FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi all,

I am trying to figure out an issue I am having with my VFT and would greatly appreciate any help or feedback.

Please see attached pictures for reference--

About 2 weeks ago, my King Henry and Ginormous flytraps started to have small holes in their traps. I initially thought it was a minor issue at first as it was only on one trap at the time. Fast forward to now though, there are multiple traps that are having their leaves being eaten by I am not sure what it is.

I observed since the first incident 2 weeks ago that there are black spots on the flytraps before these 'holes' started to appear. I can't seem to pinpoint the problem though. I first thought it was an insect issue but I have looked around the leaves and in the flytraps and can't seem to find any pests. So I'm leaning towards that it is a case of black spot mold? It just seems to me that if the plant was infected by black spot mold, it's growth would be stunted and I would see noticeable issues but the plant is producing traps and seems to be somewhat healthy. Also, when these black spots would appear, I would try and wipe them off and they would wipe off with some water. Is that a function of black spot mold? Wouldn't the mold be in the leaf already for me not to wipe it off? This is why I am puzzled in trying to understand what is going on...

I am growing outside in Southern California in full sunshine(~6-7 hours bright sunlight) and using Long Fibered Sphagnum Moss and using the tray method for watering with distilled water and keeping medium moistly moist and waiting before completely dry to re-water.

Any suggestions? I don't want to try any sort of insecticide or fungicide before killing my plants. I just started growing CPs again ever since I was a kid so it's been a while for me.

Thanks in advance. Also let me know if other pictures are needed I would be glad to provide them.

Cheers!

In my opinion that look like an insecticide... I would repot in fresh media and rinse the plant in distilled water for like 10 minutes.


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Don't repot it. Pointless.

Possible insect damage. I use Bayer 3in1 roses and bushes.

I would just keep an eye on it at this point. Some of those holes look like where an insect chews a hole to get out of the trap. The other browning areas on traps appears to be from eating certain insects. Some insects make the trap go bad for some reason or too large an insect. There’s a chance the holes could be from some visiting insect that your not finding because it’s not staying in the pot, ie slugs, grasshoppers. I’d leave it be for now and check back in if it’s getting worse. The plant looks plenty healthy to put up with a couple insect holes.

Thanks for the replies everyone. For some odd reason I decided to pick up the pots and smell the underside and it smelled of faint mold. Which seems that I am keeping my pots overly wet.

So I am thinking that it is an issue of black spot mold.

I am wondering if this can spread through the air or if it is individually infected...

Should I just repot all of my VFTs at this point? Or should I have the medium dry out along with a fungicide to help cure this issue during the growing season.

This is harder than I thoughT!!

Your plants look fine. There’s no reason to repot them. I’d imagine moist soil would always smell a bit.