FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I bought a new VFT a few weeks ago and I’m really getting interested in it.

I looked up how to feed it and came across bloodworms. I followed a suggestion of getting dry bloodworms, rehydrating them with a small amount of water, and placed a small amount in an open trap. The traps closed perfectly, I would gently squeeze them for about a minute to simulate live prey, and they would seal up nicely.

Now I’m noticing that almost every single trap that I did this to is starting to turn black around its edge. I was told this could happen if you place too large a piece of bloodworm in the trap (no larger than 1/3 the trap surface) but I don’t think my pieces were too big. I also noticed that when some of the traps opened back up, there were pieces of dry, undigested bloodworms left still.

Any idea what’s going on here? Will a trap survive if it has a small amount of black on it, or will it inevitably spread and kill the trap? Should I cut off the black sections?

Thanks so much in advance.

How long ago did you get the flytrap? And how did you get it?

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Can you post a picture of your blackening traps and whole vft. It makes it easier/possible for people here to determine if something is wrong or not.

And it is very normal that the bloodworm stays behind, it is only the outside that cant be digested. The trap allready absorbt all the nutriënts from it

Here are some pics...I tried to get up close on some of the traps that are turning black.

FYI, my VFT is in our “hot tub room”, which is a sort of outdoor room with glass panels in the ceiling and a few open windows around the sides, so it gets plenty of sunlight through the glass panels and the room gets pretty hot. I water it daily with distilled water through a spray bottle. I pretty much aim to spray at the center where all the traps convein.

Any ideas and/or suggestions?

Media looks to be very dry & fly traps don't need to be fed ever, at all. Water with distilled or RODI water only, unglazed clay pots will suck the water from the media. Read up on the moisture (water) requirements. Read up on the light requirements for flytraps.

You are making the same mistake most people make when they first start out, your only focus is feeding it. Cant blame them, its freaking cool.

The reality is is that your main focus should be proper conditions for the plant.

Sunlight
type of water
amount of water
growing outside
proper growing medium

Fly traps do not need to be fed to survive and if you are growing them correctly they will feed themselves. They are better at it than you are believe it or not.

Just from looking at your pics right off the bat we can tell that your media is far to dry.

FTS has amazing care guides, might want to read through them all:
https://www.flytrapcare.com/venus-fly-trap-growing

Thanks guys.

Did some reading and ended up ordering some new supplies (see attached pic). So I’ll be repotting in a nice media mixture in 2 days.

Aside from that, my traps are still black...maybe from over feeding. I’m assuming I shouldn’t feed any new traps that open up. Is there anything I should do in the meantime? Cut off the black parts?

I'd leave the blackened traps unless they are 100% black. Any green parts are still being used for energy. Avoid feeding them until they've been settled in their new media for a few days in my opinion.

What do you have it potted in?

If it were me I would order an 8L pack of nzlfsm off Amazon or eBay and repot it into a 12oz or 16oz stadium cup or styrofoam cup.

Then I would place it in the sunniest place I have and keep the media moist but not wet using the tray method.

That's it, not much else I would do. The plant and nature will take care of the rest.

I bought a liter of peat moss and an 8in plastic planter.

Right now, it’s planted in a mixture of peat (didn’t say peat moss, just a “soil disc made of peat”) and some soil I had from a previous plant. The soil is that typical dark stuff with the little pieces of white styrofoam mixed in. I’m guessing it isn’t the best VFT media.

Until I can replant it in this new media, would I be better off removing it from the pot and letting it sit in a cup of distilled water?

No don't sit it in distilled water bare root. The "Styrofoam" is probably Perlite which IS usually used with sphagnum peat moss at a ratio of 1 part sphagnum peat moss to 1 part Perlite. The sphagnum peat moss CANNOT have any fertilizers added to it. Pre-wet the media with distilled water just enough to be able to squeeze a few drops of water out of it. Be careful with the roots as they are pretty delicate, don't over pack the media.
If and when you get new traps, DON'T feed them anything!