ooooops...i need help!

[venus fly trapper]

i know u guys told me u not seperate the vfts, but i found out there were actually 4 plants together and their traps were getting in each others way and it was kinda hard to tell which one belonged to which plant for feeding purposes. so i just went ahead and seperated them..but i realized, after i did it, that i used miracle grow potting mix....(it has fertilizers in it), and i used tap water to wash the sphagnum moss and water the miracle grow/sphagnum mix. i was soooo stupid. so i put a LOT of distilled water on the plants to try to wash the tap water and the fertilizer out.....the VFTs are doing ok i think...there r no signs of them dying..so what should i do?

oh. and by the way, it has been raining for the past 3 days here...i left the plants outside, so it got a lot of rain water

 

[lithopsman]

That's fine, as long as you put them back in regular soil, although, if you live in a climate warmer then 85 degrees F. you might dry them out. What species is it? Only water/rinse with rain or distilled water. Preferably don't even use non-fertilizer potting soil. Just my 2 cents.

 

[BigCarnivourKid]

I think you better get them out of that potting soil and into Canadian sphagnum peat.  Many potting soils have timed or slow release fertilizers in them so it's almost immpossible to get it all out.

 

[Statik2426]

The plant should be repotted into peat/sand pronto! Miracle Grow potting mix has fertilizers in it. I assume it uses slow release fertilizers because it says on the on the bag I have, extra fertilizing is not needed for a month. (the regualr dissolvable Miracle Grow fertilizer says to feed every 7 to 14 days)

VFT should be seperated during dormancy only! Otherwise they might not recover til next season. The only way to repot without disturbing the roots is to take the whole root ball out of the pot and plant into it's new pot. But this certainly cannot be done if you seperate them.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">What species is it? Only water/rinse with rain or distilled water. Preferably don't even use non-fertilizer potting soil. Just my 2 cents.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Huh? Don't use non-fertilized potting soil? VFT should not have ANY fertilizers or minerals at all! They burn the roots! Thats also why you should only use distilled, reverse osmosis, or rain water. Minerals in tap are harmful. BTW, There is only one species of Venus Flytraps: Dionaea muscipula.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">if you live in a climate warmer then 85 degrees F. you might dry them out. [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Not sure what this comment means.

Are you recommending to dry them out? VFT should not go dry ever!
Or are you saying that they will dry out at temperatures over 85ºF? Most people who grow these plants live in areas with temperatures that can go over 85ºF. High temperatures are what make VFT produce thier summer traps. Using tray method ensures that they are always moist.

 

[venus fly trapper]

i think i confused some people..i meant that i seperated 4 separate plants because they were kinda bunched up.

so do i plant them in a sphagnum/sand mix? or do i need to mix in some soil? if i do, what brands sell non fertilzed soil?

 

[BigCarnivourKid]

There are several brands. Best bet is to make sure that pure Canadian sphagnum peat is the only thing listed in the ingredients. Read the entire bag carefully for the mention of any fertilizer. If in doubt look for another brand. Schultz sells a good Canadian Sphagnum peat. I mix it 1:1 with vermiculite. You can use sand instead of vermiculite.

 

[venus fly trapper]

is canadian sphagnum peat the only thing i can use? i have a LOT of sand and sphagnum moss, so can i used those? i dont really want to go out and get another bag of potting mix because i already have a lot..and what is canadian spahgnum peat anyway? what is in the mix?

 

[unknownclown]

Venus Fly Trapper,
Ditch the soil they are in completely and start from scratch with either a 60% sphagnum peat 40%perlite mix or subsitute the perlite for washed sand.

Spagnum peat is just moss grinded up, there should be nothing else mixed in with it in the bag.

When you say you have lots of sphagnum and sand are you referring to outside? or do you have it in bags?

I suppose you could use it from outside if you had to but its realy not a good idea since tons of bugs live in moss that could harm your plants and who knows what could be mixed in with the sand? Ugh I hope you dont use anything from the beach!

If so don't bother, I doubt you could ever wash whats in there out.

So your best bet is buying some from the store it realy doesnt cost too much and it'll save you some stress.

 

[venus fly trapper]

im gonna replant them right away, but do u think they'll have a good chance of surviving? or should i make some leaf cuttings just in case? how long does it take a leaf cutting to root, and become a full plant?

 

[BigCarnivourKid]

I think the plants will be fine if they don't already show signs of dying such as wilting leaves and such.  I would only do the leaf cuttings as a last ditch effort as it might put more stress on the plants.   I would add to unknownclown's instructions that you gently rinse the plants roots off with distilled/rain/RO water to remove any soil or fertilizer that might be tangled in the roots.
 VFT's are grown in sphagnom moss but it needs sand or vermiculite mixed in to keep it from packing down over time and smothering the roots.  Canadian sphagnum peat moss is the most often recommended as it has the right acidity and is less likely to have leaves, sticks, or other debree mixed in it.
The sand needs to be of a good quality.  Sand from beaches (ocean or fresh water) tend to have a lot of salts and minerals in them that can damage the roots.

 

[unknownclown]

Replant!

The longer you wait the more harm done by the fertilizer sometimes it doesnt just happen over night but prolonged exposure will burn the roots. Flushing would take forever!

Dont do leaf cuttings unless you think the plant is on its way out it isnt the easiest thing in the world to get them to take root either.

Just keep it simple take the plants out when you do pour some water in a bowl take the plants and swish them around to get the soil off of the roots its a good way also to make sure you dont damage the roots

They will be fine just dont wait too long like I said, the longer they are exposed to the fertilized soil the more they are at risk of kicking the proverbial bucket.