FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Ok, so I’ve been trying to grow temperate carnivorous plants for years. They were the first plants I got and make up the majority of the plants i have bought. They usually are thriving during the grow season but when it comes time for dormancy like clock work the roots of all my plants rot.
The most recent example was a Venus flytrap that i was keeping in an unheated room. I was extra careful to only top water it once every 2 weeks so that it didn’t stay wet. However, after a month or so I tug gently on a leaf and it came out revealing that 4 of the 5 growth points had rotted with the 5th probably going to rot soon.
At this point I’m getting kinda frustrated with this. Im not new to CPs, I’m growing multiple tropical species including a cephalotus with relatively good results. But no matter how hard i try, i can never seem to get a plant through dormancy. I would really appreciate some tips about how to get plants through dormancy. Im sorry if this seems a bit ranty, its just been a very frustrating for me.

I had this problem when I sintered my plans inside especially when the temperatures were too warm. Now I keep all my sarracenia venusflytrap and temperate drosera outside. Mostly they are right beside the house wall for some protection but if frost reaches over - 10 I will put my plants in plastic boxes. (also if there are frost on daytime over multiple days I also protect them).I would just recommend overwintering plants outside mine get rained and snowed on all the time but the do really fine.

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Apprz wrote:I had this problem when I sintered my plans inside especially when the temperatures were too warm. Now I keep all my sarracenia venusflytrap and temperate drosera outside. Mostly they are right beside the house wall for some protection but if frost reaches over - 10 I will put my plants in plastic boxes. (also if there are frost on daytime over multiple days I also protect them).I would just recommend overwintering plants outside mine get rained and snowed on all the time but the do really fine.

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Thanks for the advice. I’ve always kept my plants indoors because my area is in zone five so temperatures can go below -20. I’ll try using a box to protect them.

Yea - 20 is pretty extreme for venusflytrap this is pretty crazy but mine survived also being frozen solid in the past. But I can not guarantee you if it will work with every plant.

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Keeping them indoors might be the issue. What temperature range are they in? What soil mix do you use?

SundewWolf wrote:Keeping them indoors might be the issue. What temperature range are they in? What soil mix do you use?

I’d say around 50- 40 degrees. The soil mix is 50 percent perlite 50 percent peat.

Ryan0988 wrote:. The most recent example was a Venus flytrap that i was keeping in an unheated room. I was extra careful to only top water it once every 2 weeks so that it didn’t stay wet.

Once every two weeks is probably too much. If you are having rot problems you want to keep your plants dryer, as in just barley damp.

The temp and watering seem fine... kinda hard to say without being there to see the moisture level in the soil though. Everyone's plants could dry out at different rates based on the variety of factors. How dry were the pots every time you would water? Is it possible that it dried out to the point of damaging the rhizome which led to rot? Was it just the top layer of peat drying out, or was it still relatively moist by the end of the two week period?
I would also recommend to try potting them in pure sphagnum, or sphagnum with a bit of perlite. Peat always seemed to promote rot in my VFT's as well until I made the switch. I'm not completely sure why, but I think it had a tendency to get more compact and stagnant while the sphagnum can retain moisture but at the same time provide a bit of air flow through the substrate layer.

SundewWolf wrote:The temp and watering seem fine... kinda hard to say without being there to see the moisture level in the soil though. Everyone's plants could dry out at different rates based on the variety of factors. How dry were the pots every time you would water? Is it possible that it dried out to the point of damaging the rhizome which led to rot? Was it just the top layer of peat drying out, or was it still relatively moist by the end of the two week period?
I would also recommend to try potting them in pure sphagnum, or sphagnum with a bit of perlite. Peat always seemed to promote rot in my VFT's as well until I made the switch. I'm not completely sure why, but I think it had a tendency to get more compact and stagnant while the sphagnum can retain moisture but at the same time provide a bit of air flow through the substrate layer.

The soil was damp at most when i watered it. I could still feel the moisture in the soil but it was starting to separate from the sides of the pot. I’ll try the sphagnum moss never used for Venus flytraps before. Thanks for the advice I really appreciate it.


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How tall are your pots? My rot problems with flytraps disappeared when I began using taller pots and keeping them much dryer. I use a peat based medium, but I let them go quite dry in the winter. (I actually think that LFS as a medium can generally lead to healthier plants, but stopped using it for a number of reasons.)

Mine stay outside all winter because our winters are mild (many days are up to 60 or warmer). Even though we get occasional days up to the 80s, I rarely have to water more than once a month in the winter because everything dries out so slowly.

I water them much like a regular plant in the winter: I stick my finger an inch or so into the soil and see if it’s dry. In the winter, after I water or after it rains, I make sure to empty the trays. I’ll often flip my trays over in the winter and set the pots on top of them. It’s worth noting that most of my flytraps are in "1 gallon" pots about 7" tall.

bananaman wrote:How tall are your pots? My rot problems with flytraps disappeared when I began using taller pots and keeping them much dryer. I use a peat based medium, but I let them go quite dry in the winter. (I actually think that LFS as a medium can generally lead to healthier plants, but stopped using it for a number of reasons.)

Mine stay outside all winter because our winters are mild (many days are up to 60 or warmer). Even though we get occasional days up to the 80s, I rarely have to water more than once a month in the winter because everything dries out so slowly.

I water them much like a regular plant in the winter: I stick my finger an inch or so into the soil and see if it’s dry. In the winter, after I water or after it rains, I make sure to empty the trays. I’ll often flip my trays over in the winter and set the pots on top of them. It’s worth noting that most of my flytraps are in "1 gallon" pots about 7" tall.

I haven’t thought of that. The pot is really short, that might be why. I’ll try using a taller pot. Thanks for the advice


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