Couple of Questions concerning VFTs

16 years ago

So I have about 6 pots of Venus fly traps.

4 Large, 2 small.

Among the largest there is:

-A pot containing a bunch of small "baby" VFTs.

-A pot containing 3 "medium" sized VFTs.

-A pot containing 2 "Medium-Large" sized VFTs

-A pot containing either 2 or 3 bunched up large-ish venus fly traps.

Among the smallest there is:

-A pot containing a large-ish VFT*

-A pot contianing a small VFT

*My personal favorite. Not wilted, huge traps, stands tall and proud, redish, keeps growing, catches fruit flys (?) at night, Huge traps, more huge traps. Might be a B52?

All under lights for about 80% of the day

I know they are healthy because they are not wilted and are turning red, traps open, and traps close. Not only that, moss has began to sprout in the soil. And the plants keeps growing (all of 'em).

Now..

The questions:

I've noticed several leaves growing out and the traps start dying or "burning up" as it grows. Not only that, but some following leaves successfully grow with traps. And the leaves that DO burn, still grow but without a trap. Like.. only the trap burns. What's going on? Does the plant think it's ugly and want to be a normal plant? Is it turning into a vegetarian? Is it rebellious?

And if algea starts growing in the dish of water the pot sits in, is that bad? And when I say grow, it's having a growth spasm or something. Fastest growing yet.

So far only ONE of my "baby" type plants died, but I have about 12 more in the same pot. Survival of the fittest?

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Comments (7)

mutant_hybrid
16 years ago
Hero81,

This does occur on occasion with some Venus Flytraps. Personally, I think that it is due to tainted water (minerals) in my case as that is the only logical thing it could be since all other aspects of plant health are present.

My Flytrap had a few traps that blackened and dried up before forming, however; others that continued to develop normally. When traps do not form properly, it is for any number of reasons: low light (much less than 9000 lumens usually), hard water, chemicals (some fungicides) with copper in them (carnivorous plants are generally allergic to copper), fast humidity drops (bringing them indoors in air conditioning after they were outdoors in humid conditions), sudden increase in ultraviolet radiation (like placing them in direct sun after they were in a dark store shelf), or fertilizer in the soil or in too strong a mix on their leaves. Pests like aphids can also damage young leaves before they grow out, causing deformed or dead traps.

Young plants of any species will die off as weaker ones succumb to mold, bacteria, or simple genetic inadequacy. Darwinian philosophy as you indicated.

Algae just means that you have good light. It can be unsightly, so clean out the trays every week or so. I generally wait for the water level to lower and then empty and clean the trays when it is time to refill them anyways. If you leave the trays too long, you might even detect slime mold and a fishy stench as the peat breaks down.
don555
16 years ago
I'd have to question the water quality also. There should be very little algae growth because there shouldn't be many nutrients available to the algae. If you have very vigorous algae growth there must be a nutrient source from either the soil, fertilizer, or the water used to water your plants. Carnivorous plants don't like nutrients in the soil or water, so that could be part of the problem.

-Don
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petiolaris
16 years ago
Just manually scrape off algae and unwanted moss and water from above.
hero81
Original Author
16 years ago
Hmm..

I think I may have figured it out.
A while ago, I couldn't make it to the store to get my usual "Pure Water" and got "Distilled Water" from Walgreens.

I finally ran out of that stuff so I got a lot of my usual pure water. Even though distilled water shouldn't have minierals, the water I have been using changed. Or at least that's what I believe according to what you're all telling me.

I have no fertilizer in my soil and my plants have adapted to the low humid levels. I really don't know what to say about copper. Personally, that's the first time I heard that.

I could laugh about the UV description because they are growing indoors. And it's possible that it could be lighting.

But I think the waterchange is what happened.
carnivorousplants
16 years ago
It could be just a wierd growth phase since it's in the same growing conditions.
Mutant hybrid- Have your plants started growing normally again?(from another post).If so, many of these posts about strange growth could just be a short phase that all plants go through once in a while
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mutant_hybrid
16 years ago
Carnivorousplants:

The Venus Flytrap is growing normally again, so I think I did get some bad water from somewhere.

The Drosera capensis is still smaller than it used to be and is still producing slightly twisted leaves that open normally after a day or so. Since I repotted it, I am hoping the problem will be resolved.... it could be root bound since I had to remove that huge mass of roots from it. Plants that start growing roots around the inside of the pot too much begin to feel cramped and grow in smaller until you repot them into a larger container.
don555
16 years ago
Hero81,

How large are the traps on the plant you think might be a B52? Normal healthy adult plants get traps 30 mm or a bit bigger. B52s can get traps 50 mm or a bit more.
-Don

Couple of Questions concerning VFTs

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mutant_hybrid

don555

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Couple of Questions concerning VFTs

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mutant_hybrid

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