when a trap becomes "ill"...

[Fryster]

Something I've wondered for a while............

Should VFT traps be immediately removed when they start to yellow or turn black after capturing prey?

Since the trap is being infected with a bad bacteria, would it be prudent to remove the infected trap to prevent contamination to the entire plant (if that's even possible)??

OR, does the VFT still receive nutrients from the slowly dying trap? So, leave it on for while yet. (?)

I know that in the wild, traps naturally stay connected but what should growers do? Does it even matter?

Your thoughts and experience?

 

[Clint]

Yes! In the Carolina's there is an elusive pixie that goes around at night and clips all of the yellow traps off when no one is looking.

Really if it's yellow it can still do a little photosynthesis. You can go all-natural and let it go or have a nice trimmed, pretty plant. I prefer the latter. A black trap is normal and it is not going to infect the plant, and just because it's black doesn't mean there is a dangerous infection in the first place. A black trap is the same as a black, dead leaf on any other plant.

 

[jimscott]

I would snip dying or dead material, especially since we have mostly artificial environments and nature doesn't have the opportunity to do what it would normally do. It's like keeping tropical fish in a fishtank. We need to provide artificial lighting, filtration, aeration, food, removal of dead, ......

 

[Fryster]

Oh man... Don't get me started on those darn bog pixies...

I'm always having to squeegee them off my windshield after a jaunty trip thru the local bayou.

Well, what I meant was that the captured prey is rotting in the trap rather than being properly broken-down and consumed. Will the bacteria of the rotting bug corpse harm the plant itself?

A normal dying leaf/trap I am not worried about, I know it's normal. It's the moldering carcass of an insect IN the VFT that had me a bit concerned.

 

[PlantAKiss]

The blackened traps do not harm the plant in anyway. I take dead traps off for neatness sake. Unless you get a lot of dead leaves that pile up around the base of the plant and perhaps begin to hold moisture and get moldy, the dead traps/leaves are really just a matter of personal choice for removal.

 

[stevo]

Hi from Australia

Hi i'm new to this forum but i have been growing nepenthes for about 20 years now.I live just below the tropics on the east coast so can grow most species with ease. Anyway I look foward to hear from you guys.

 

[vraev]

Basically, I would trim them off if they are growing in a terrarium. But if its nice and open in a pot...you are in no real danger of any rotting due to plenty of air circulation. However, its nice to remove the old traps and see fresh leaves.

 

[NeciFiX]

Well, to make the plant look nice, just snip it off.

The only downfalls of having a black trap is it doesn't look very good and, according to Barry Rice, mold can grow on it and kill it by spreading to the rest of the plant, as to quote Barry, but, you probably had been growing the plant bad in the first place if it spreads:

www.Sarracenia.com/faq/faq2420.html[/url]
Sometimes, yes sometimes, mold forms on these leaves and spreads to the rest of the plant, damaging or even killing it, but this only happens when the plant is already dying for other reasons (like bad horticultural practices). In this case and the mold just accelerated the process. Grow your plant better next time.

 

[xvart]

You can go all-natural and let it go or have a nice trimmed, pretty plant. I prefer the latter.

The blackened traps do not harm the plant in anyway. I take dead traps off for neatness sake.

Well, to make the plant look nice, just snip it off.

As you can tell, some of us (myself included) are quite anal about the appearance of our plants! lol. It's more of a personal choice.

xvart.

 

[NeciFiX]

I personally don't care too much, but, I think it's not very eye-catching when you see healthy beautiful traps then a leaf with no trap on the end. Makes you question THAT and not look at the plant, so, I tend to be careful when feeding. .