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Hello everyone! new here and a few q's.

*Barracuda_45*

Norhtern Michigan Dragway Mama
Hi everyone im new here and would like to ask just a few questions about my VFT's that i recently got from WalMart about 2 wks ago.

1. They deffinately wernt in any sun while at WalMart, they were in a dark shaded area.
2. I know they were waterd with city water and Cadillac is known for having a extremly high chlorine/floride and other chemicals, you can smell a bleachy smell from a good distance when water is running from a faucet in that town.
3. Whatever it is there potted in looks pretty rank, "like the cow manure we use for our gardens, no perlite or sand in the potting mix from what i can see.
4. Hardly any dead traps or leafs, i trimed off what 2 dead traps there were and cleaned some of the crud away from the leafs/traps.
5. I have waterd with distilled water and also set all 4 of them up inside a glass house terrairium that i plan on fixing up for them, it has foil back and sides and also a 15watt soft white and a 15 watt grow light above them, they are still in there original pots and i have deep caps under them with tiny amount of distilled water they sit in plus under the deep caps i have spag moss on the bottom of the terrairium thats in 1 inch of water, each seperate pot has alot of traps and each pot 3 diffrent traps got flies. I do not prod or poke the traps just for fun as i think thats just wrong making them close for the heck of it.

Now my question is, do i take and repot with the right potting mix for the VFT's and get them rinsed off with distilled water?? Or do i leave them in what there in now??
Should i make sure they go thru a dormancy?? Or do i wait since they went thru so much from where they were shiped from to WalMart and so forth it has to have been very stressful on them.
My windows do get light but prob is im totaly in the woods way outa town and the trees block the sun most of the day. So untill the trees are totaly bare theres no sun commin thru my windows for the VFT's. I will get pics tomarrow of the VFT's and how i have them set up and post it in this thread..
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I thank you all for your time and any info help you give.. This is a really wonderful site...
THANK YOU!!!!
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Hi Barracuda 45!  Welcome!  I think you're on the right track!  I would rinse and repot in plain (no fertilizer) Canadian sphagnum peat.  And I would give them dormancy--it will probably help their stress IMO more than hurt them.  Keep them in the coolest place you have, just damp until March.  Then I would use artificial lights as supplement if you plan on growing indoors, but better will be outdoors in full sun.  If you want to try growing first just until next season, I would use the artificial lighting.
 
Hiya,

I'm fairly new as well, so I'd take the experienced folks' word over mine...but I've read that repotting VFTs is very stressful on their roots.  If they seem to be doing fine, really no point in repotting them and risk causing them all that stress.

sarracenia.com has a whole section on whether to repot or not.

good luck!
 
What are the odds of two people new to the forum showing up on the same topic? Welcome to TF!

Repotting is a good idea when the soil media is determined to have become poisoned or infested. It is also good to do when the plant(s) are too crowded. It really should be done as a last resort or after a year or two in the same medium or when the plant is dormant/asleep, and doesn't know any better.

As far as the actual move is concerned, there is potential for stressing the plants and their roots systems, but it can be minimized by doing it when dormant (which is not now) or by preparing a larger container, with fresh media, and creating a depression in it, to acommodate the plant and its media. If the originaly media isn't a detractor, it is best to remove the media and plant as one unit and place in the created depression and then water it well to help blend the two media.

Oh, and Sarracenia.com is an excellent site for CP care!
 
Thanks JBL, Presto and jimscott for the warm welcome and info, i was only wondering about repoting due to the fact they was waterd with strong bleachy city water plus stuff they have came in dont look to well not like the mix i made up of Canadian sphagnum peat& Perlite plus i choped up/cut up real fine some schultz green moss and added that to the potting mix as well and moistend alittle of the mix to see how it would look, it looks nothing like what the VFT's are in now mine looks a whole lot better. I have not transplanted them yet nor done anything other than set them up in a temp terrarium with good lighting and waterd them well from the bottom of there pots with distilled water and sat them on wet spag. Which this morn i noticed i have to add more water to there bottom trays and more water in the bottom spag. The temp terrarium is at 68% degrees right now and i can open both ends of the terrarium for air circulation. My girlfriend brung her VFT over because she noticed it was dying and not doing very well it had just as many traps on it as mine when she got it so she gave it to me and i dont think its gona make it.
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Poor VFT... I took some pics of this temp housing setup and gona resize um and load um to photobucket and post um so you can see how i have them set up for right now, you will also see the big diffrence in my 4 compared to her VFT she gave me to care for.. This is just a temp housing for now since i have no sunlight comming thru any of my windows just normal light till all the trees around my house lose there leafs for winter. Im gona be working on a 50 gal bog/woodland terrarium with a small waterfall and will post pics of my design, i wont plant anything in it till its up and done and everyone sees it and tells me what they think.
But for now i was just wondering do i take the chance and repot to one size larger pot with new good potting mix or leave them in the crap there in thats full of chemicals from city water?? There is NO fertalizer in the potting mix i made and i only use distilled water. I shall return to post pics..
                                     Thanks everyone!!!!
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Your girlfriend's VFt is probably going dormant.

Repotting does the plant no harm and they can easily take it at any time of year. Your plant could be sitting there right now in chlorine and salt filled peat - I'd repot!
 
Thank you Alvin Meister, how do i go about geting um outa the pot and carefully transplanting them? Should i cut the side of the pot carefully and then slip um out that way and then very carefully take most the old potting mix away from the bulb as much as possible without getting to close to the roots or bulb then carefully place into the new potting mix and pot?? I surely dont want to hurt the poor VFT's in any way.
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I just know in my heart the new potting mix and pots will help them more than the crud there in now.. Im glad everyone here is so helpful.. Thank you Tons!!!!!!
Heres a few cruddy pics my digi cam is a cheesy cheapo sorry there blurry.. I know i know cruddy set up but its only temporary, i can prop open each end of the top at the same time or one at a time if i need to and also turn off one light or both, you can see how poorly the one in the middle is that my girlfriend had, it has very poor color while mine are very nice in color and have new traps growing.
first up both lights on and how i have it set up.
tempVenusflytraphousingC.jpg

next alittle closer view,
tempVenusflytraphousing.jpg

one light off door proped open foil fliped up,
tempVenusflytraphousingB.jpg

and another view one light off door closed again.
tempVenusflytraphousingA.jpg

Heres what 2 of them looked like when i first got um, and now they have more new traps and nice color,
MyVFTs3.jpg

MyVFTs1.jpg
 
Hey, this is much more aesthetic than my "ghetto look" at the lab! (Alexis left the building and I happen to be online right now).

Anyways, what I do to repot into a larger container is simply to use a plastic spoon and gingerly extricate the entire contents out as one unit and place into the larger pot, making sure I have added some media to the larger pot first and allowing for the "plug" to fit in comfortably. Then I water from above to help merge the two media and close the gaps. This minimizes root disturbance.
 
Thank you jimscott for the help, i hate to be a royal pain in the arse and keep asking all these Q's but do i put them back under the lights after the repoting or do i let them go without light for few days do to the stress of repoting? I know with some of my regular house plants after repoting i keep them away from high light for few days while they take hold, i have tons house plants. Thanks once again for all your help its truely and greatly apreciated..
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  • #10
You're not a pain! Man, you shoulda seen my first questions: "What's a PM?" "What's a SASE?" "What's an avatar?" Not only did I not know CP's, I was a functional illiterate with pc's. I had a 15 year old boy take me step by step to upload and bring to forums my crappy pictures and an 18 year old girl showed me how to put quotes around PM's and a 14 year old boy to put a URL in the address bar and.... Believe me, I know a pain... and that is me!

Anyways.... you bring up a good point about keeping stressed plants out of the bright light at first. This is a judgement call. I generally do this and prescribe the same when plants are shipped to whomever and vice-versa, as well as anything I bought from Home Depot or Lowes. I think it depends upon just how stressed a given plant is at the time of repotting. But if you are moving a plant as one unit, without disturbing the roots or giving them a major change in temperature and/or humidity, I think you can keep them back at the lighting they had. In other words, if you haven't stressed them out significantly by repotting, and/or they weren't in bad shape to begin with, they can probably withstsand the minor jostling just fine.
 
  • #11
WOW!!! You sure must being doing things right--nice looking plants! I am in complete agreement to change the soil. That trumps the issues of dormancy/no dormancy in my mind. I would repot and let them grow perhaps another month. Then let them go dormannt until about the beginning of March--three months should suffice I think, and the plants do not look stressed even now. You probably flushed a lot of the nasty stuff out, but you are on the right track. Good job doing your homework. Even though opinions may vary slightly here, most of us have years growing experience: Jimscott has nice plants--I've seen them myself!! I've 'heard' that Alexis (Alvin Meister) has nice plants, but I haven't been able to travel across the pond to see them.
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  • #12
They look like they are in full growth and you may be able to get away without a dormancy. I would let them grow and see what they look like in January. If they start to look tired by then, you can give them dormancy Jan, Feb and March.

With repotting you can either dig them out with a spoon, rinse the roots and repot. It's a bit like diffusing a bomb when they're in full growth.

Alternatively, you can be a bit rough with them. Tip them out of the pots, dunk the whol plant in water and wash off the old peat (all the traps will close) and then repot as with any other plant. It's easier with all the traps shut and they'll reopen in a couple of days.

P.S. Thanks for the compliment about my VFTs
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They're looking a bit scruffy at the moment as they get ready for dormancy at the moment!
 
  • #13
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Thank you sooooooo much jimscott, JBL and Alvin Meister, you have all been so kind and helpful i so greatly apreciate it... I will go ahead and carefully repot/transplant them into one size pot bigger and with my poting mix the Canadian sphagnum peat& Perlite plus the choped up/cut up real fine schultz green moss and make sure they are waterd well and put them back into the little terrarium with one light on for a day or 2 to make sure they are ok after transplanting them then use both lights. I hope it all goes well and they do ok i surely dont want to hurt my tiny VFT's. The pots there in now are 2 inch size i will see if i have some pots that are just slightly larger. I will go ahead and let them grow till between Dec. and Jan. then post pics of them again and you all can tell me if they should go thru a dormancy by then. That one in the middle my friend brung over has me really worried i will snap some better close up pics of it tomarrow so you can see it better. The one on the far left with the biggest traps has a tiny tiny baby plant with traps growing out next to it, should i keep those 2 together since its growing so close to the other larger VFT?? I have never seen a VFT that tiny in my life its way to cute i will see if i can get a close up of that as well befour i repot/transplant i dont know if my cheesy dig cam can get that close..
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Once again thank you!!!!   I am one happy lady knowing you are all here to help me when i need it..
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Oh and by the way with the traps closing durring me repoting will that hurt them at all cause im one that dont like to make the traps close unless its when they eat. And do i not feed them anymore till i know for sure if they need to go dormant? This is going on the third wk since i have had them and each pot/plant has ate 3 flies, my friends has had one fly from what she stated. Any input on that??
 
  • #14
Hey Barracuda, welcome to the forums!

Looks like you got a lot of great help from the guys here. Very nice looking plants and keep up the good work
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  • #15
Thank you for the warm welcome LLeopardGGecko and the complament on my VFT babies. Although i cant say much for my girlfriends VFT she brung over we got ours at the same time and mine are doing great compared to hers, this poor little VFT i dont know if its gona make it
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I dont know if her kids did something to it or what. But i took it outa its little pot tonight and cleaned the cruddy potting mix away from its roots and bulb, the bulb was very white but the roots looked rotted, i trimed the dead and dying traps off and washed it carefully under distilled water then carefully planted it in my moistend/not soggy potting mix and put alittle moss around the top under the only leafs left and am praying it makes it, poor little VFT..
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 Heres a pic of it befour i repoted it, i really hope it pulls thru. You will also see the big diffrence in the growth on hers compared to how big and strong the growth is on mine.
VFTs.jpg


Ok now heres the one that has the tiny tiny baby growing up close to the other larger plant i put a arrow showing the baby plant and then orangeish markings on the new growth from the bigger plant. Should i keep the baby VFT in with the larger one when transplanting to a new pot?? It is so tiny and delicate..
VFTs4.jpg

It even has a trap laying inside another trap.. LOL!!
Here it is under alittle better lighting.
VFTs6.jpg


Do you all think i should wait till the new traps on the plants are completed and open befour i repot? As all 4 of my plants have new traps growing.
 
  • #16
It shouldn't really matter. Look at it this way: If you wait for the new traps to open up, more new ones will be on the way by that time. I say just repot them now.
 
  • #17
That's a very nice looking plant.

It's up to you whether you want to keep the baby VFT where it is or not. When repotting it might just fall off the main plant, or you can divide it with a gentle tug. By late next spring it should have developed into quite a substantial little plant.
 
  • #18
Thank you LLeopardGGecko and Alvin Meister, i have to run to town and get some batteries for my cam and check on few things for my 50gal terrarium but when i get back im gona go ahead and transplant/repot the rest of my VFTs, if the tiny baby falls off i will put it in the pot its in now with fresh potting mix and if it dont i will leave it with the bigger plant and just transplant them together they way they are now. I shall post as soon as i get done and take pics as well.. Wish me luck on the repoting today.
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See you all shortly.. Have a grand day!!!
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  • #20
Personally, I think the baby plants are fine where they are for the remainder of the growing season. I would wait until they are asleep before repotting them. The closed traps aren't a problem. Don't worry about it. I think your plant has had plenty enough to eat for now, as well.

BTW, out of curiosity, do you like the group called Heart?
 
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