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Help!

My vft was looking great but it was just a little dry ( it was damp just below the surface, not bad) so I watered it with distilled water. The next day it was all wilted and most of the leaves were wrinkled and wilted and some traps were turning brown.
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Only one new immature leaf that is just coming from the center of the plant is looking healthy. Does any body know what is going on and what I can do about it? I need help!
 
Hi, I read that in distillated water (which you can buy) are some toxines to kill microorganisms. VFTs probably don't like it.
 
Hi Borg,

Not sure what kind of water they have available in the Czech Rep. Here in the US, distilled water is about as pure as you can get without your own purifying equipment.

Hort. Hard to say.. maybe it did dry a bit too much.. VFT should remain very moist at all times. Moderate drying out can cause big problems.. much more than with typical plants. Since it happened so quickly I am going to guess that it was related to your situation with the drying as opposed to a coincidence with some other problem.
Tony
 
I had something like this happen a couple of years ago. I don't know what caused it, but the plant is alive and healthy today.

After the wilting, the plant was real small (was Very large before) and all the new traps "burned" and turned black for quite awhile after. But eventually it came around and looks fantastic today!

Wish I could tell you what, why and all, but I can't.

So, You may just have to wait it out for awhile, but don't give up!
 
I won't give up on it. But what if the plant was fairly young and still small? The reason I'm asking that: naja02's plant was big when this happened.
 
Ur right, horticuluturist, the VFT that this Happened to was one of the $10 ones that I bought at Lowes and the rhizome is HUGE! So, its definitely an older plant. Its still not as big as it was-->it was producing 1 1/4" traps--but its still a beautiful plant this year, and its still early in the season.

These are some very hardy little plants. I left some "seedlings"-(generated from cuttings) this last winter without water or light<--I thought they were dead for sure and was just going to dispose of them when I got to it. When I potted up my other plants coming out of dormancy and needed the space--> I realized that those "seedlings" were still alive! They had very long leaves with tiny traps<--strecthing for light, but now they are growing like little weeds. lol
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So, the only suggestion that I can offer is just wait it out! At worst, it will struggle through this season and come back next year with a Bang! after a good dormancy. BUT, I think you will see an improvement before this season is up.

Give it light, keep the soil moist and just kinda treat it like you would if this had not happened.
 
Update= The plant is all black including the little leaf that was just emerging from the base. It looks like fire blight hit it( the disease in peach trees ). It has fungus on some of the leaves, so i'm going to put funguscide on it when I get home. If it dies (which I really hope it doesn't) I'm going to do what you do with caladiums. I will take the bulb out of dirt, save it for next year, plant it again, and hope it works.
 
horticulturist,
If it dies back completely, don't try to save it for next year. It's very unlikely that it would survive that long without some moisture. Your best bet is to unpot it and clean off the soil as you planned. Check the rhizome to see if it looks like there is any hope for it to grow a new plant. If there is, treat the rhizome with fungicide and replant it in fresh clean soil mix. You might want to do this before the plant dies back completely. It is a judgment call you'll need to make.

BCK
 
Use pure water with some Superthrive. The Superthrive needs to be used sparingly. I would recommend 2 drops of Superthrive per gallon of water. It will help the rhizome develop good roots. Superthrive is good stuff, and my friends Peter D'Amato, Joe Mazrimas, and Mike Ross all use it with great results. I use it all the time to prevent shock and promote root growth.
 
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