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Ask questions about how to grow and care for Venus Flytraps

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By pr0xy
Posts:  4
Joined:  Sat Jul 21, 2012 4:30 am
#149200
Hi, I've had this particular fly trap for about a month or so now and I have a question about its current status. I bought it from Meijer and kept it in its original container and soil. I plan on repotting it in a 6" plastic container either very soon or sometime next Spring. Since my last plant burned due to my ignorance, I've slowly been acclimating it to sunlight and it's almost to the point where I keep it out all day now. I use distilled water (the kind you buy in the plastic gallons) and try to give it as much sunlight as possible right now. I have a few traps that are dead/dying but I've read this is normal. I have new growth so I'm not overly concerned. I am, however, concerned about some brown spots I've seen on a couple traps. One's a single big spot while on another trap there are tiny, multiple spots. What are they and what can I do about it?

Here are some pictures taken with the best quality I could attempt:
http://imgur.com/a/XMUx1#1
By Cougar
Posts:  100
Joined:  Sat Jun 13, 2009 2:22 pm
#149205
The first 3 pictures are traps dying, looks like what ever it caught tried to fight back things like lady bugs, wasps or even sometimes normal flies can cause the trap to die.
It's another thing to note that traps will die after so many catches, depending on each plant. It's nothing to worry about, happens to everyone.
Your growing medium looks quite wet, how often do you water?
By pr0xy
Posts:  4
Joined:  Sat Jul 21, 2012 4:30 am
#149245
I water every other day or so. It's been very hot lately (85+ degrees) so recently it's been every day. I had just watered before taking those pictures which explains the damp soil.
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By Steve_D
Location: 
Posts:  3913
Joined:  Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:06 pm
#149251
Probably nothing to worry about. The new growth looks good. It looks like the closed trap might have formed a black spot from digesting whatever's inside it. The tiny spots on the other trap look like minor insect damage, sunburn or a bit of fungal growth, but nothing serious it seems to me. It does look like your growing medium is very wet. Try not to keep it that wet all or most of the time, and allow it to dry to just moist between thorough waterings. :)
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By pieguy452
Posts:  2460
Joined:  Sun May 22, 2011 11:09 pm
#149257
Large insects and old traps in my experience are both factors that increase the risk of the brown spots forming on traps. If you ever feed your flytrap try to find insects or arachnids that are about 1/3 the size of the trap :)
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By xr280xr
Posts:  2807
Joined:  Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:29 pm
#149524
It could definitely be from too large of a bug but to me, especially in the first picture, it looks like damage from an insect eating it. I've had the same spots (usually pretty round) show up on my plants. Usually on the outside of a trap (and only the outside surface) and sometimes on traps that have never closed. I'm pretty sure it is from snails, but small grasshoppers and caterpillars are also on my maybe list. They seem to usually either get full, or after digging in, decide they don't like it and leave just a circular spot. Whatever it is, seems to move on and not make a home in my plants, but they will keep coming back from time to time. I ended up moving my plants indoors because they were not handling summer conditions well and that also stopped the spots so not sure how to rid them outdoors.
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