FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I noticed this season my Venus flytrap was not producing traps, and I decided to take a look at the roots. They seem to be in a knot. What should I do?



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It looks like your plant has been in a shallow, black pot. I'm no expert on diseases, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was was either too wet for a VFT, or too hot in the sun, or it got some fungus or something. When I used dark, shallow pots, I had weird problems. Now I use white pots that are around 12 inches deep (think wastebasket), with a simple peat moss or coconut coir soil, standing in a pan with an inch or two of water, in the glaring sun all day long. It keeps just about the right amount of moisture in the soil, and all you do is fill the pan when it's low. Since I started doing that, what had been a very finicky plant to keep alive became easy. I've never had any trouble with fungus, algae, rot, slime, disease, or anything. They just grow and multiply like crazy, as long as I can keep the birds from digging them up.
But that's just my opinion, and I'm sure you know what opinions are like, and why.
Somebody else may have a different diagnosis.
Good luck, though. Hopefully it'll make it.

That's one of the weirdest things I've ever seen in a flytrap. Those aren't roots that are in a knot, it's the rhizome. It looks like something has been attacking it and causing it to grow out of shape. Pests, fungus, virus, something else?..I don't know what.

..Actually it almost looks like it was trying to grow upside down where the leaves started growing down and then made a turn for the surface.

Also weird is that your fingers look so similar to mine I can barely tell them apart

I think you might be onto something there it does look as if it were growing in one direction but then is now growing the opposite. that is such an oddity! kinda cool really.

did this plant ever get uprooted or replanted with little to no growth? would it have been possible it got turned upside down planting that rhizome?

Looks like it thinks it’s in China and growing upside down. LOL

Thanks everyone! This plant used to be big and healthy and this year it started growing oddly. I’ll try with a new pot, peat moss and some natural fungicide.


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pretty cool looking though I'll say that!

xr280xr wrote: Also weird is that your fingers look so similar to mine I can barely tell them apart

for old fans of Friends, this is hilarious.