Fragile

[Parasuco]

I bought a discount VFT today, for half price at four ninety nine... It looked rather healthy after i removed ugly dead leaves, and smoothed out the moss... Anyway, I dont even know when this happend, but it is apparent that i accidentally triggered TWO traps... One leaf that wasn ot triggered, and one of the triggered turned almost completyly limp after about two hours! Is this because of the massive energy drain i've caused? Whoopsy daisy... So, now, do I just let it sit. Be very very very gentle, and breath on it (the latter was a joke... get it, CO2... get it, get it)? One of these leaevs were semi dehydraded looking, but not LIMP... They were in a store as a novelty plant, so I knew they were on the brink of like... shall I say... passing on to plant purgatory... This particular plant appeared healthy. For one it was still rather leafy, no spidleys, and also, the fact that it was still green, that really pushed my button to buy it... Also, while i was there. I really saw what the light hungry leaves look like... wow, they were like hair with jaws, I swear!!! I was so sad. I wish I could take them all home and save them. Anyhow, I was just wondering. Was this insta-shrivel due to my accidental triggering of the traps Do ya think?

 

[Stefano1]

hey

probably, try feeding it to the open traps, and give it soem sun with rain or distilled water,

as long as the rest of the plant is green and there are no signs of dying or any black then it should be fine

maybe it was an old trap

 

[Parasuco]

Its not brown or black, it just wilted to nothing... It's like a gramma's face... (no offence the the grams out there!) I dont understand, it just flopped... All but the new baby leaves are like wet tissue paper... IF they all go floppy, should i cut them off, and snip up the rhizome, or would you think that that is shot too?

 

[Linda]

My suggestion would be to give it a few days to get accustom to the new environment. If it had a cup lid on it when you bought it, the inside was holding in alot of moisture and heat, which is now gone if you've removed the lid. Just like any other plant, it needs some time to get use to its new home. Give it good light, distilled water, and wait. I wouldn't cut anything off unless it is completely black. New leaves should start looking better as they grow in.

Linda ö¿ö

 

[Alvin Meister]

Don't feed it - the last thing it needs is to be using up more energy.
Are you sure it's getting enough water? There's nothing blocking the roots or something?

 

[Parasuco]

It is sitting in a tray of water, and when i water it, more comes out the bottom. I dont think its water. The two leaves just shrivled in less than two hours. From nice, healthy (supposedly) to dried lettuce...

 

[Alvin Meister]

Well as long as the bulb is still white and firm, it will start growing new shoots soon, even if the existing leaves are shrivelled.

 

[RamPuppy]

I bet the shriveled up leaves were grown in a nice humid environment, take that away, and the plant is suffering a little shock. that is normal. give it time, don't feed it for a while, and just baby it. It will come back and look like a beautiful dealer of death!

 

[Parasuco]

OK. I triggered leaves 1 and 2... leaves 1 and 3 shriveled (they're NOT black tho, not even yet). Leaf 2 got limp looking... not shirvled, but it drooped, and i could see it's veins... Leaf 2 is now open (ALMOST, theres maybe a day left of opening before it is wide open), AND it is fleshy, sturdy, and healthy, no brown spots. Leaves 1 and 3 are fairly good looking, but as you go up the stalk toward the trap, they turn dry and green. So the base of their petiols are fine but the trap, and top half of the petiols are dry and shrivled. When Trap 2 is open, should i feed it to give it a boost of growing stuff, or do I leave it? I did have a spider to feed it, but it is in good condition, and it has survived the storage jar or Greg, and STILL has a plump abdomen... I've taken a small liking to this spider, and I'm afrain I cant feed it to my plant...

If i have to though. Bwaha, I will. My heart isnt that big... What do you suggest? The spider MAY be a weeeeeeeeee bit too big, i'm not sure yet, i'll wait till the trap is open to do some measuring... Should I feed the spider, or should i find a smaller bug that wont be such a shock to eat? Again, do i feed it or leave it?

Thanks

 

[RamPuppy]

Dont feed your plant for a while..

thinking about it now, I think those shriveled traps may be due to root damage.

Make sure your soil is not to wet, i.e. sopping, where you push a finger in and water pools up... needs to be moist, no more, no less.

just don't feed it, let it go and see if it can recover.. flytraps don't NEED to be fed, so just let it go for now. And ALWAYS, when in doubt if the food is to big, err on the side of caution. So, l.e. let the little spider enjoy his life!

 

[Parasuco]

The soil is just as wet as my other VFT that i bought and made wet (they were both semi dry when i bought them... the new one was almost dry), and only the one suffered when i gave it sufficient water... its not over watered.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Classic dehydration of the leaves after going from a very humid environment to a less humid environment. Always adjust new plants to your growing area slowly.
Tony