FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

One of my coworkers that has received a few plants from me has been bitten by the cp bug. She went and bought one of those VFT in a jar, growing in a blue gel, that she's asking if I would help her get it out of the jar and into a pot. However, it looks like the plant might be too big to get out. I'm still willing to try, but can anyone give me pointers on how to get it out?

Here is a video from the official manufacturer on how to cut open the jar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eof3y-bZEUQ

if you have tweezers you can try to melt the gel (i heard it melts in warmish temperatures, make sure it's not more than warm to the touch ) then use tweezers to move upside down, then pull. or you could just crack the jar open with the above youtube video posted(not made) by sundeewz if you dont' want the jar.

by the way, i've got the same thing, it's a b52. today i just pot it in direct sun for awhile and the blue turned into white, any idea why? or

Thanks Sundeewz, that's exactly what I needed to know.

uxleumas, possibly a mold or fungus issue if it went white. The video explains to get the gel off with room temperature tap water, presumably melting it off, to avoid a mold issue.

oh, actually it didnt' turn white, it turned clear, i get clear and whit mixed up a lot, i can assure you that there is no mold (yet and hopefully never)

So that's tissue culture medium. Having owned one, my guess is Gamborg's B5. The plant is in sterile conditions, so it will never mold over, unless there is a mechanical failure that causes exposure to the atmosphere. If the material is clear, most of the nutrients and PGR's have been used up, so I'd proceed to break the jar and deflask it. If you have a TC setup, perhaps put sterile explants into new flasks (it's better to use in=vitro explants.)

We're going to decant the plant next week and acclimate it to a lower humidity first, then life outdoors second.
Worst case scenario, we screw it up and they die, I have divisions I can give her. My Wally OP went from seed to flower stalk (which I cut) to multiple divisions in just over a year.
Thanks for all the advice.

Update? Preferably with pics?

Unfortunately, she hasn't found the time to come over yet.
I'm a little anxious about doing it, but confident that it'll be OK. Worst case, I have at least 6 divisions on my OP plant that went from seed to flower stalk to divisions in just over a year. I can hook her up with some nice bug eaters if I screw it up.

uxleumas wrote: ↑Thu Jul 16, 2020 10:23 pm if you have tweezers you can try to melt the gel (i heard it melts in warmish temperatures, make sure it's not more than warm to the touch ) then use tweezers to move upside down, then pull. or you could just crack the jar open with the above youtube video posted(not made) by sundeewz if you dont' want the jar.

by the way, i've got the same thing, it's a b52. today i just pot it in direct sun for awhile and the blue turned into white, any idea why? or

I’m guessing it melted. I did that with one I had and the gel melted.

Update.
She came over today, but she didn't have a lot of time, so I didn't get the pics.
Over the course of the last couple of weeks, most of the blue gel melted into a blue tinged liquid.
I taped the bottom of the jar, about the bottom 3/4ths, held it with a leather gloved hand, and struck the neck with a hammer. Not a full arm swing, but a gentle tap at first, increasing the power until the top broke off. It actually came off in one piece, but broke apart when it hit the concrete.
The taped part actually cracked into about 6 big pieces and several smaller ones. I removed the tape over the garbage can to catch the pieces of glass and the blue liquid.
The plant came out without a problem, but still had gel in the center of the cluster. Warm water loosened it up, but I had to pry a few bits out with a toothpick.
I didn't try to separate anything at this stage, it's still very intertwined. I did accidentally pull a single, small plant off when I was getting the dead leaves out. That one will probably not survive, but I planted it anyway.
The roots aren't very developed, and I couldn't see a rhizome, so I guessed on how deep to nestle it into the moss.
I planted everything into a LFSM/peat/perlite mix in about a 5 inch deep pot. We bagged it up and I gave her instructions on acclimating it to lower humidity and then to outdoor life. I'm sure she'll be asking lots of questions over the next couple of weeks, and I'll happily answer every one for her.
Now to wait for mine to grow up. One of mine is like hers, not a well developed root structure. But the other one already has roots hitting bottom and spreading out.