- Fri Jul 26, 2024 11:07 am
#454200
I see multiple potential issues, let's dive in.
With there being media on the traps, I assume there has been a recent repotting. This is generally a good move, but it can cause stress, and the plant needs time to recover. However, if repotted into incorrect media, or incorrectly repotted into proper media, that can be a problem.
Having said that, the media looks to potentially be coconut coir. If so, that media needs to be holy (rinse the hell out if it!) because it is usually harboring salt. The salt content is generally fine for regular houseplants, but that amount of salt is (for lack of a better term) poison for carnivorous plants. Coir typically needs to be rinsed over and over again to remove these salts for use with carnivorous plants. The plant could be burning from the mineral content of the media. Peat/perlite or long fibered sphagnum moss is recommended.
Having said that, it appears to have been repotted into a terra cotta pot. Being unglazed pottery, terra cotta can leach minerals into the media. Not a problem for regular houseplants, but very bad for carnivorous plants. The acidic environment these plants live in can accelerate the leaching, burning the plant. Fully glazed pottery is OK to use, inert pots such as plastic, glass, or even styrofoam are recommended.
It wasn't mentioned, but the water generally needs to be less than 50 ppm TDS. Tap water can be OK, but is discouraged unless you know what is in it. My tap water ranges from 100 to 125 ppm depending on the season, but it is low in the more harmful minerals, so I can use it if I wanted. I know growers in my area that only use our tap water, and their plants are fine. If you don't know the composition of your tap water, use distilled water or collect rain water to use.
You said you've moved it to a less sunny position. Moving carnivorous plants to different conditions can result in a decline in health as they acclimate to new conditions. However, if the conditions are sub-optimal, they'll continue to decline. Find the most optimal spot, put them there, and leave them alone.
Having said something about light. These plants need ~6+ hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight daily, or strong artificial lighting for ~16 hours a day. Translated: These plants need lots of light, much more than sunny windowsill can provide. Modern glass filters sunlight, so the plant will slowly die on the sunniest windowsill you can find because it's not getting what it needs from the available light.
In summary, I would recommend a repot into known, proper media, in a plastic pot (or other inert material), then put outside in direct sunlight (but in a place that is still protected from harsh weather), and watered with low mineral water. It will continue to decline as you've now stressed it again with a repot, moving it, changed its growing conditions, and given it a more intense environment. It doesn't look too far gone, so, given the opportunity, it should recover. Doing that, it should have enough time to recover and build up some reserves to make it through dormancy without a problem. Otherwise, it will probably be dead by spring.
Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is that I make bad decisions.
my-freeloader-list-um-er-grow-list-t40190.html