FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi all!
I was wondering if you could take a look at the pics below and let me know if the health of my plant is alright? My VFT is sadly a windowsill plant due to our living conditions. I think it's done pretty great since we got it in May ( I also included a pic of what it looked like the day we brought it home).

Here in NY, the weather has started to plummett and I keet by a windowsill with a very thing pane of glass (not double glazed), so even though there is heating in the room, it's getting subjected to some of the outdoor temperature via that.

I was wondering if this darkening of the petioles is a sign of it starting to sense the weather and prepare for dormancy, or if my plant is sick at all? The new growth looks healthy and there are like 3-4 baby plants that have sprouted that appear to be doing well.

I should mention that there appeared to mini leaf hopper larvea and their discarded shells on the plant for a while, but I think they either died or moved on. I can't see them anymore at all, so it looks like the plant survived that experience.

Any thoughts on whether I should be concerned about the darkening of the petioles here, or is this normal?

Thanks for any insight!

I'm no expert but your plant looks pretty good to me...better than it did in the beginning. I do sense a bit of yellow in the foliage which very well may be from decreasing solar radiation coming in....shorter days and lower angled sun. You might want to watch your watering if it seems to be going dormant...making sure not to get it to wet. Being indoors in the living area will probably mean low-humidity, though, so be sure it doesn't get to dry, either. Looks like you've done well with the plant! Congratulations!

Considering it's in a windowsill, it looks pretty good! A little more light would probably be appreciated, but it should be ok. Like @Intheswamp said, make sure to start watering it less and exposing it to slightly cooler temps. You already have the photo period going down as it's on a windowsill so you don't to to bother with that.

Thanks for the replies everyone. So the darker parts on the petioles aren't anything to worry about?

I'm afraid where it is is the best place it can get sun and the coldest bit in the apartment. We're in a tiny space and the heating gets everywhere, so hoping the cold through this thin window will be enough to trigger some level of dormancy.

In terms of watering, I have been watering from the bottom. I just put about an inch of distilled water and when that dries up in the tray, I just add another inch.

How should this change during the colder months? Should I still do the same? Or leave the tray empty for a few days before I add another inch?

Thanks for the advice and the kind words!

The browning on the sides of the petioles is just older leaves that are starting to die. Nothing to be worried about. If it doesn't get below 50F in your apartment, you could do the fridge method. Basically, you unpot the plant, wrap the root ball in a damp paper towel and place it in a bag which you can set in your fridge. For watering if you don't use the fridge method, just let it dry out a tiny bit more than usual.

Sadly, our fridge only has just about room for our food, so I'll find out if dormancy ever gets triggered by the window

I'll keep that in mind about the watering and leave it a day or two before adding water to the tray in between.

Thanks for the responses, all!

As for some cooler temperatures... You might make some type of box out of cardboard to put the trap in. A corrugated cardboard box would do good. You could even add a little bubble-wrap packing material from a shipping box to the inside. Stand the box up on its side and put the flytrap in it so that the flytrap is sitting on a side (that's facing down) and the opening is to the side. Push the open side up against the window...mabe secure with a little tape(?). The cool temperature coming through the glass could enter the box where the flytrap sits cooling the area inside the box cooler than room temperature. You'd need to rig it so you can open it to water, of course, but it should act like a small "cooler" that gets its cold from the window pane. Just a thought.

Thanks for the idea!! I appreciate it!

Good idea @Intheswamp! Or you could try ice packs lol. You'd probably have to replace them daily though. To much work if you ask me. Does your apartment have a cool basement you could ask to use?

No basement, sadly. Interestingly, I was also considering ice packs. I thought maybe if I placed them around the water tray, that woud cool things down quite a bit? I'd be reluctant to put ice cubes in the water that the pot sits in, in case the uptake of ice cold water was a bit too shocking. But I'd consider adding just a few in there if it wouldn't cause any damage. The box idea is also very interesting. I'll contemplate both!