FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi guys,

So my VFT last through the winter and I'm pretty sure it went into dormancy. Then for the past few weeks, I've been keeping it under an LED light on a 17/7 light cycle so it could start getting used to longer daylight hours since its been too cold to keep it outside.

Well it's finally gotten somewhat-consistently warm and sunny, so I figured I'd set it outside for now. I tried last week, but it started getting cold again so I brought it back in. Now it's back outside.

I've noticed that each time I leave it outside, it's leaves start to turn brown. The first time it happened, I figured maybe its older leaves were just dying to make room for the newer heads that were coming up, but now I've noticed that even the tips of some newer leaves have started to turn brown and shrivel up since the last time I brought it outside.

I'm confused because I thought VFTs loved the sun; last summer, my plant would have absolutely loved this weather. Am I doing something wrong? Or does it just need time to adjust to the intense sunlight? Should I have been hardening it first before leaving it outside for an extended period of time? Or is this normal and the old dormant heads really are just dying off to make room for the new heads?

Sounds like an acclimation problem to me. Your new growth looks healthy; therefore I predict that if you just leave it out there the new growth will have adjusted to the sun and be fine.

You are correct, VFTs love as much sun as they can get. However, If it is just thrown out in bright sun, it will have to get adjusted. Just remember, sun is not the same thing as heat or dryness. If the flytrap gets too dry, or temps get really hot, it won't be happy either. I don't think you have that problem, because again the new growth looks good.