FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello,

My name is Calvin and I recently got into growing carnivorous plants. Especially the Venus Fly Trap. I purchased a cheap one from a home improvement store about a month and a half ago. Unfortunately it is starting to look somewhat sick. There is a chance that it is going into hibernation, but as a newbie, I am not entirely sure. The traps are peeled open and do not look like what most traps look like. They also refuse to trigger from any stimulus (anything from live insects to my finger). Attached are a couple photos of my VFT. Any information would be much appreciated. Thanks for your time and I am happy to get to know this community!

Calvin
MagicByCalvin

Hi MagicByCalvin,

i have also met these problem too.My was worst they refuse to grow new trap. I think this cause by lack of light,for me after i bought a LED growing light for them they soon produce new but small trap and able to catch for prey .It seem to get better.you can try my way hope it works for you.

darren4373

It does look a little light starved. You can tell this my the long, broad, spindly leaf and small traps. The broad leafs help increase the surface area in which it collects light. We can help you out a little more if you tell us how you care for the plant and answer a few questions for us. How much and what type of light does it get? What type of water do you use to water your plant? It looks like you either just watered and misted your plant before the picture, but flytraps, for most new beginners, do better if kept a little drier until they know how to read their plant.

Flytraps like full sun, so you can't give them to much light. You'll have to slowly introduce it to full sun over a period of time so you don't burn the leafs. But I would say your main problem right now is insufficient lightling. If you're growing inside put it in the brightest window that gets the most sunlight. If you have any other questions lets us and well be happy to answer them.

Thanks guys. It definitely could be light starved, I was worried about that since my situation doesn't allow for me to give it enough sun. Any suggestions on grow lights and costs? I did just mist it before the picture with distilled water. For now, it has been getting full sunlight (through a window if that matters) but it only gets probably 6 hours of full light at best.

6 hours is kind of the minimum about of direct light needed.

If you need artificial light you'll want fluorescent usually 6500k color temp or higher, few inches from your plant. You don't need an expensive grow light. A nice CFL that is 6500k placed right will work. I haven't seen cfls with a higher color temp. You can go to pet stores and get a more expensive fluorescent bulb if you want. Remember flytraps need a dormancy period so the easiest thing to do is match the amount of light with the natural sun light. Turn it on when the sun goes up and turn it off when the sun goes down. Easily down with a $5 time you can get at any hardware store or department.

Would this light be the sort of thing I'd want? http://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-Plant-Light-Kit/16880994

Halogen lights put out a lot of heat and can burn your plants. I think that bulb is more for accent lighting.

this should work and you can get it any store. And this

jwbates26 wrote:Halogen lights put out a lot of heat and can burn your plants. I think that bulb is more for accent lighting.

this should work and you can get it any store. And this

the halogen light will deffinatly burn your plant, once you get the lighting problem solve every thing should return to normal ;

I just found a soft white N:Vision CFL laying around my house. Would that work?
Here is a link to the website, http://www.nvisioncfl.com/color-temperature.aspx

By the way, thank you all so much for your help. I really appreciate it.

Soft white is pretty low on the color temp. If you look at the link you posted, soft white is at the lower end and daylight is on the opposite. You want to recreate the natural light by using daylight bulbs. Different color temps have different effect and for growth. I use a combination with some of my plants but my recommendation for you is to get a 6500k daylight bulb.