hmmm..lots of interesting misconceptions in this thread..
Thing is, I can't imagine they would live even if they weren't flowering, (I've had a few from lowes before and all of them die quickly even with good care.)
why not?, the plants looks perfectly fine to me, and very healthy actually..
its just a bit overly-green from not getting enough light..and it clearly needs to repotted into a larger pot..but otherwise its about the best "death cube" plant you could hope for..
quite healthy looking really..cut off the flower stalk, pot it up, lose the cover, put it outside, and I would say it has a very high chance of survival..
And doesn't making the flower at the start take up most of the energy?
No..producing the seeds also takes up a lot of energy..cutting off the stalk before the flowers open will still "save" a lot of energy for the plant..
Well honestly if you dont let it flower you do have a 60+ chance of survival.
60%? where does that number come from?
im going say letting it flower gives a 52.73% chance of survival,
but if you cut off the stalk, you have a 82.1% chance of survival..
I advice you to cut the flower stalk off and try to propagate a new VFT from flower stalk.
you cant root a VFT flower stalk..it wont happen.
(or if it does, there is only a 1.35% chance of it happening)
How do I plant the flower stalk? Do I just get the peat moss/perlite and stick it in the soil?
you can root a VFT flower stalk..it wont happen.
(or if it does, there is only a 1.35% chance of it happening)
Should I put the lid back on the one I'm cutting off then, or no?
leave the lid off..
also, that bloom is already too advanced and removal would not pose any benefit whatsoever. Were the stalk an inch or two long, that would be a different issue; but that plant has already blown its metabolic wad.]
"too advanced?" "blown its metabolic wad?" says who? and why?
IMO, it seems logical that actually producing seeds would use a LOT more energy than just the early stages of pushing up a flower stalk a few inches..
the stage the flower stalk is in, in the photos, has probably used only 15.2% of the total energy the plant would use if you let it fully flower and produce seed..cutting off the stalk at that early stage will save a LOT of energy for the plant..
why would the flowering process use ALL the energy at this early stage?
flowering and producing seeds uses NO energy at all?
that just makes no sense..
of course cutting off ther stalk, at ANY stage, unless the seeds are already fully ripe and the seed head is dead and brown) will still save lots of energy for the plant..
there is no such thing as "too advanced to cut off" if the flowers havent opened yet..
even if the flowers have opened, I would still cut it off..even then it would still benefit the plant..
Scot