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different black trap problem

I'm having an issue with several of my vfts. The plants are growing in a mixture of peat moss, perlite and sand. They get at least 8 hours of sunlight a day and are watered with distilled water, not too much water, just a bit in the bottom of the saucer and they never dry out. It's hard to tell from the picture but the traps turns black and then the new growth in the center of the plant turns black. Last year I had an issue with aphids and that was treated by immersing the entire plant in water for 48 hours. That worked great! This looks different and I don't see any aphids. Any idea of what it is and more importantly how to treat it?

Thanks,

Scott

This is a King Henry and it was doing great till the trap turned black. No new growth and the leaves in the center of the plant are tiny and black :-(

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Umm, I can only see part of the picture, but it sounds to me like the plant is dead or dying.

Edit: Never mind, I can see it now. As for what is causing the dying leaves, if you can get a better pic of the crown, it would help.
 
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Hmm. I've observed this phenomenon on flower stalks, but never on the traps themselves. I wouldn't immediately say the plant is dying, since I know firsthand what a dying flytrap looks like; if it's dying, the rest of it wouldn't look so healthy (in my experience).

Your growing conditions seem optimal. I honestly have no clue what might be causing this; perhaps some sort of burn (chemical or sun-inflicted) is afflicting your plant. As Bio said, if you could show what the center looks like (which you say is all black), that would help with a diagnosis.
 
Maybe it could be another pest that is hiding in the blackened parts of the leaves. Something might be eating the traps before they have a chance to fully develop. I would closely observe the middle of the plant because what is causing the problem is likely there.
 
I can't say what it is but I can say:
-- not aphids nor anything to do with aphids. Aphid damage gives distorted leaves exactly like this: http://carnivorousplantsgarden.com/63-267-thickbox/pest-control-aphids-insecticide.jpg. The upper rightmost leaf in the photo is distorted this way, but overall aphids do not turn anything black.
-- I am suspecting root rot. The lowermost leaves have a bright green central vein and chlorotic margins. It either suggests your feeding is inadequate or that there is a root problem.
--Could also be mechanical damage (i.e. something knocked against the leaf and broke it). This is unlikely to affect the center of the plant or newest leaves and is unlikely to occur on multiple plants.

Also, how long have you had the plant? What's it being fed and how often? Has it rained a lot lately? Have you immersed the pot/plant in any water recently?
 
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It's almost never good when a plant looks bad from the center out. Physical damage would be my first thought also. I've seen severe sun burn from moving indoor grown plants outdoors into full direct sunlight. Otherwise chemical, fertilizer or frost could also lead to similar damage. Have you had any extremely hot weather lately? The plants could have cooked if in full sun and high temperatures.

How high do you keep your water levels. In general flytraps seem to do better for many people if you don't keep the rhizome/korm immersed in water. On in-situ study seemed to indicate the plants prefer areas where the water level just comes up toe the root level.

I would eventually get rid of perlite in the mix. Perlite can be a touch basic or break down and become basic. Flytraps like things a touch more acidic than most other CPs.
 
I'm not sure how old the plant is. I repotted all of my vfts this spring into the same peat, perlite, sand mix. At the time of the picture the weather hadn't been too hot. All the vft pots are in saucers that are about 1/4 of the way up the side of the pot. I don't have them sitting in water for any length of time. The exception is during and after a rainstorm when the saucer fills and overflows but even then the plants in 6" tall pots might be in 1.5" of water. If that happens I dump the water daily. The plants haven't dried out either. This issue is only happening in a couple of my vfts. The rest of them look fine. I'd treat them with something but since I don't know what the problem is I don't know what to treat them with. Here is a picture of the crown. It's not a great picture but any leafs that may be forming are stunted and don't look like they are going to grow.

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Oops, I forgot to say I don't feed the plants anything but they are outside and the plant that I have photos of has most traps full of victims.
 
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