FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Howdy everyone! I have noticed a sudden halt in growth on one if my Venus Flytraps I inherited from a moving friend about 2 months ago. The conditions for this VFT are outdoors on my south facing balcony. It is right with my other thriving CP’s. Soil age is unknown, as I inherited this plant.

This VFT was doing great until about 1-2 weeks ago, I just noticed. Growth has slowed down and I noticed all the new traps seem to blacken before they even unfold. Additionally, I have noticed some odd growth or pest that is on the new trap as it emerges. This is also on a few other of my plants too.

Any thoughts or advice is greatly appreciated! Photos below.

Joshuamarshall792 wrote:What do you water it with? What kind of soil is it?

snap em up!!!

Howdy!

-I water all my plants with distilled water.
-As to the soil, I can't say for sure. I am assuming it's some sort of peat moss & perlite mixture. Like I said in the post, I am not sure how old the soil is. Maybe a few years old? It is in a tiny pot, for the record.

What are you thinking?

This sort of thing happens from time to time. It could be caused by mineral burn but sometimes plants just stall a bit this time of year.

There are so few leaves on that plant, it is hard to know if this is just a small issue with one trap not forming properly or if it is an indication of a larger problem.

Just based on the growth of the plant, I'd say it could stand a little more light and a lack of strong enough light might be the cause of the stalling and the newly forming trap aborting too.

My thoughts are that the plant is just catching its breath.
Howevet, you have so many unknowns that it might be a good thing for the plant to give it some knowns.
My suggestions are:
1. Repot into LFSM. The higher quality, the better. New Zealand, Peruvian, or Chilean would be great. Peat/perlite mix if there are no other options.
2. Bigger pot, or at least deeper. VFT's like to stretch their legs.
3. You say you have it on a south facing balcony, but you didn't say what conditions your buddy had it in. It doesn't look like sunburn, but plants can react differently. Maybe give it a little shade, use cardboard or something to block direct light for a week or so after repotting. Give it a minute to adjust.
4. You didn't say where you were, but it's the hottest part of the year in most places. Matt is likely spot on in that it just stalled, possibly due to the heat. He's so smart!
5. Feed the open traps. You cannot overfeed a VFT, so give it all the help you can. Extra nitrogen and phosphorus from even a small bug can help immensely.
Good luck.

ChefDean wrote:My thoughts are that the plant is just catching its breath.
Howevet, you have so many unknowns that it might be a good thing for the plant to give it some knowns.
My suggestions are:
1. Repot into LFSM. The higher quality, the better. New Zealand, Peruvian, or Chilean would be great. Peat/perlite mix if there are no other options.
2. Bigger pot, or at least deeper. VFT's like to stretch their legs.
3. You say you have it on a south facing balcony, but you didn't say what conditions your buddy had it in. It doesn't look like sunburn, but plants can react differently. Maybe give it a little shade, use cardboard or something to block direct light for a week or so after repotting. Give it a minute to adjust.
4. You didn't say where you were, but it's the hottest part of the year in most places. Matt is likely spot on in that it just stalled, possibly due to the heat. He's so smart!
5. Feed the open traps. You cannot overfeed a VFT, so give it all the help you can. Extra nitrogen and phosphorus from even a small bug can help immensely.
Good luck.

Howdy Chef!

This is great insight, along with everyone else! I will 86 it’s tiny pot today. Thank you! So I can try to answer each bullet here.

1. I have some Better-Gro LFSM from lowes I can repot it in. I will probably do that today.
2. I just got bigger pots too. It’s current one is nearly the size of an ice-cube tray plug.
3. I live in Houston, TX. So it does get HOT. Prior to my ownership, it was in my friend’s outdoor garden. He had it in his backyard with other VFT’s on the side of a greenhouse.
One thing worth noting maybe is I did recently have many of my plants on my balcony’s slab pushed up against the railing for maximum sun. I did not consider how HOT the concrete can make my watering trays and plant pots. I noticed that my plants in a hanging planter were much nicer than those sitting on the concrete!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

White (or other pale) pots are recommended as they won't absorb hot sun as much as black/dark pots. Target, Walmart, and similar stores often have plastic tumblers that are narrow and tall. I use these: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/enudden-tu ... -00263812/