FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

They are about 5 weeks now, Planted in silica sand and New Zealand moss ...50/50 mix. I've had algae problems before , so I took the humidity dome off. Now seems they dry out to fast. I do have a small fan circulating the air, but not directly on the VFT's. I was thinking of adding coco coir to the mix for water retention. I know the coco needs to be washed to a 0 TDS. Does anybody have any suggestions for the remaining survivors.

one more question....How many hours of light should the seedlings have. I've look in the lighting section already.I'm gonna get some new led plant bulbs, Or I also have a 100 watt metal halide I might use. Now I'm not sure if lighting might be the problem, although I'm getting the cool and warm coloring. All I have are the seedlings right now. I'm using a 60 watt led and a regular 60 watt bulb.

They look fairly healthy and green, they might be slowing down a bit as the weather gets cooler. I have two batches of seedlings - one outside on a south-facing porch that gets direct sun through a screen most of the day, and the others are inside in a bright north-facing window.

The ones outside (growing in peat and sand) are scraggly-looking and are probably going dormant (hopefully not dying). The ones inside (the younger batch) are in coco coir and are still growing (more slowly than they were a month or so ago). The coir does seem to retain moisture longer while still being kind of "airy."

None of them have had humidity domes since they developed two or three true leaves. All of them are less than six months old now. I have had less problems with mold and algae in the coir than in the peat.

As far as artificial lighting goes, someone else should answer that because I have little or no experience in that area.

No need for coconut coir. Sphagnum holds about 20 times it’s weight in water. How many hours of light are they getting. They should be getting about 14-16 hours mimicking the summer for them to grow faster. The lighting sounds sufficient for seedlings but how close is the light to your plants?

Thanks for the reply's oval and kk very helpful indeed. I didn't mention it before, but they are on a heating pad. The light is about 10 inched away. maybe I should have made the spag and sand 70/30 instead of 50/50. I don't want to loose them.

To me your media looks too wet. Are you bottom watering?

I was bottom watering, and they do get to wet and the algae grows. If I don't have water in the bottom, they get to dry I need a happy medium. Thanks for your input cashew.

If your lfsm is turning green that is too wet. You may be experiencing damp off. If you have noticed fungal gnats you need to use mesquito dunks in your watering tray.

Bottom watering should be fine.

Hey Anita! You could give your seedlings a good spraying with Neem Oil. It won't hurt them. It may not help but it will not hurt them. Also, I was wondering, what is the temperature of your substrate at the level of the roots?

yeah, I thought about the heat at root level. I only have the heating pad right now, I'm going to add a space heater.

My concern is that you are actually cooking your plants. At the root level, beneath the surface, your media should be about 85 degrees. I think it would be helpful if you found a suitable thermostat and checked the temperature.

It's a long story; I was given a VFT by a plant store, it's 3" pot was kept in a tray of 2" tap water for 10 weeks. To start I top watered with 1 quart of distilled water to flush out the minerals then let it drain 3 days in the 75° sun 80% humidity.

I placed the pot in the garden and top watered every other day, same temp 6 weeks. VFT improving. Then came winter, mid 50s days, lower 40s nights, 100° humidity, second week it rained 3 times.

The weather dries up, winter is over for a week, and in the garden I discover the fire ants have built a vent through the VFT pot and a mound of gray fuzzy mud covers all but 2 tiny traps.

In my kitchen I emptied the pot to wash out the mud to try to salvage the plant and here is what I found. The shiny spot is a quarter for size comparison.





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How many plants do you see in photo #1 ? #2? Are they alive with those black roots? Can I save them? All suggestions and criticisms appreciated.


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Grandpa Walt considering what your plants have been thru they look fine! Get them planted. The roots should be black with a bit of white at their tips.