FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I bought a Venus fly trap about a week ago from Lowe’s. As soon as I got home I rushed right into to it and put a dead fly into the trap. It closed, but was extremely slow and for a while it didn’t even close all the way. I looked it up and found a method where you pinch and roll your fingers on the trap so it triggers the hairs on the inside. This worked and it began to seal. The trap however turned black where the fly was and the rest of the trap is slowly dying and becoming a yellowish color. My question is - Should I cut off the dying trap? And if so, where do I cut it at, do I cut just the trap off or the whole leaf connected to the trap?

I also forgot to mention that I repotted the plant into a mixture of orchid moss, orchid bark, and some of the original soil that came with it in the pot. I also rinsed the pots with water (distilled) to get any nutrients out of the soil, if there was any. Now I have them sitting outside on my screen porch with direct sunlight in the morning but when the sun rises it gets blocked by the roof. I have it sitting in a container with distilled water about an inch or so high.

I usually wait to cut traps until there is no green. Green means there is some photosynthesis happening and providing energy.

Obtw what you are seeing is normal aging of the trap.

Yep. I was pruning off dead traps today on several VTFs. I accidentally triggered a few and they're closing quite slowly now. Getting ready for winter.

Flytraps don't need to have any old growth pruned off. In their natural wild setting, no one goes around snipping traps.

We do this for an overall pleasant plant appearance and to reduce the amount of organic matter building up on the top of the pots.

I cut off traps when they are really really dry and dead. For the leaf blade, I wait until they are withered and dry enough to easily pull away with no resistance.