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i just got a trap today

  • Thread starter Dav
  • Start date
i got a trap at a local Zehrs today for 5 bucks.
i took it home and opened it up and let it sit in my room, at the time the traps (about 6) were standing straight up.
when i was in my room a few hours later, i noticed they had all fallen to the side like the trap part was too heavy, is this normal or are they lacking something?
 
Is the soil moist? Make sure u use distilled water. Where is it located(by the window)? What is the temp? Welcome to the forums.

travis
 
that was quick...the soil is still moist (i havn't watered it yet)...a card came with it saying "put your flytrap in a room with lots of light, but not in direct sunlight"....so i put it on my dest near the window...my rooms pretty warm, around 27-28 degrees C...anything else?
 
were are u laocated
take the plastic cover off of it so that it gets lotes of air movement but not wind buy the sounds of it you dont ned the cover cause your room is pretty warm also unless u live in the southern states u can put it in direct sunlight I also purchased mine a Zellars and got that useless card lol
im in canada neer hamilton u
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It could be shock thats my guess
 
Introduce it to sunlight slowly... too much at once will burn it. Indirect light for now is probably fine. Put it in a saucer with about a half inch of distilled or rain water and give it some time to acclimate to its new surroundings. When the water in the saucer is almost gone refill it to a half inch again. Your plant should start to produce new traps soon.
 
i allready took the plastic thing off....i'm from Stratford, Ontario man...
how long does it takes the things to open up after they have closed?
 
if u buy it from whiterose u have a gaurantee for three months for all tropical plants and u can bring it back by 3 months and get ur money back if it died on u
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funny how they cant write an extra line for carnivorrous plants since vfts arent tropical
 
Hi Dav and welcome to the forums
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  If the traps are empty when they close, they usually open up within 24 hrs.  If they caught a bug it could take several weeks.  If it's an old trap (ie. It's caught 3 - 5 bugs) it may not open back up at all, but will die and turn black.  If that happens just trim the trap off the end of the leaf.  The rest of the leaf will continue to work like a regular leaf.
As to why your leaves flopped, it is likely the sudden change in humidity when you took the cover off, gave it a slight shock. It is also, possible the cover was supporting the leaves in that position.
 
  • #10
thanks a lot
 
  • #11
My vote is shock from lots of humidity to little.

It takes time for the plants to adjust.

Also, if the traps where are long stems, it will flop over.

The best things you can do are:

Light
Water
Love
Patience
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It will be fine. If you lose a trap or two, don't sweat it. If you lose them all, then go for a refund!
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You should see new leaves forming from the middle of the plant. As long as new ones are coming up, you are on the right track.

Please keep us informed about your new plant!

AND

WELCOME!!!

I am glad that you found us and I hope you make some new friends and have some fun
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  • #13
Yah if its a humidity prblem the leaves will look kind of wrinkly. They look kind of like green leather if there not adjusted to the humidity.
 
  • #14
Hi Dav

Welcome to the forums!
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If the petioles (stem part) are long it may be flopping over just from the weight of the traps. Probably the cover was supporting them upright. No biggie. I have VFTs in all kinds of positions. As long as its not looking wilted (limp) it should be ok.

Stick around, read some posts on VFTs and you'll learn a lot.

Let us know how your plant is doing.
smile.gif


Suzanne
 
  • #15
thanks a lot...i'm a part of a few forums, and this one is b far the most welcoming! my plants are doing good now, ive had to trim off 2 dead traps so far...i made a cover out of an old 2 liter pop bottle to put over top of them at night, and i also put flies in there too to try to feed them...does anyone else o this?
 
  • #16
Welcome Dav,

All the suggestions given to you are great. In no time, you're have plently of traps to feed.

In the meantime, while your new VFT is recovering from environmental shock, you may want to hold off on feeding your traps. I know it's exciting to see your first trap close shut on a juicy fly, but patience
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Because your VFT is still in shock, the traps will most lightly end up turning black and die from the feeding.

Wait for a couple of brand new traps to develop and then feed your VFT. The effect and action will be better.

Just remember not to overfeed your VFT (1-2 flies a month).

Have fun
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  • #17
i'll remember that...
one of my closed traps is turning really brown and it is very thin....i was wondering if it is on its death bed?
and when i trimmed off the dead ones, half of the stem was black too, so i trimmed it off...is that right?
sorry bout all the questions...i'm just curious...
 
  • #18
Sorry for not saying WELCOME earlyer so WELOCOME

since you are situated were you are once u introduce your plant too full direct sunlight you will be able to leave it outside alll day I live in Caledonia neer hamilton and I leave mine outside all day.

also yes u should trim theat brown trap quick it seems as soon as something on your vft starts to go brown it keeps going brown

as for trimming the leave you should not trim any leaves unlesss they are going brown or when there is no trap on them and your plant is large enoph I would not do this till it's about a year old!
 
  • #19
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (BigBaldBob @ July 25 2002,6:23)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">if u buy it from whiterose u have a gaurantee for three months for all tropical plants and u can bring it back by 3 months and get ur money back if it died on u
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funny how they cant write an extra line for carnivorrous plants since vfts arent tropical[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I work at White rose, and we only get VFTs and other CPs (from guberls, or that two inch pot company) as novelty items. The odd personthere knows how to care for it, and its not like the store is gonna go buy special water for it... If I do recall correctly, they are guarenteed, but you need the receipt, and I'm not sure what happens if you repot it. We end of writing off, and throwing out about three plants or any other leftovers.

Right now we have some S. purpurea ssp. venosa, and aside from myself there is a layd there who does know how to care for it (tho she istna a CP freak, just an all around plant freak), and we water them/flood them well, but like i said. We're not gonna go buy special water, its not practical. I suppose same goes for Lows, home depot, etc.

I inquired as to where or when we get them, i was told that they just come with some other plants we order, Orchids I"m guessing, kuz the VFTs are from Gublers... So its not like we choose to have them shipped, they just sorta come (or at least tahts wut I think... noone from our store is the person who actually orders in the plants...... we can say what we need, but someone elses does allt hat work)...
 
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