FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Sponsored by FlytrapStore.com

Say hello and tell everyone a bit about yourself.

Moderator: Matt

By lanswyfte
Posts:  2
Joined:  Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:59 pm
#365116
(Dear Bob, I hope the smoke goes away soon!)

I bought a Venus Flytrap at my local WinCo about a month and a half ago, and have managed so far to keep it alive. I grew up "knowing" that it was really difficult to keep one alive, so I resisted until I saw them on the shelf in the produce section. I walked past them, shook my head and continued on... stopped, shook my head again, walked back and chose what I thought was the healthiest specimen. With this pandemic stretching longer and longer, I needed a new project on which to focus!

I went home and dutifully Googled "Venus Flytrap care," skimmed over several websites to see which seemed most knowledgeable (admittedly, I only skimmed a couple), and ran with one. That page suggested a terrarium was good, so I left it in the original container, albeit without the top so that insects could enter. This went on my bathroom windowsill, which has bright light thought a cloudy pane.

Things were going swimmingly, with new growth occasionally, until last night, when I noticed that it was almost completely dropped. I'd forgotten to water, and the soil was visibly dry! :o

I slid out the dying Flytrap from its prison and gently poured a bit of distilled water into it from above, trying to jump-start the revival. Then I put it in a clean plastic container, poured about half an inch of distilled water into that, and replaced it on the windowsill, hoping like mad that I wasn't too late.

This morning, all perky again! ::whew:: :D

I decided I wasn't willing to risk that happening again, so I went back to researching via Google, which eventually led me here.
Benny liked this
User avatar
By evenwind
Location: 
Posts:  2153
Joined:  Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:16 pm
#365117
Welcome to the Forum! Hope you can stay safe.
Have you seen this yet? It's a great place to start: beginners-before-posting-your-question- ... 11581.html
Panman, lanswyfte liked this
User avatar
By Panman
Location: 
Posts:  6309
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm
#365123
Welcome to the forum. This is a great community with a lot of knowledge to share. You will soon figure out that these plants are addicting. It starts with one Walmart flytrap and morphs into a fabulous and consuming hobby.
lanswyfte liked this
User avatar
By Matt
Location: 
Posts:  22522
Joined:  Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:28 pm
#365124
Welcome to FlytrapCare! I'm also in extremely smoky Oregon (Ashland). Glad that you decided to put your pandemic energy into plants :D I re-upped on my plant collection this year, so you're not alone!
lanswyfte liked this
By Benny
Location: 
Posts:  530
Joined:  Thu Jan 16, 2020 9:46 pm
#365136
Welcome! I am from smokey Northern California, so I can relate to your misery. Flytraps are great quarantine entertainment, and can quickly become an addiction!
lanswyfte liked this
By lanswyfte
Posts:  2
Joined:  Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:59 pm
#367722
Thanks for all the friendly "howdy-do's!" Sorry I haven't been back since... I don't do a whole lot online these days. Smoke has cleared up, of course (yay!), and autumn is finally proving itself to be here.

My Flytrap is actually doing very well, thank you all!

The day I last posted, I did do some research. Taking that advice to heart, I've been looking at it (perched in my bathroom window where it was getting sunlight) and feeling the soil daily, putting perhaps a centimeter of distilled water in the plastic tub in which it sits, letting it suck the water up through its roots.

Victory! Not only have the traps stopped turning black, but more have grown, and there's even a flower bud now!

Doing more research now, as I'm pondering two courses of action:

1) repotting it in a bigger pot, and
2) placing it outside to enjoy the last of the full sun of the year.

When I have questions, I will post elsewhere, not to this section. I just wanted to acknowledge those who said "hi" to me. :D
Matt liked this
The Sphagnum Yacht

We all love cotton...blue jeans, t-shirts, underwe[…]

1 year old cape!

My cape is being evil. It died back when I did I r[…]

I counted 21 in this one. Both are flavas that I g[…]

A few weeks back most of my VFTs suddenly put out […]

Counting to infinity.

2476

SASE mailed thank you

Looking for a Cephalotus

A guy in a plant club I'm in said he had some Nepe[…]

AI Generated Nepenthes

Hey look, it's those oddly neon bonsai seeds for s[…]

Support the community - Shop at FlytrapStore.com!