FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi guys,

My VFT was pretty healthy and started to flower,
So i decided to cut the stalk at 2", after which it produced 2 small "shock traps" and stopped producing new ones ~20 days.

Are these red small weird traps normal?
I'm mainly concerned, as there is no new growth, maybe my plant is dividing?

Watering with distilled water, correct media, 12hrs grow light + 4 hours of direct sunlight.
Thanks.

After vfts flower the main plant dies off and a division replaces it. Often the division is very close to the previous growth point so it looks like nothing happened.

Here is a quote from Matt:

"it has not been my experience that the primary growth point dies. In fact, some years for some Venus flytrap cultivars that I grow in large pots (I call them mother pots), the large plants flower to set seed and don't even divide at all, let alone die."

I can second his claim. Growth seems to (at least for mine) pause for a month due to shock. It continues growth soon after. I have also read (when browsing old threads) that clipping the stalk stimulates divisions, rather than dying after sending them out (Matt lets his seed, so all the energy is sent out to the flower). How about we do not debate this again? Keep everyone from angering each other.

Shock traps are perfectly normal this time of year. Spring growth will sometimes be funky.

sanguinearocks101 wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 1:59 pm After vfts flower the main plant dies off and a division replaces it. Often the division is very close to the previous growth point so it looks like nothing happened.

mine divide after I cut off the flower stem. it's not a debate. its a fact for me. its quite irritating. I kinda wish they didn't flower. that said, I cut off the flower stem and they almost immediately divide. And sometimes I have problems with the flower stem dieing off after I cut it and essentially the rot from the stem goes down to the crown and rots the crown. it doesn't kill the fly trap but I end up with tiny little fly traps that pop up from the leaves.
BUT I would add that my fly traps tend to divide like mad in Eastern NC. They seem to divide more here than in other places. I am in latitude 34 in NC. Matt and Leah are in latitude 43, almost 44.
from what I have noticed, fly traps actually get bigger in more Northern climates. and where I am, they divide. For instance, I got a Wally from KK on this forum last year and instead of getting bigger, it divided, then it divided again this year, but hardly getting bigger. And that said, sometimes they get bigger and sometimes they divide.
Maybe we are both right or we are all right? but there is no absolute with fly traps and dividing.

thanks for replies,
these big traps, are actually spring grow, the small ones seems winter dormant leaves.
All small leaves are dying, exactly after cutting the flower.

I was concerned, as plant did not divide and producing weird traps.
Seems I just need to wait another 2 weeks, to see if there is a new growth

logger wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 10:58 am Hi guys,

My VFT was pretty healthy and started to flower,
So i decided to cut the stalk at 2", after which it produced 2 small "shock traps" and stopped producing new ones ~20 days.

Are these red small weird traps normal?
I'm mainly concerned, as there is no new growth, maybe my plant is dividing?

Watering with distilled water, correct media, 12hrs grow light + 4 hours of direct sunlight.
Thanks.

the middle core part is likely to become a bigger plant and you will end up with some divisions.

Is it a typical?

Fly Trap Hunter wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 3:00 pmmine divide after I cut off the flower stem. it's not a debate. its a fact for me. its quite irritating. I kinda wish they didn't flower. that said, I cut off the flower stem and they almost immediately divide.

Apparently, your flytraps won't take "no" for an answer. "You won't let me multiply via seeds? Fine, I'll just divide instead. Let's see you try to stop that!"

Flytraps always stall growing after flowing and frequently will produce odd traps or no traps for up to 6 weeks. So I'd consider what you're seeing in the photos to be normal flytrap behavior.

Venus flytraps also commonly divide after flowering, but not always. In particular, for me and the way I grow my larger plants in my personal collection, they often don't divide at all after flowering, though they do stall for some period of time. But the smaller flytraps growing in smaller pots do tend to divide more. I think it is a product of being more stressed in the smaller pots. Flytraps will commonly divide when conditions aren't ideal. I think it is their way of "hedging their bet" of survival by creating more plants, thus increasing the probability that one of them will survive.