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By australtexan
Posts:  4
Joined:  Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:54 pm
#365929
Hi :)
So I just got my fly trap about a week and a half ago. I've repotted it since then in carnivorous plant soil and water it regularly to keep the soil moist. The vfr pot is suspended in another pot so the water drains to the bottom. I've kept it on my window sill but I wasn't sure if it was getting enough light so I put it under my led grow light and now it looks more sad than before. The thermostat is set at 73-74 usually and the only times I've moved him was downstairs to upstairs. I fed him fresh flies too.
I really don't know what I'm doing wrong and any help would be very much appreciated!!

EDIT: I have flushed out the plant with about 1.5 gallons of RO water. I'm going to put him in a bag and leave him under the grow lamp. I want to expand into more carnivorous plants but I want to make sure I can look after at least this one first. Thank you for all the help!!
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Last edited by australtexan on Thu Sep 24, 2020 9:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By Panman
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Posts:  6324
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm
#365930
Looks like you got a Rocket Farms flytrap from Walmart. Due to the abuse it has received prior to your ownership, it is going to take it a while to recover. Give it plenty of light and distilled, RO, or rainwater and it should recover. It make take it a month. Another challenge you are facing is that it is heading into dormancy season so it may not look its best until next spring.
By australtexan
Posts:  4
Joined:  Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:54 pm
#365931
@Panman, I did!! When I got it, it only had 2 black traps but I removed them and the plant was thriving. I feel like it's me doing something wrong because now all the healthy thriving plants are just dying and since the grow light, the new plant in the middle looks off and the 2 tiny babies at the base are dead.
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By P A U L
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Posts:  180
Joined:  Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:04 am
#365933
Repotting it will disturb the roots and it will take a few days to recover. It will look depressed in the meantime.

If you live in northern hemisphere, we are approaching colder months / less daylight hours. If your plant is near sunlight it will notice this and begin entering dormancy. It will look like it's dying because it is withdrawing chlorophyll (the green stuff) into its roots.

If you relocated its location (moved it upstairs/downstairs/inside/outside/outerspace), it will go into shock to re-acclimate itself to the changes in its local environment/ambience. Give it a few days.

Your plant is a complex living thing and it knows things... Also your plant demands existence so you might be surprised in later months/years the resilience of your plant.

This assumes you didn't use tap water. In which case your plant is dead.
Last edited by P A U L on Thu Sep 24, 2020 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By P A U L
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Posts:  180
Joined:  Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:04 am
#365939
If you poured stuff into the soil, I would recommend you get a gallon jug of distilled water and flush it out. I once poured a terrible ratio of neem oil/water and my plant started curling, growing short leaves... after the distilled water flush it looked healthy again.

In regards to the resilience of these plants. I once tried getting rid of some plants from my potted garden to minimize competition for space. So I cut them at the base, and a few weeks later they all sprang back up and flipped me the bird.
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By Panman
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Posts:  6324
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm
#365943
At this point you need 4 things. Proper soil - it looks like you are good there. The right water - RO, distilled, or rain water. You haven't said what you are using. The proper light - full sun at least 4 hours a day. A bright window or moderate plant light is not enough. Time - a plant like this, given the previous 3 necessities is going to take several weeks to look like a healthy plant.
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By australtexan
Posts:  4
Joined:  Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:54 pm
#365946
@Apollyon, @P A U L, the packaging of the plant said that RO or tap water is fine. I've been meaning to get RO water from the grocery store but I always forget but thought it would be fine because of what it said. I'll flush it out and just wait and hope. Thank You!!!
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By P A U L
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Posts:  180
Joined:  Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:04 am
#365949
lolwut. Tap is no good. A gallon of distilled water is 89 cents for me when it's on sale. Its normal price is around $1.50 which I think is super lame. I usually buy 4 gallons every 3~6 weeks.
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By Apollyon
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Posts:  1663
Joined:  Tue May 05, 2020 2:49 am
#365952
If you have a single plant, you should look into one of those zero water pitchers that drop the ppm. They're cheap and the filter probably wouldn't need to be changed out too frequently. I have an RO system I bought because otherwise I'd probably go broke buying water jugs. It's just much more cost efficient at this point. The commercial RO machines at grocery stores are pretty cheap; think you can get a 5 gallon filled for 1.50. Distilled is about a dollar per gallon here.

Tap water is possible only in areas that have cleaner water under 50ppm. Some places are better than others, the ppm of my tap water is ~400. Get a cheap TDS meter off amazon to test it. Honestly it's good to have in general, particularly if you're using Reverse Osmosis water. It'll let you know when the filter is starting to go bad and if you tray water, it'll keep you from gradually increasing your ppm (through evaporation) to dangerous levels.

Have a feeling water is a critical factor here. Repotting and changing environments will cause a halt in their growth, maybe slight sagging but I've never had them collapse. If you're wanting to keep it inside, I'd bag the plant temporarily so it can use the higher humidity to facilitate regrowth. Put a few holes in the bag and seal it with a rubber band to have some air exchange. I leave the bottom open personally. If you're putting it outside (which it'll do much better), I'd only bag if you're in a low humidity area like the desert and keep it in the shade to harden off and readjust for a bit. That's a whole different topic though. You can find that kind of information on a different thread, I'm sure.

Regardless of the plant (CPs, trees, houseplants), I'll usually reacclimate it by bagging them after repots and gradually reduce it (Usually when I see new growth) because it's less stress on the plant. If you do something like that don't sit the plant in water, it'll hold moisture on it's own just fine.
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By _-SphagnumFromHell-_
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Posts:  702
Joined:  Mon May 28, 2018 5:02 pm
#365958
P A U L wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 4:02 pm This assumes you didn't use tap water. In which case your plant is dead.
I wouldn't say that. Unless the tap water is ridiculously packed with minerals, it won't die immediately. It's the buildup of minerals that's bad. If this person were to rewater from the top with distilled water, it'd be fine.
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By optique
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Joined:  Fri May 24, 2019 11:15 pm
#365959
P A U L wrote:lolwut. Tap is no good. A gallon of distilled water is 89 cents for me when it's on sale. Its normal price is around $1.50 which I think is super lame. I usually buy 4 gallons every 3~6 weeks.
not all tap water is the same, depending on the source it can been fine for CP's or deadly and also how it is treated by your water co. If i had to filter my water i would not have so many carnivorous plants.
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