potting medium is pure long-fiber sphagnum, that can dry out very quickly. If there was strong air movement through the back porch, in combination with elevated temperatures for several hours, that could cause the medium to dry faster than you expected. But not seeing any photos nor knowing the conditions and variables of your environment, it's hard to say.

Try using the tray method when you aren't around to monitor your CPs.

flytrapcare.com wrote:During their active growing season, Venus Flytraps should be monitored, especially during hot and dry weather, to ensure that their growing medium does not dry out completely. The growing medium ideally should be just moist, not soggy or waterlogged. Therefore the tray method is best used only while the plants are in direct sunlight in hot weather, or when one goes on vacation to ensure that the medium does not dry completely.

I was actually using the tray method on them all that day surprisingly and every bit of water had either been evaporated or soaked up and used. Thats what was so odd about it. Either way though they are all doing MUCH better, my seedlings are flourishing and just realized I have 2-3 Capensis All Red growing and one spatulata growing that is all red (never seen an all red spatulata) Tried to get pics but they are all so tiny right now and my only camera sucks for closeups. My dried out Nep is producing larger pitchers now, my D. Capensis alba is dewed up again and my sphagnum is growing like crazy.

lol my 2 butterworts and all my spag in my bog garden dried out... my spag returned but my ping kind of survived with only balb with 1 smallest leaf