FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello all! This is my first post! I would like to start off by saying that I really do love this website and all the priceless information on it!

I am new to venus fly traps and have taken quite an interest in them I have done lots of reading.. There is priceless information all throughout the forms!

I ordered my saw tooth plant from flytrap store and have been VERY pleased with their products!

I am almost positive that my plant has sun burnt but just do not know to what degree. As you can see in the picture I have a decent amount of dead traps but also some nice green ones as well. Is this "sunburn" normal or possibly other problems? I of course use use only distilled water and i know they are getting plenty of sunlight because I live in Phoenix Arizona. I have found a couple of other people posts of people that live here as well.. also, i can give it plenty of shade.. The medium is flytrap store so you know its good! I have also been trying to get watering down,, I have read lots about it but venus flytraps are like a specific science lol... I am trying to water them every 3 days since its really hot out.. any suggestions? thank you reading!

Vft usually have a bit of die back due to stress etc when posted. I'm envious! Wish I had a saw tooth as my first!

Welcome aboard

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Welcome to the forums!

Looks like your Sawtooth got a little too hot and a bit too dry. When it's really hot, be sure to keep the soil a little more damp so that it doesn't dry out over the course of the day. We water our plants pretty much every day this time of year.

Watering every 3 days in Phoenix seems like it wouldn't be enough. Try thoroughly saturating the moss every morning and see how the plant likes that.

Matt! Thank you so much for the quick reply! I figured that I was not watering enough.. In your opinion, How long would you keep it in direct sun? I like to give it direct sun early in the morning so the heat is not soo intense..

You want to give it as much sun as possible without going over 110f soil temps. I have found In a typical 3inch plastic pot if it's about 100f outside my plants are right about 110f soil temps. You can pickup a cooking thermometer for $5 and check. Anything above 110f and you plant will likely suffer and die back.

As a pointer I have moved to double potting my plants for the summer and has worked fantastic. I didn't want to disturb the roots of new plants until next year so I simply put my smaller plastic pots in a slightly larger glazed pot and this has cut my soil temps by a solid 8 degrees on hot days. Also when it's the high heat of summer, it's almost impossible to over water, better to take a chance with over watering than dehydrating.

I tried growing flytraps and sars in phoenix but it didnt really go well with me haha. I really recommend always keeping the soil moist though, maybe make one of those bog containers?

Although giving them a lot of sunlight is important, try to keep them out of direct sunlight in the afternoon until its not at hot, probably protect it with some shade cloth too.

Actually, i forgot i had bought some flytraps and sars right before i went to bootcamp, and my mom took care of them for 3 months. When i came back home for boot leave (In March), i found them flowering and they looked quite healthy! Not sure how they're doing now though, its definitely a lot hotter now so they might not be looking so well right now. I'll have to ask my mom later today , and i'll let you know!

PS. I know this might be a bit controversial, but i think living in an area like this, its better to have them in some shade, rather than in full sun. Just my opinion though.

Thank you so very much for all the feedback everyone! I like to let them soak up the sun all morning and when it gets too hot i bring them under the patio. The biggest trouble I am still having is how much too water. I believe that I had slight algae on top of the soil because it was green did some researched and cut back the water. Its really confusing me because my plants are getting tons of sun and the top soil gets dry really fast but still getting algae?.. None the less I am being super cautious! Also, for others who live in the desert do a decent amount of your traps blackened?

Wiki, I agree with you about having them in shade at certain parts of the day because if I dont my plants really burn! Just seems like the direct sun gets too intense!

I am essentially in a desert area, it's not 116f like in AZ but July August temps generally are over 100-104f. I have had little to no sunburn on my plants that were purchased this year. I would say it took about 30 days before my new plants really started thriving and shooting up new traps though.