FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I got myself my first VFT today and ooh boy I probably didn't think it fully through, but here I am and I'm dragging you with me.

I bought her at good ol bunnings and totally forgot that I need to get myself a larger amount of soil medium, i cant get my hands on sand, perlite and spag moss until tomorrow or even the day after so hopefully she stays strong with me for now.

I instinctively named her Audrey II because who wouldn't and have a couple questions im unsure about...

they were all being kept in little trays with (probably) tap water, should i keep this up until I can start her re potting and Distilled water training or just leave her to be a bit dry for a couple days? this is her current state, i tried to choose the one with the pinkest traps as thats more wanted for trapping flies apparently

i have a 6inch deep white pot for her to settle in for now but other than that i dont want to bother her too much

Welcome to the forum! That's a beautiful flytrap you have there!

I'm not sure how pure the water is in Australia, but to be on the safe side, I would "rinse" the media with distilled water by top watering it until water drains from the bottom of the pot. That will help wash away any harmful minerals contained in the water used by the store. Water her only with distilled, RO or rain water. Keep her soil moist and never let it dry out.

Because she is in active growth, I would avoid disturbing the rootball as much as possible when you repot. Since she is growing in a peat mix, I would fill the new pot with a peat mix and clear a hole in the middle. Slip Audrey out of her old pot and into the hole in the new one with her rootball undisturbed and intact. When I pot using peat, I like to add a layer of long fiber sphagnum moss to the bottom of the pot. It really helps reduce the bleeding of peat into the saucer.

Happy growing!

Welcome to the Forum!

You're coming to the end of your growing season as we, in the Northern Hemisphere are just beginning ours.

Other than inverting the seasons, you'll find a lot of good information here.

Check out Matt's growing pages here: Http://www.flytrapcare.com

Good growing,
Mike

Secretariat73 wrote:Welcome to the forum! That's a beautiful flytrap you have there!

I'm not sure how pure the water is in Australia, but to be on the safe side, I would "rinse" the media with distilled water by top watering it until water drains from the bottom of the pot. That will help wash away any harmful minerals contained in the water used by the store. Water her only with distilled, RO or rain water. Keep her soil moist and never let it dry out.

Because she is in active growth, I would avoid disturbing the rootball as much as possible when you repot. Since she is growing in a peat mix, I would fill the new pot with a peat mix and clear a hole in the middle. Slip Audrey out of her old pot and into the hole in the new one with her rootball undisturbed and intact. When I pot using peat, I like to add a layer of long fiber sphagnum moss to the bottom of the pot. It really helps reduce the bleeding of peat into the saucer.

Happy growing!

Thank you so much ! I’m going out to get her new mix today ! Some of her traps were touched and played with in store (because what child wouldn’t) but they all opened up this morning which makes me think she’s definitely going to be a fighter!

Her own soils a mix of sand peat and spag which I can get all from one shop, I’m going to get some bloodworms today to feed her as she’s so small flies and such are too big at the moment! It’s autumn at the moment so I’m guessing by winter she’ll go dormant?

Fingers crossed all goes well with her re potting! (I’ll also be picking up a 5l bottle of distilled water to wash her medium out before it gets too strong)

(Enjoying her first bit of sun as they don’t get much at all in store B) )

Yes, she will naturally enter dormancy. As the hours of sunlight begin to shorten and temperatures fall, Audrey's growth will slow and she may form a low lying clump of smaller traps. Just let her do her thing, and you will be rewarded in the spring.

As far as repotting is concerned, there is no harm in waiting until she goes dormant in a few weeks. In fact, dormancy is probably the best time to repot a flytrap.

Secretariat73 wrote:Yes, she will naturally enter dormancy. As the hours of sunlight begin to shorten and temperatures fall, Audrey's growth will slow and she may form a low lying clump of smaller traps. Just let her do her thing, and you will be rewarded in the spring.

As far as repotting is concerned, there is no harm in waiting until she goes dormant in a few weeks. In fact, dormancy is probably the best time to repot a flytrap.

Oh really? I read that doing it before/right after is better as you’re not supposed to disturb them :0! I got the stuff I need anyway and some Betta pellets, I might wait a little and see if she starts to settle!


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