FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello everyone! I'm new to taking care of Venus fly traps and I've already burnt my plant.

I got mine at Lowe's earlier this week and immediately put it by my window. Now I realize I should have acclimated it first. I've since moved it to the shade and have only moved it back in the sun during dawn or dusk, but two days of doing this and it just looks worse.

The last photo is when I first noticed the burning on Thursday. The other two photos are from today. As you can see the traps are continuing to blacken and some of the stems too.

I've yet to give my plant any water or repot it. The soil feels damp so I don't think it needs to be watered. I think the main issue was too much sun.

Any advice on what I should do to save my plant is appreciated!

It could be burn from the wrong kind of water (correct water should be reverse osmosis, distilled, or rain water). It could also be going into dormancy

looks like the flytraps I just saw at home depot... they didn't list a price, so i went to the checkout and decided that it was too expensive.
The cashier literally threw the plant into a cart...
talk about flytrap torture..

Like I said in the original message, I haven't done anything to it except put it by my window since buying it.

So is it possible it just needs to be repotted and watered (with distilled of course)?

Also to note I've seen the plants still at the store yesterday and they all look fine, which is why I'm worried about mine

The Lowe's, Home Depot, and Walmart plants are usually potted in pure peat moss. When you water it, the peat will get wet on the top, but the center stays bone-dry. The only way to get the whole thing damp is to put the pot in a deep bowl and fill it with low-mineral water almost to the height of the pot. Your soil ball will probably pop up and bob around like a cork, confirming that most of it is dry. Let it sit in that deep water for 3-4 hours, checking it every half an hour and topping off the water as needed. When time is up, take the pot out of the bowl, drain off the excess water, and set it in a saucer.

I would repot that plant in fresh carnivorous plant soil, and in a much taller pot (at least 5 inches / 13 centimeters). Here is a good video that shows how to repot in a peat-moss mix.

Peat moss based soils can take some time to re wet if they have been dried for too long.

As of now, you should repot it in a better media, mostly 50/50 sphagnum moss and perlite, or 50/50 peat moss and perlite, whatever its best for you. The media for it right now its not good which those kind of VTFs from a store are grown in pure peat moss and overtime minerals will build up or there isn't proper drainage. It could be the old traps dying too or maybe it is sunburn (idk since I never saw a sunburned VFT), and depending where you live it could also be getting ready for dormancy.

So try to repot it into a larger pot (6 inches should do) with better fresh media, water it with proper water like distilled, rainwater or reverse osmosis. And acclimate it to your window for a few weeks. It's not too late to save it because your VFT looks to be in good condition so far.

I saved four VFTs from Lowes this April, once I corrected the errors and gave them some time to adjust to their lighting and environment, they've grown so well and are starting dormancy as I type this. I know for a fact things will go well for your little VFT. Good luck!