FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I am a beginner at caring for Venus Fly Traps. I got a couple of pots of Venus Fly Traps for Christmas. They had not sprouted yet at that time. I kept them in trays of distilled water with artificial plant light (for now).

After about 12 days, at least from what I've counted, the plants began to sprout!

My problem is that they seem to be developing their mouths and staying under the moss.

Here are some pictures. I am not sure what to do. I'm a little worried about the one 'mouth' in the flytrap in the last photo. It is growing a little dark and it is soo tiny.

Should I take most of the moss away? All of it? What should I do?

I circled the 'mouths' that I found with a cyan colored photoshop brush.

Hello Zilzilii and welcome to flytrapcare!

Yeah you can remove the moss. They don't need to be covered like that. Also, the smallness of the traps is probably due to lack of light. How much light are you giving them and how close are they to the light?

I just removed the moss from both pots. One of the pots has at least three fly trap mouths that died and blackened. I think this is mostly because of the moss.

They are getting 6 hours of artificial plant light everyday. It is on a timer. They are also sitting by a window, but there is a sheer, laced curtain. I should probably post new pictures.

You want to bump that up to 16 hours of intense light (not TOO close or you'll burn them - check the temp of the surface with your finger - it should only feel warm). It's the closest you'll get to even 4 hours of direct sunlight which is a minimum amount of light they need.

Adam

Yep, Adam is right. You want to give them at least 16 hours of artificial light if you're trying to get them to grow right now. You also want them as close to the light as they can be without burning them. A good option is to use the "Cool White" bulbs because they put out less heat.

Check my Avatar and Matt's. You should see the traps getting to those colours when you have enough light. Allow 1 month for results

Ok, I took the timer off of them and I am giving them light now until I go to bed. Tomorrow I will set the timer for 16 hours.

I have taken updated pictures, it is an ugly sight. I feel so horrible.



This picture above is how I've set them up. The plant light bulb is white when lit up. Do you think it is too far away from the plants?



One pot with dying traps.



Second pot, again, with dying plants.

Thanks Matt and Adam. I'll give them a month and see what happens. Do I need to cut the blackened traps away?

Right again Adam. I've not been able to get the deep red, almost purple color, on the interior of the traps that I get from using artificial lights. My avatar is from a plant that I had growing under lights for 6 weeks or so.

They actually don't look that bad at all. Pretty healthy considering everything. Yes, you should trim away the black traps. The black traps are a normal part of the growth pattern of VFTs. Don't worry about them. But trim them off if you can. It minimizes the risk of fungal infections.

Yes the light is too far away from them. I keep my plants 4 inches or so from the lights. They shouldn't be more than 6 inches away.

Also, you have a flower stalk starting there. It would probably be best if you snip it off.

A flower stalk? What does it look like?

Should I cut the black heads off at the base or is there a specific way I should cut them?

oh no... you have some flower stalks coming up. This means the plant is in the last throws of it's life and is trying to make some seeds at the last moment to have a chance to pass on it's DNA to another generation of VFTs...

You definitely need A LOT more light.

Immediately cut off the flower stalks as far down as possible. You can plant put some moss in a zip-lock bag with lots of water and put the cuttings in there to get some new plants to grow from them. It'll take over a month to see results though...

See the rest of this site for more info on cuttings, flowering, etc.

If I were you, I would consider going to a garden store (look in your phone book first and call before venturing out) and buying a 100 or more watt grow light. They probably start at $50 but are well worth it. Those will for sure rescue your plants.

Let us know how it goes..

Adam

PS. I also got serious about growing VFTs in the middle of winter... so I had a similar situation as you..

oops. Matt beat me to it

I don't think it was the moss that was the issue.. with enough light, they would start to grow above the moss in a month or so....

I can't find the cutting info. I'm panicking now. My poor babies. D:

You can just cut off any part that is black. It doesn't matter too much how you do it. You can't really hurt them. Just don't pull them out of the ground when pruning.

The flower stalk appears to be in your second photo in the last series of photos you posted above. I'm pretty sure that's a flower stalk in any case. It's the one thing growing out of the middle that doesn't look like a normal leaf and trap. It has a little bulbous head on it.