FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey guys, i'm having my vft outside for about 1.5 month outside in full sun (it was about 1 month inside under grow lights and was flowering so i didn't want to ruin the flowers by getting it outside.)

and recently i don't know if it's having a good time or not. it is sitting in a corner where it gets every stage of the sun it can get. like from 6am to 6pm.

its pot sits in a round box about the hight of the pot, and i used to water it as soon as the water from the "tray" disappeared but it seems like it's getting some yellow pale tint and looks iffy and not happy and green at all.
is it OVERwatering or UNDERwatering, because i know yellow tint is because of overwatering but some people on reddit said its UNDERwatering which is weird because the medium doesn't gets dry completely.

I have a few plants that get yellowish looking, I don't know why. I don't let it concern me because there is always new growth and they are thriving overall regardless of their color.

As far as watering goes you want the soil moist but not wet. I let my pots get so dry that when you pick them up they feel light as a feather. When they get that light that's when I water. What I do is put water in their trays until the pots cant suck up anymore water. Then I poor out the remaining water.

Im in zone 5a/b and even when its 90F+ for weeks on end I still only water once every 5-8 days.

I grow only indoors and under powerful artificial grow lights. My plant had turned a yellow tint under two conditions.

The first was when I grew the plant under 20 hours of light per day for several weeks. The plant slowly became more yellow than green. Upon lower my timer to keep the lights on for only 16 hours per day, the plant increased its green color and became less yellow.

The second condition was when I doubled the intensity of the grow lights from 250 PAR to about 600 PAR. The plant became yellow tinted very quickly, just a few days. The insides of the traps became a deep purple color. After a few weeks, the plant adapted to the higher PAR and the yellow went away.

So my guess is that the yellowing is due to you changing the duration or intensity of light, abruptly, and your plant has not had a chance to adapt.

Hey there!
Too much water or too little water can stress plants and cause their leaves to yellow. Too much light or too little light can stress plants and cause their leaves to yellow. I also have plants that have a yellow tint to them and I am not 100% convinced you have a problem. However since you are concerned about the yellow tint in your panties you should change them. I think you may be overheating your plants. The plants are in a corner which can limit the amount of convection cooling afforded a plant in a more open environment. In addition not all the sunlight that strikes the windows behind your plant is entering your home. Depending on the angle of the sun to your windows there is light being reflected right back on your plants (and pot) raising the temperature. Of course smaller thin plastic pots like yours are more susceptible to excessive heat gain than insulated or larger pots. You have to find out what works best for the plants you have, in the climate you have, using your own particular growing techniques.

1cashew wrote:Hey there!
Too much water or too little water can stress plants and cause their leaves to yellow. Too much light or too little light can stress plants and cause their leaves to yellow. I also have plants that have a yellow tint to them and I am not 100% convinced you have a problem. However since you are concerned about the yellow tint in your panties you should change them. I think you may be overheating your plants. The plants are in a corner which can limit the amount of convection cooling afforded a plant in a more open environment. In addition not all the sunlight that strikes the windows behind your plant is entering your home. Depending on the angle of the sun to your windows there is light being reflected right back on your plants (and pot) raising the temperature. Of course smaller thin plastic pots like yours are more susceptible to excessive heat gain than insulated or larger pots. You have to find out what works best for the plants you have, in the climate you have, using your own particular growing techniques.

Alright so i think I'll just move them to a less sunny location (you've mentioned they're inside the house getting light through the window, though mine are outside.