You have to harden them off before sticking them in full sun. You'll have time to look it up before you get new plants in the FAQ section. You are baking them in the terrariums in the sun. You HAVE to use distilled, RO or rain water. If you can't afford $ .87-.99 or catch rain water then give up on CPs. These will probably not survive. On top of baking them you have given them mineral rich water. We've all made similar mistakes with our fist VFTs.

The reason we recommend to use distilled water, rainwater or, R/O water is not because we are concerned about the sodium in it. The only water that has sodium is sea water.

What we want to avoid is minerals like calcium in drinking water. R/O water has gone through reveres osmosis eliminate most of the minerals dissolved in the water but not all so it is used as a last resort to water CPs.

I agree with taz, you exposed them to dry air and under the sun, literally baking them. When you say brown, do you mean on the leaves or whatÂs called bulb of the plant?

You don't need to repot them, you can flush the soil with distilled water and they can grow fine. Besides, repotting shocked plants will kill them. I also agree with taz's 2nd poin that if you can afforded to buy the right water for them, better give up trying to grow CPs. You wont have them survive very long if you insist giving them only drinking water.

The only water that has sodium is sea water.

That's not true at all. You should do a little researching on bottled waters, water sources and salt content. My tap has some salt in it. Sometimes RO systems containing softeners also leak a little salt if not running properly. Even some bottles of distilled water ?? sometimes has some salt and mineral traces. It's best to catch rain water or do a ppm test on any water you give your plants.

The above two covered things well. I was looking to see where you are from and... well... rain doesn't look like a viable option. Albert Hammond said so.

Yes I am from Southern California...I'm lucky if it rains sometime in the next 6 months, which it wont.

So I bought distilled water today, cheaper than I thought it would be. On my brown one, everything is brown, the leaf the trap and all. the other one just the little hairs on the trap mouth are black, but I've been hardening them off and it's kinda starting to open up...does that mean i can salvage this one?

And i should take it out and wash it off with distilled and put it back in it's pots? And it's okay I took them out of the terrariums, right? cos they have been for a few days now.

I thought you couldnt use bottled water because it has sodium in it, good to know. So if I change my watering process i should be okay?

Thanks so much for the answers

Yes you should be ok if your plant is adjusting to the lower humidity and sun. Don't force it though, acclimate it slowly increasing the hours of exposure by 1-2 each day.

Gee-wheez Taz

don't like people making little jests?

don't like people making little jests?

Don't cry! Jests like that will cost someone their plants. When I jest, I add something like "LOL" etc. Personally I think you were serious and just don't know any better.

Another alternative to buying distilled water is to locate a nearby laboratory that might be willing to let you fill up jugs with their "purified water", which could take the form of WFI (water for injection), DI (deionized water), or the aforementioned RO (reverse osmosis). I used to work for an environmental lab and was given permission to use as much deionized water as I needed. Now I work for a pharmaceutical company and they allow me to take home the "expired" purified water.

Thank you so much for everyone's help I really appreciate it! I'm not sure how long I should leave them in the water before changing it and how often they should be in or out of it...but they seem to be doing a bit better since I bought the distilled water.

You shouldn't need to change the water unless it is contaminated. I would wait until the standing water has nearly evaporated and pour water from overhead, allowing it to drain through. A half inch or so of standing water is close enough.

Agreed. You want the media constantly moist but not waterlogged or dry. Anywhere from 1/4" to 2" standing water depending on pot height.