FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Ive got a lot of seedlings which are currently germinating but im not sure wether it would be ok to transfer them at this stage. There still in the most basic form about 1 month old with 2 green leaves. The reason i want to move them is because the peat there on is not the greatest or sterilized with some mould growing. Id also like them in a few big pots rather than 15 small pots and was thinking of using some silica sand on the surface of the media to cut out as much algae as possible. Wether its better to do it now before they produce roots i dont know as they look pretty fragile.Also would they be ok to take them out of plastic bag to a less humid enviroment and just keep them under the lights..

Any info/suggestions appreciated thanks.

It's best to transplant when the plantlets are bigger.


ALlen,

I've transplanted them when they're tiny without any problems. They're a bit hard to work with because they're so small, but they don't seem to mind being transplanted.

Although it helps the plants to already have a bit of root (as Allen suggested), it's fine to transplant Flytraps when they are very tiny (as Matt mentioned), and like a lot of young, vigorous plants of many kinds, they don't suffer much transplant shock at that age. I usually transplant young Venus Flytraps soon after the first two leaves, the cotyledons, are fully extended, from their germination container into a more long-term container.

I usually plant a couple dozen or so into one 16-ounce styrofoam beverage cup with a hole punched in the bottom. If you plant them in a larger container like a 6-8 inch planter, it may be more difficult to transplant them later, when instead of algae to worry about, you have a dense mat of carpet moss growing, choking the roots and "bulbs" (leaf bases) of the tiny Venus Flytraps. It's easy to sterilize enough medium for several 16-ounce styrofoam cups, and just a few cups are likely to hold all of your Flytrap seedlings, unless you have many hundreds.

A moist toothpick helps in digging the plants up, poking holes in new medium, and transferring the tiny plants from one location to another, with a gentle push with a finger tip to detach the plantlet from the toothpick and settle it into the new hole.

The sand top dressing seems like a good idea, but it is important to keep the top layer moist when the plants are so young, so you may have a little bit of a problem with that idea. For me, the best way to avoid algae (as much as possible) is to try to keep the medium moist but not wet, grow the plants in bright indirect sunlight for a couple months instead of direct sunlight, because in indirect light the surface dries more slowly and it's easier to keep them just moist without fear of drying out too quickly on the surface (which might kill the plants), and never spray any liquid fertilizer or foliar feed anywhere in the vicinity. Even a tiny amount of overspray mist settling on the growing medium surface can induce a major growth of stifling algae. I learned this the hard way.

Steve

nah man dont do it. just try taking out the mold.

kevinqwe wrote:nah man dont do it. just try taking out the mold.

allenc666 wrote:It's best to transplant when the plantlets are bigger.

I know i know, but it could be easier for me to do it now before they get established..
I have soo many pots of seed, 4" pots all with about 30 seed in. Id rather them in 6" evenly spaced where they can stay until they go into some individual pots.
So i have transplanted ten into this larger pot, if they seem to take to it after a couple of days i will move the rest in. Im stil keeping it bagged up untill they have some traps forming and im misting them twice a day lightly to keep the surface damp although they shouldnt dry too much with the bag covering them

Steve_D wrote:and never spray any liquid fertilizer or foliar feed anywhere in the vicinity. Even a tiny amount of overspray mist settling on the growing medium surface can induce a major growth of stifling algae.

I dont use any of that