FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi there,

I recently grew a VFT from a dormant seed just before spring. It was bought in a kit that came with the soil and moss.
Two heads sprouted up including the tall stalk in the center. Both grew pretty evenly for a while until one of them just stopped and started to turn a palish yellow. It’s sibling however finished developing its head and is a normal green color, but it also doesn’t seem to be making any progress. I am using distilled water and I have it under grow lights which I’ll get info shortly.
Based off of reading the guide, I can figure a few mistakes I’ve made. I didn’t rinse the peat moss before setting it, and I’ve been exposing it to direct light from the grow lights for probably a little too long during the day, and finally I keep it indoors and I’m not sure if the temperature in my house is consistent enough to satisfy the plant. That being said, I wanted to seek some help because I don’t know where else to turn for information and I think I still have time to save my plant. I’ll provide photos of it so you guys can tell me what you think but any help would be appreciated.

P.S. - I’m not sure if I should be concerned but the Venus that did fully develop its head has actually naturally closed on a fruit fly and I didn’t think it was mature enough for its jaws to be able to close. Is this something to worry about?


Thank you!

Sassy

One thing I see right off is that it is planted too deeply. The rhizome where the leaves come off of should be just below the surface. The leaf and flower stalk shouldn't be yellow. The only thing I can think of would be serious light deprivation. It might be worth digging it up, washing off the soil and see what the rhizome and roots look like. I would guess that you are going to find some root rot on that plant.

I agree that it's potted a bit too deeply. I'd also recommend a repot or at least removing some of the moss around the rhizome so you can see the crown and newly-forming traps can emerge without having to push through the soil.