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Unopening empty traps

Ridetsu

Gamer
I'm slightly concerned about 3 of my big-mouth traps. Using the setting sun, i checked the contents of all the traps, and discovered that 3 of them had nothing in them - they were pouted out like they were filled with something - and upon giving them some light squeezes, they were very tense and hard.
In the other traps, thanks to the fact they are green, i was able to see the outline of some sort of insect... so i know for sure that they are empty.

Now, upon inspection of the 3 traps, they seem to be turning black at the very tips of some of the teeth, as well as black/withered around the edges of the trap itself.

What should i do? There are some fresh traps sprouting up (about 4 of them), and i don't want the old ones to block them out, especially if they themselves are on their way out, or if they are defective.
Should i just let nature do its thing, and wait it out? Or could i help the plant along in some way?
Thanks
 
Let nature do its thing. Traps are continually dieing and being replace by new traps. The general rule of thumb is: If you trim anything, trim only the dead parts off and leave the green.
 
small question if you don't mind - will cutting off the trap part and leaving the leaf cause the VFT to sprout another one? Or will it just use the leaf for photosynth and not grow a new trap?
 
The latter.
 
Once a plant has sent a kill order to a leaf and trap, it starts making a new one. Just count the traps and see if the total adds up between 6 and 8. (don't count dead or dying ones, and count the new growths.) If the total is between 6 and 8, then don't worry. The plant is just replacing its traps with new ones, possibly making them even bigger than the originals!

Always remember: The cilla start to blacken first, then the lip, then the trap. The inside of the leaf will be the last to die out.
 
Now I have a question.. does the VFT still eat it's last meal? Like.. that certain trap's last catch.. does it still digest and reabsorb the nutrients? Or does it just stop after it closes? I would hope that it does eat the final meal.. but I'd prefer to know for sure.
 
to be honest, chronokiento, i'v seen them both happen. I'v had traps close on their final meal, seal it up, and then begin dying. At the same time though, i'v seen them catch their final meal, digest it, and then begin their death process before re-opening.


The hard part about counting this big-mouth, is that its two bigmouths - one of them is in its second year, and the other is in maybe its 4th or so. The older of them (with the sealed up traps), looks to be having 4 new pods coming up - giving it a total (with the dying ones i suspect) of 8. I'm just wondering if i should clip the un-opening ones now and let it focus its energy completely on growing the new ones, or if i should leave the unsealed ones up to collect light, or even possibly open up.

Or could it be that it has eaten too much, and is full? :3 i keep him well fed.
 
Always remember: The cilla start to blacken first, then the lip, then the trap. The inside of the leaf will be the last to die out.

Not always true. I've seen leaves start to blacken beginning anywhere from the edges of the leaf base to the distal end of the trap spine/hinge. Look at these shots on my B52. The edges of the leaf bases of the 11, 1 and 4 o'clock leaves are blackening - the trap cilia are still red:

18 May 2007
P5180095.jpg


07 June 2007
03570003.jpg
 
  • #10
bah! showoff :3 very pretty though - i love the color.
 
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