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Venus flytrap plantlet from trap cutting

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NickHubbell

NickHubbell

It’s a trap!
About two months ago I broke the trap off of a small common venus flytrap. Since the trap had just opened, I got the idea that maybe I could keep it alive by placing it in my small terrarium I had just planted and wait. Well, to my surprise, the trap didn't turn black and die, but it remained green. I took it out of the medium a few times to see if anything was happening with no results. Well, today I took another look and the trap was still green. I pulled it from the medium with a bit of resistance. To my surprise, there is a 1/4 inch long root with a small bud forming.

I will try to get a photo soon.
 
Cool man. I betn that also proves vfts are closely related to sundews
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One definitely will get better results with an entire leaf cutting. The reason that I used the trap as a possible cutting was that it broke off during a transplant. The plantlet is forming where the petiole connected to the trap.
 
Nick,
You used just the trap? Who'da thunk it? That's pretty cool. I just had my first success with regular leaf cuttings, I'll have to try your thing out!
I did notice when doing my cuttings, though, that the undevelped leaf (the trap was still sealed and pointed backwards) struck the fastest. The funniest thing was that it continued to grow and actually openned and was able to eat a meal. It even openned BACK up without rotting.
 
Ok, here are some photos of the trap cutting.

VFT_trap_cutting_in_media.jpg


VFT_trap_cutting_rooted.jpg


I was suprised that the trap lasted as long as it had without wilting or turning black. I was even more surprised when it rooted.
 
oh , i found a picture of a trap cutting too an an old book about vfts , so i guess this would'nt be the first time it happened but this is still cool .
 
Leaf cutting using just the trap! Now that's amazing!!!
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Would not have consider this if not for this forum. I got to try this myself on my typical, dente, and red dragon.

Thanks Nick.
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WOW
i was thinking about what Pond Boy said, if u can perfect this method, u can get 2 plants from 1 leaf
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that doubles the productivity of cuttings
Time to start experimenting on trap cuttings
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sure to be a win at the science fair
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doesn't it weaken the plant when you cut off a trap or do a leaf cutting? I'm thinking of doing a leaf cutting with my dente that came in the mail two weeks ago, the traps are green but there growth is stunted would that be okay?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (pooplol @ May 11 2004,3:39)]doesn't it weaken the plant when you cut off a trap or do a leaf cutting? I'm thinking of doing a leaf cutting with my dente that came in the mail two weeks ago, the traps are green but there growth is stunted would that be okay?
Click to expand...
Yes, it does weaken the plant, which is why you should only do it with healthy plants.  Personally, I think you may also only want to try older leaves as they are likely to die soon so might as well try to get another plant out of them.

Personally I wouldn't recommend doing a leaf cutting on a new plant, especially one that is recovering.
 
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