Ravaged vft

[jimscott]

Last month I posted about my green typical that I bought last June and successfully put through dormancy and themn put outside to help it have enough energy to get through its two flower stalks. It was doing fine until I decided to move it. When I came back to work on Monday it was chewed to pieces. Only one leaf and trap remained - and I thought it was an old leaf / trap, remaining in the open position. It has been several weeks and there has been no new growth from the center - no new leaves. The remaining leaf is still green and it closed for a day. Can I infer that the plant is still alive even though there has been no new growth? Can I also infer that the trap closed because of some miscellaneous debris that triggered its hairs, but reopened because it wasn't real food?

 

[peter]

Usually traps close when they're under lots of stress and don't open up again.  Why would you think that the Plant is dead?  If it still has leaves and a white Rhibosome, then it's still alive, and just needs some time to recoperate and grow again.  This takes patience.  Is the growing center of the plant still there or is it gone too?  If it's gone it'll take a while for another growth point on the side of the plant to form and grow.  After that it'll shoot off like before!
I still have a Rhibozome from last summer that I bought that never grew.  It was placed under dormacy like all the others and it's still not growing even though dormacy is over now and temps range in the 75-80* range... It's just sitting there... nice and white...

 

[droseraholic]

Hi Jim,

In addition to what Peter said: if you have enough leaves (or perhaps remnants of leaves in your case!) with the white bases still attached to the rhizome, I guess you could always take a leaf cutting or two, just as an "insurance policy" in case the main plant didn't make it! It's always worth remembering that for any CP (and any plant), that you may be able to salvage a valuable plant through propagation. It's a bit of a balancing act though: if the plant is likely to recover, it may be best NOT to stress it further by taking leaf cuttings at this time. Just worth a thought though!

 

[Stevie D]

Hi, folks. New to the forum and this looks like my sort of thread!

I think I must be getting something right with my VFT, despite Lady Luck's best effort to do them in. First, I accidentally froze my treasured collection of VFTs for so long and hard that their compost froze (darn fridge playing at freezers!). They all survived that little incident and put up shoots this spring.

Next, I managed to burn them alive when I had another accident in the greenhouse. Don't ask.

One of them is still alive, can you believe. I thought these buggers were supposed to be fragile - mine seem to be indestructible!

So yeah, I seem to be having great results using 5 litre water bottles as terrariums (or do I have to say terraria? I didn't ask at the door if these boards were black tie ).

Also, they're a bit partial to woodlice. Mmm, woodlice.

 

[jimscott]

It has one leaf and trap left, along with several nubs of former leaves. It still has its center. I didn't check the rhizome because I didn't want to add to its stress by uprooting it. Cuttings sounds like a good idea down the road. I think I'll go the patience route for awhile longer. At least it is in the original safe place - atop of a some 55 gallon drums, covered by a tarp, with a natural moat of rainwater..

 

[hokkaido]

from what ive read on here before i think ur plant is just in shock, it may not start growing for another couple of weeks... i read that when u buy a plant at a store and thye dont treat it right it wont grow for a couple of weeks until it begins to grow again

 

[Jason Wong]

Welcome to the forums, Stevie!

Jimscott, I think Peter's right. The plant is probably suffering from shock from the frightful incident that it got chewed to pieces - poor little thing!

The reason it closed is probably due to rainwater or some other forms of debris hitting its trigger hairs (as in most cases)

Stevie, the fact that your plants were frozen, then fried and are still living just mystifies me! (fragile is right)

 

[Stevie D]

Quote[/b] (Jason Wong @ May 10 2004,11:05)]Stevie, the fact that your plants were frozen, then fried and are still living just mystifies me! (fragile is right)

Me too! Not just living, but thriving!  

 

[jimscott]

Update: There are 4 new leaves emerging - and only one is from the center. Gotta love the lower life forms and their regenerative capabilities!

 

[droseraholic]

Glad to hear it's doing well now Jim!  

I agree, these plants really are quite tough as long as we follow the basic rules (e.g. pure rain/distilled water, the correct soil mix, etc).

 

[jimscott]

Why do I have 4 traps emerging from different 4 very different locations?