FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi, I love my VFT however, I have been watering with tap water and it has gone from lush and beautiful to sparse and sickly looking with many traps and stem tuning black
If I now use rainwater or Distilled water will the plant 'come good' or is is too late? I would say that 20% of existing traps are brown or black
many thanks,
anxious owner
silvana

hi,

If the rhizome is still white, then you have hope, and start using rain water now!

also try putting it in a 6-inch pot or bigger, and give it lots of lights, if you are in the northern hemisphere leave it in a window where it can get some sunlight!

Good luck!!!

Hello silvana and welcome to FlytrapCare!

As jht-union said, if there is still green on the leaves and the rhizome is still white, the plant isn't dead yet. It's going to be best to repot it immediately into fresh soil and begin watering it with distilled water or collected rain water.

And, as always, give it as much light as you can

Good luck!

Hello and welcome to FTC !

As the others have said, as long as there's green and the rhizome (bulb) is white, your plant is still alive. I recommend that you re-pot the plant immediately and start using pure water.

Good luck with your plant!

Welcome to the FlyTrapCare forums!

It is most likely your plant is still alive,as everyone else has said,repot it,and give it pure water,and it should get back to full health in a few weeks

Good luck!

[where do I find the rhizomw!!!!!"jht-union"]hi,

If the rhizome is still white, then you have hope, and start using rain water now!

also try putting it in a 6-inch pot or bigger, and give it lots of lights, if you are in the northern hemisphere leave it in a window where it can get some sunlight!

Good luck!!![/quote]

Hello silvana and welcome to FlyTrapCare forums!

The rhizome can be found if you gently uproot your plant. Carefully remove all soil from the roots and follow them toward a chunk of (hopefully) white flesh. All the leaves and roots sprout from this area so it's very easy to find!

I wish you the best of luck recovering your venus fly trap! Just a quick heads up, don't worry if the roots are black -- that's their normal colour!

Thanks for all the great advice, and fingers crossed my beloved little plant I have become so attached to LIVES!
SILVANA

Nobody's mentioned dormancy yet. If you live in the northern hemisphere (and therefore it's winter), it's normal for plants to lose a lot of leaves and start to grow really slowly. Is your plant growing a different shape of leaves that it was in the summer? Winter leaves are usually short, thicker and lower to the ground. There's a lot of dormancy information on the flytrapcare main page.

Sometimes tap water is ok, if the dissolved mineral content is low enough. Distilled water is always best, because it's basically guaranteed to be lower than any tap water, but in some places tap water isn't so bad. All I'm saying is the plant may be dying back mainly because of dormancy, and not sickness because of the water.

I disagree, you should never use tap water unless you check it EVERY TIME with a TDS meter. . I assure you that the plant is not slowing up growth because of dormancy.... It is suffering because of tap water...

Sorry for the harshness

i think members should be required to put at least the country they lived in, i have try indirectly to ask silvana and others that need help where they lived by asking "if it is in the northern hemispherem then it should be dormant", me waiting for an answer hope to get a replay "oh i live in the northern, southern what ever hemisphere", instead ........ i get nothing, so me answering the first question and hearing back from silvana understand that she's not located in the northen hemisphere, because she did not answer anything about the climate she lives in nor cold temps, therefore she must be in a placed where summer/spring is now at the place where she lives. I think is really important that we all put the place where we live in, dmagnan, i'm guessing you live in texas since you have a CP group in your profile from texas( maybe you should add your place where you live!!! )

jht-union wrote:i think members should be required to put at least the country they lived in, i have try indirectly to ask silvana and others that need help where they lived by asking "if it is in the northern hemispherem then it should be dormant", me waiting for an answer hope to get a replay "oh i live in the northern, southern what ever hemisphere", instead ........ i get nothing, so me answering the first question and hearing back from silvana understand that she's not located in the northen hemisphere, because she did not answer anything about the climate she lives in nor cold temps, therefore she must be in a placed where summer/spring is now at the place where she lives. I think is really important that we all put the place where we live in, dmagnan, i'm guessing you live in texas since you have a CP group in your profile from texas( maybe you should add your place where you live!!! )

I totally agree! It would help a ton and more people would know how/where to put it in right when they registered . Hopefully Matt or Steve can change that . And a SHOUT OUT TO EVERYONE! Please put your location in with your profile information

dantt99 wrote:I assure you that the plant is not slowing up growth because of dormancy.... It is suffering because of tap water...

Sorry for the harshness

I didn't say it's definitely because of dormancy and not because of tap water, I said it MIGHT be. It could very well be both, and she might get upset when she repots and doesn't see new fast growth. She may then throw out a plant that is only dormant. You should always be careful with definite statements, because you might be wrong, or at least not totally correct. I'm not offended at the harshness, and I don't mean to offend, it's just something that's important to remember.

jht-union wrote:I think is really important that we all put the place where we live in, dmagnan, i'm guessing you live in texas since you have a CP group in your profile from texas( maybe you should add your place where you live!!! )

That's fair, I'll do that. I thought I had something there actually, but guess not.

dmagnan wrote:

jht-union wrote:I think is really important that we all put the place where we live in, dmagnan, i'm guessing you live in texas since you have a CP group in your profile from texas( maybe you should add your place where you live!!! )

That's fair, I'll do that. I thought I had something there actually, but guess not.

Thank you!