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Repotting VFT\'S

i have 4 venus flytraps in there 3 inch pots i am wanting to repot them into one big pot,but i dont know what kind i should get.will plastic or any other kind do?.any help will be very much appreciated
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Hey Jack

I would recommend against repotting your Venus Flytraps. They really don't like it.

There are things that will can can happen that will be harmful to the plant.

Shock, Death, damage to their roots...all things that can happen!

If you still feel the urge to repot, I would wait until after you pull the plants out of dormancy.

To put them dormant, gently remove them from their pots ( so the roots are not damaged) and place in a paper towel in a bag. Put in the front of your fridge.

When you pull them out for Spring. Pot them inwhatever you like.

Be sure to use plastic pots, if you want to use a clay pot, it need to have a glaze on it ( the minerals in the clay will hurt the plant )

If you are to keep them outside, use plastic, the clay will pull the water out of the soil on hot days, and you will have to constantly water.

Plastic is your friend! :smile:
 
i repot my plants whenever..i dont really care what time. Just gently knock the plant with all the old soil around the roots and repot in a mix of sand and peat in a plastic pot.
 
well i guess i wont repot them,id rather keep them healthy than have them die,i have kept mine in there pots in one of our colder rooms on the window sill and have kept there water level low.they seem to be doing ok.i been keeping it sunny for them there but its a cold room.i hope thats ok.if not im open for suggestions
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Are they dormant? How cold is it? Cause if they are dormant they shouldn't be sitting in water thier roots can rot.
 
Once they have come out of dormancy you could repot them. I've never had any problems repotting (although that's not to say you won't
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), they just seem to stop growing for about a week.
3 inch pots are a bit small for larger plants and the fresh media can have a reinvigarating effect if they have been in the same media for a bit.
 
I have the same question and a couple more if you guys could please expand, or at least let me know if I'm on the right track.

I have two VFT each in three inch pots they came in last summer. At the end of Feb. (near end of dormacy) I want to put both of them into a seven inch wide, 5 inch deep plastic pot. Is that big enough for them to get through the summer?

Also when repotting, do they need to be a certain depth in the pot? The way they are right now is the pot is fully packed and infact rounded over the top of the pot. As with other plants, I plan to remove them from the current pot, tease the roots a bit at the bottom to free them up, then to place them at the same depth in the new pot (crown a bit outside of the rim of the pot). Does that make sense? Is it ok? The pot is then going to sit in another much larger pot with a two to three inches of gravel at the bottom. Water will be kept in the outside pot to a level of one to two inches from the bottom of the plant pot.

Does this sound ok?

Thanks Linda ö¿ö
 
Hi linda
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As far as I can tell that sounds fine. 5 inches should be plenty deep unless you have a rather large vft. Two of mine have 1- 1 1/4" traps and the roots were about 4 inches my others have traps about 1/4-1/2" and thier roots were about 2 1/2". So it realy depends on how large the plant is to say for sure.
To get the dirt out of the roots or vice versa
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take it out of the pot get a small pail of water and just swish it around the dirt will come right off. Be very careful not to damage the roots if you need to separate them cause they are very sensitive.
Out of curiosity what kind of gravel are you planning on using?
 
It seems a debate is in the works :smile:

Everything I have done ( and lots more that I read ) tells me that these guys just don't like to be repotted.

I have had much better luck planting Nepenthes, Sarraceniam, Butterworts, Sundews, even Heliamphora.

The thing is, they do not need to be repotted ( unless of course they are overflowing a pot- then anything needs to be repotted )

If you are going to repot.....

1) be careful not to damage the roots - I think that this is the biggest reason for failure. Some do not realize the roots are fragile and cannot b shaken that much. Damage to the root system will stunt the growth of the plant ( which will have the opposite effect you wanted). It does take some time for the plant to produce new stuff. It will let you know.

2) I belive that this plant does not benefit from new soil. I do think that making a 'tea' would be helpful.

All you have to do is place some peat in a cheese cloth ( or panty hose ). Press is down so it is somewhat compact. Place this in a galss container and let it 'brew' outside for a couple of days. Thus making a tea!!

You can then give this tea in place of regular water and it will boost the acid level in the soil. Your plant will love that more than a repotting!

3) Just like planting anything...the plant suffers some shock from replanting. Sometimes ( depending on how strong the plant is ) the plant cannot handle it and will die ( or show a lot of stress ).

These plants get nothing from the soil....for some, the soil is merely an 'anor' for them. So repotting ( I believe ) isn't needed. Their root system is not that deep ( with an exception to Cephalotus ). Being in a smaller pot will be fine.


If at the end of this...repotting is still an option. BE CAREFUL.

I would suggest that at the end of their doemancy, would be the best time to repot. If you have pulled the plants out to place in the fridge...you have to pot them! :smile:

Any other time...the plant is growing strong and doing something to stop ( damage ) that isn't a good idea.
 
  • #10
Very interesting Jaie, I especially like the peat tea and will mix up a batch for sure. I'm repotting because I plan to make a sort of bog and the little pots just won't work. With luck, since I plan to do this at the end of dormacy, all will work out. Next year they will be able to stay as they are.

Unknownclown,

To expand further, the bigger pot I mentioned above will hold 4 (four) 7 inch wide and 7 inch deep pots. I plan to put 2 Sarrs (one purp and one flava) in one of them. The one for the VFT's I will cut the pot down to the 5 inch deep size. I plan to use gravel for fish tanks (well washed first) in the bottom of the large pot. The gravel will be deep enough under the smaller (VFT) pot to raise the rim equal with the taller (Sarr) pot. My theory is that since the VFT likes to dry out a bit between waterings, while the Sarrs can stay in water pretty much full time; I can watch the level of water and when it is below the deeper pile of gravel I can add water to raise the level again. I also choose gravel as if we get a good rain that would fill the outside pot, I can syphon the rain water into jugs for later use.

If you notice, I'll still have two empty pots which means I need to get more plants. Not sure what kind yet. The pot will sit outside getting full West sun.

This is a very informative thread. Thanks jacktrap for starting it and I hope I did not infringe on your question.

Linda ö¿ö
 
  • #11
That sounds like a great setup
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Jaie is deffinately right if you must repot it sounds to me like you would be fine just to pop the plant and soil out of the pot then place it in the other pot soil still intact instead of cleaning the roots off.
Also the vft should be fine sitting in the water, as long as it isn't too high. Usually I keep my water level in the tray about an inch high. Every once in a while the tray gets pretty low but that's only because I've been busy and I space it off. I know nothing about it liking to dry out once in a while between waterings though. Personally I wouldn't suggest it. So you may want to put it about an inch deep into the gravel to get the water. I wouldn't put it deeper cause I have noticed the deeper it is in the water the wetter the soil.
 
  • #12
by the way does pft.com sell any good sized plastic bowls for repotting vft's? figure you guys sell em youd prob carry all the supplies as well
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