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New VFT owner

W

Wado

Hello,  I'm a newcomer to the CP world and have 2 VFT's.  One is your common VFT and the other I havn't been able to identify.  It's like the dente with long leaves but has normal mouths.  Just a few questions, once the trap has consumed a bug should you remove it from the mouth once it opens up?  Also with my unidentified VFT I took it to work, but didn't relaise that they leave the lights on at night so the leaves are burning up before they turn into mouths/traps.  Is there a way I can pamper it back to life.  I've brought it back home and seems to do a little better with a couple of new traps growing but it is slow.  With the burnt/black leaves do I cut the black off or the whole leaf? Is spring water ok to water the VFT with?

Thanks
 
Welcome ;>

I would avoid using 'spring' water. Bottle spring water is not guaranteed to be low in minerals. Sometimes they even add a little sodium to make the water taste better. This information does not have to be on the label either, although sometimes it is. Stick with distilled water from the store. If you have a high quality saltwater pet shop in the area, they might have RO or Dionized water you can buy also. You can also collect rain water.
Tony
 
if the plant is showing signs of renewed growth, then your bringing it home and placing it in it's new conditions may be all that is needed. I would wait a week or two, and see how this pans out, if things come back, then your golden.

How long have you had the flytraps? (Just want to make sure they are not missing dormancy)

You say that one is like a dente, with long leaves but normal mouths? THat does not make sense to me... sorry... if it has normal mouths, then it is a normal plant.. long leaves, if they are thin, and long, usually indicate the plant has been reaching towards the light...

Where did you get your flytraps? If you got them from a home depot or similar place, then it is almost guranteed that both plants are typical flytraps...

look at pictures of the plants here under buy a plant, they show red dragons, green dragons, dente, and typical... Dente have more shark tooth spines on the trap, while all others have regular hair like spines.

Welcome Wado!
 
Welcome to the forums, Wado.

Venus flytraps have sensitive trigger hairs on the inner sides of the traps. When one is touched twice or many are touched the trap closes, thus trapping an insect etc.
The traps can close only a limited amount of times and the plants waste energy if no insects etc. are caught.

For this reason, I wouldn't recommend that you remove the dead carcasses from the trap. The traps can easily be triggered when you try to remove the dead carcass thus wasting the plants energy and reducing the efficiency of the traps.
 
Thanks every one on your advice.

First thing when I get time is to buy some distilled water water for them and water from the top for a few days to get rid of any build up of salts and mineral that may have occured from the spring water.

I've had the fly traps for about a month. It's the middle of summer here in Australia so I guess I'm a long way from worrying about dormancy.

Ok so I remain corrected, I must have 2 common VFT's then. Wouldn't mind getting some different varieties though.

I've just had a look at the VFT that I'm having trouble with and it seems to be perking up
smile.gif
good news
smile.gif
With the bits that are dieing and turning black, do you trim just the black off or trim the whole leave right back to the base?
 
when clipping, use a very sharp pair of scissors, or a razor, you want to avoid damaging the flesh around the clip as much as possible (which is why pinching is heavily discouraged!) NOw.. if only the trap is black, wait until it's all black before doing anything.. wait until the black is right up on the little neck that leads to the rest of the leaf... IMHO as long as that neck is green, the plant may still be getting the last bits of nutrients from the trap...

Once the trap is green all the way up to the neck, clip it on the neck. discard the black trap. Now, if the leaf is black, leave it on until the black has consumed the bulk of the leaf... if it;s green, it means there is still chlorophyl present, and your plant needs all the energy it can get! In that case, you snip as far down as you can get, without disturbing the rest of the plant. If you get down to where there is whit tissue, you done a great job!

In Australia, I understand that Triffid Park is the place to be regarding flytrap cultivars... you need to talk to Mondo and Fatboy (sorry if I forgot anyone) They are both Australians, though Mondo lives up north in Indonesia I think. but both of them can tell you anything you need to know about growing CP's in australia, they are sharp as tacks!
 
Just wanted to say welcome, Wado. :)

Sometimes I removed bug husks from open traps with a GENTLE misting of distilled water from a spray bottle. Other times I just let the rain wash them out naturally. I did accidently trigger a few traps by spraying...not a good thing but most often I could get the husks out (and sometimes dirt that splashed into traps from a hard rain) without disturbing the trap. My VFTs ate so many flies this past summer there were dead bug bodies everywhere.

Good luck with your plants and I hope you find some different ones to try. My one Red Dragon died and my one Dente was killed by a squirrel, so I need to replace them. I think I've lost quite a few more this fall to squirrel paws. :-( Spring will tell me how many.

Suzanne
 
Where in Australia do you live Wado?
 
I'm in Adelaide, what about you?
 
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