FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

One day my lovely boyfriend came home with a venus fly trap plant he had bought from bunnings because it was the 'coolest thing ever', potted it in normal potting mix and then swiftly flew out for his job (fly in/fly out mining) leaving me to look after his new baby. Needless to say, leaves started turning black pretty quickly despite my best watering efforts (moist but not wet) and after reading a few things on this site I figured it was because the plant was in enriched growth media which was burning the poor plant. So like a good girlfriend I went back to bunnings in search of peat moss and the helpful lady found me some as well as finding me some perlite. When I got home I mixed the perlite with the peat moss (1:1) like I had read, repotted the plant, watered it and then gave myself a pat on the back. Out of curiosity, I came back to this site and browsed a few of the threads and saw that someone had mentioned that the Killarny brand of peat moss was 'certain death' as it has added ferts. At this point I banged my head on the desk a little as this was the brand of peat moss I had bought after looking at the packaging and not finding a specific mention of any additives!!!

Long story short, I'm very inexperienced and was wondering whether all you experienced ones think I should just start again with different peat moss and a new plant before the bf gets back or should I leave it and see what happens or should I repot the plant (again) with different peat moss and perlite?

In even shorter terms.... HELP!!!!

Much thanks in advance

Can you take a picture of the bag? That might help. Otherwise, it sounds like you're making good efforts to keep the plant alive .

Hello and welcome to FlytrapCare funsize!

You sound like an awesome girlfriend...trying to save the plant that your boyfriend loves so much but abandoned for you to take care of

If there is any white left on the rhizome (bulb) of the plant, it can still recover. I'd probably soak the plant in distilled water and get some media that I know to be good to pot it in and see if it recovers. If not, you can always purchase another one.

Good luck!

legends, thanks guys for the speedy replies, it sounds like I might be able to save it and I'll try to upload a picture of the peat moss I used to see if it is any good

Thanks again

Welcome to FlyTrapCare forums!

It's lovely of you to try and save the plant. If you don't have another media on-hand, you could always buy some live sphagnum moss and mix it with some perlite. I used this mix until I could find a more suitable media and it worked quite nicely (albiet only temporary).

Live sphagnum moss can be purchased in air-tight bags from most department stores that have a gardening section. It looks like alien seaweed -- before using it make sure to rinse it in pure water, same with the perlite =].

As Matt said, check to see if the rhizome is still white, if it is you shouldn't have a problem. Try to remove as much of the soil from the roots as you can (gently, of course) and then soak the plant in pure water.

I've noticed on the forums, some "newbies" are alarmed by the colour of their venus fly trap's roots, but if yours are black don't worry -- this is normal! Venus fly traps have black roots!

All the best with your plant and don't be afraid to ask more questions! =]

Hi funsize, killarney peat is not actually peat at all. It's made from composted milled pine bark amongst other things. A peat substitute it is...and isnt'. It's acidic and holds water like peat, but it's also enriched with nutrients that will rapidly kill your plant. Follow the advice that you have already been given and repot your BF's plant into some real peat moss & perlite. You should be able to get another brand - Brunnings is Ok, it's made from Canadian TE-EM sphagnum peat moss which is the good stuff. There's also another one in a white bag that's ok, but the brand escapes me at the moment.

Moral of this story - don't trust the staff at Bunno's! And don't give up on the plant unless it's brown & mushy, they are surprisingly tough.

I need to throw in my two cents and say that Attunga Peat is just as bad.

If you dont want to do the whole process all over again, you could try repeatedly soaking the entire pot in pure water, say maybe, 8 hours a day for 7 days ought to do it (with new water everyday). That will probably help bring down the level of nutrients in the Killareny Peat.

You sound like an amazing person doing all that for your boyfriend If you want to start again,feel free to,and suprise you boyfriend,or you can see if there;s any life left in your plant,and take matt's advice
Anyhow,good luck with whatever you do!