I recently purchased a VFT that is developing black areas on the leaves and traps and then the leaf dies. There is no evidence of spider mites or anything else I can see. I treated it with an insecticidal soap to be sure, but to no avail. The plant is in a sunny and humid location here in Florida and I have tried altering the amount of sun it gets thinking that maybe that is the cause, but again this has not made any change. It is planted in a 4" plastic pot with sphagnum substrate that is kept moist and it sits above a pebble tray of water. I only use distilled water and never have added any fertilizer. New growths have appeared, but then turn balck and die. This is the second time this has happened with as many plants. The first one I killed was all green, this one is green and red. Before I give up and discontinue killing these are there any suggestions? Thank you.
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Vft turning black
ive a new grower too
all i kno is wenever i feed it, it only eats 4x in each trap and dies, wen it begins to die, wen the fly is in the trap, wen u see the shadow of the carcass, it then leaks a blk spot and infects the trap like the scene on the matrix wen smith poked his hand into neo and neo blakens
anyways, the body of the trap begins to blaken with spots and itll infect the whole thing, jus pluck it wen its completely blk.
to avoid deseases, new growths will arive b4 it fully blkens
see at the very bottom? its blackening but, in the center a new one is about to open up to replace it,
if ur plant is growing new ones, but if it dies b4 it opens, u hav a problem
i live in cali Zone 10 - i put it on my window sill...
i give it enuff water wen it needs it, we're targeting for moisture. i dont drown my plants, anways this is my opinion-
pluck the full blaken trap and give it enuff care and affection
, ull get a reward wen it blossoms, im waiting 4 that day
, jus hit me up if u got som Qs
-ur homie huy
all i kno is wenever i feed it, it only eats 4x in each trap and dies, wen it begins to die, wen the fly is in the trap, wen u see the shadow of the carcass, it then leaks a blk spot and infects the trap like the scene on the matrix wen smith poked his hand into neo and neo blakens
anyways, the body of the trap begins to blaken with spots and itll infect the whole thing, jus pluck it wen its completely blk.
to avoid deseases, new growths will arive b4 it fully blkens
see at the very bottom? its blackening but, in the center a new one is about to open up to replace it,
if ur plant is growing new ones, but if it dies b4 it opens, u hav a problem
i live in cali Zone 10 - i put it on my window sill...
i give it enuff water wen it needs it, we're targeting for moisture. i dont drown my plants, anways this is my opinion-
pluck the full blaken trap and give it enuff care and affection
-ur homie huy
Hi docpat,
If you are describing what I think You are---then I've been through it before and so have others here.
Wish I could tell You what causes it, but I still don't know how, what or why.
What I experienced lasted for about a month, then small traps began forming properly and slighty increased in size over the rest of the season. Sadly, the plant was a dwarf of its former self, until after that yrs dormancy. When spring arrived--it returned to being the monster it was before!
HTH
If you are describing what I think You are---then I've been through it before and so have others here.
Wish I could tell You what causes it, but I still don't know how, what or why.
What I experienced lasted for about a month, then small traps began forming properly and slighty increased in size over the rest of the season. Sadly, the plant was a dwarf of its former self, until after that yrs dormancy. When spring arrived--it returned to being the monster it was before!
HTH
Hello,
I to have had this happen to vft's.
in fact my first 3 vft's all died this way i tried everything all 3 were in different pots i placed one out doors and 2 inside under fluorescent lights i lost all 3 regardless of what i tried nothing stopped the blackening of the traps(from tip to root they blackened) and when the plant had died off to basically all tiny undeveloped traps they to blackened before reaching 2 inches in length this continued on the in door and out door plants until they were dead i tried several things reducing watter, anti fungals, different light variances, humidity reduction, re-potted one and that only quickened its death. tried a few other things on the in door plants, from all my experimenting i learned no remedy nor a cause of why that happened i suppose the reasons could be various, it would be nice to know the most common reason for this. good luck with your plant i hope time will heal it for you.
I to have had this happen to vft's.
in fact my first 3 vft's all died this way i tried everything all 3 were in different pots i placed one out doors and 2 inside under fluorescent lights i lost all 3 regardless of what i tried nothing stopped the blackening of the traps(from tip to root they blackened) and when the plant had died off to basically all tiny undeveloped traps they to blackened before reaching 2 inches in length this continued on the in door and out door plants until they were dead i tried several things reducing watter, anti fungals, different light variances, humidity reduction, re-potted one and that only quickened its death. tried a few other things on the in door plants, from all my experimenting i learned no remedy nor a cause of why that happened i suppose the reasons could be various, it would be nice to know the most common reason for this. good luck with your plant i hope time will heal it for you.
Maybe fungus or mould? Could be too high humidity? Have you seen the topic at the top of this board containing info for general care of VFTs? Helps a lot.
My traps die after consuming anything above a half their size (or even less). Maybe it could be adjusting. Mine took few months to adjust, during which it produced traps of the 'all small' variety...
Could be anything, ask one of the experts round here.
My traps die after consuming anything above a half their size (or even less). Maybe it could be adjusting. Mine took few months to adjust, during which it produced traps of the 'all small' variety...
Could be anything, ask one of the experts round here.
Check out its temperture
Be sure that you dont burn it with your Floridian sun
How many hours of direct sunlight does it now get
If you arent sure about lighting it doesnt hurt to give it filtered light all day
My plants are fine~I give them plenty of disstilled water
temp are correct
Here is my lighting, maybe its your problem for Floridian sun is strong
7.00-4.00 Inflourescent light
4.00-7.00 Direct sunlight
~I can probably make my light better, but this is what I can do right now
I really think it might be the temp or lighting
Hope it helps
Be sure that you dont burn it with your Floridian sun
How many hours of direct sunlight does it now get
If you arent sure about lighting it doesnt hurt to give it filtered light all day
My plants are fine~I give them plenty of disstilled water
temp are correct
Here is my lighting, maybe its your problem for Floridian sun is strong
7.00-4.00 Inflourescent light
4.00-7.00 Direct sunlight
~I can probably make my light better, but this is what I can do right now
I really think it might be the temp or lighting
Hope it helps
Hello all,
I'm a fairly new member and have been posting largely on the terrarium forum. Thanks to the forum, I managed to create a beautiful terrarium for ~$200. I recently bought some CPs, including two VFTs, to put into the terrarium.
I bumped this old post because my VFTs are also suffering from "random black spots on traps." The traps and leaves were green when I purchased the plants, and in a matter of a week, two of the traps have blackened. (The pictures within the prior posts show what is happening to my plant.) While this phenomenon may be attributable to "shock," some help from the VFT gurus would be appreciated.
For some background, the plants were in shade during transportation and immediately placed in the terrarium where they sit in 1/2" of distilled water. They have not been fertilized or fed and the soil has never dried out. The conditions in the terrarium are: temp= 85F day & 78F night, light=80W (6-8" from plants) with 14hr photoperiod, humidity= >90%, air circulation is good.
Hopefully someone will be able to offer some potential causes and solutions for this problem before my VFTs deteriorate. Thanks a lot for your time.
I'm a fairly new member and have been posting largely on the terrarium forum. Thanks to the forum, I managed to create a beautiful terrarium for ~$200. I recently bought some CPs, including two VFTs, to put into the terrarium.
I bumped this old post because my VFTs are also suffering from "random black spots on traps." The traps and leaves were green when I purchased the plants, and in a matter of a week, two of the traps have blackened. (The pictures within the prior posts show what is happening to my plant.) While this phenomenon may be attributable to "shock," some help from the VFT gurus would be appreciated.
For some background, the plants were in shade during transportation and immediately placed in the terrarium where they sit in 1/2" of distilled water. They have not been fertilized or fed and the soil has never dried out. The conditions in the terrarium are: temp= 85F day & 78F night, light=80W (6-8" from plants) with 14hr photoperiod, humidity= >90%, air circulation is good.
Hopefully someone will be able to offer some potential causes and solutions for this problem before my VFTs deteriorate. Thanks a lot for your time.
Hi tree terror,
Thanks for the reply, but aphids are an unlikely cause as there is no sign of them on leaves or soil. There is also no sign of mites or other pests.
When I cut off the portion of the leaf that was blackening, the remainder of the leaf remained green, leading me to believe it must be some sort of infection. If it were temperature or some other physical environmental factor, one would think that the rest of the leaf would have continued dying.
A black spot appeared on another leaf today. Though only one plant, I nonetheless wish to save it. On a positive note, the rest of the CPs seem to be doing fine. Talk to you later,
Thanks for the reply, but aphids are an unlikely cause as there is no sign of them on leaves or soil. There is also no sign of mites or other pests.
When I cut off the portion of the leaf that was blackening, the remainder of the leaf remained green, leading me to believe it must be some sort of infection. If it were temperature or some other physical environmental factor, one would think that the rest of the leaf would have continued dying.
A black spot appeared on another leaf today. Though only one plant, I nonetheless wish to save it. On a positive note, the rest of the CPs seem to be doing fine. Talk to you later,
Ahh, the thrill of re-bumping and old topic. Since this one never really came to any conclusion, let's explore.
I have noticed that when receiving a new Dionaea specimen (normally of a bare root variety), that they seem fine for the first week, but as soon as the plant starts to really settle in and provide new growth and hope to the grower, that the traps start to blacken. After a short period of time, if this blackened area is left then the rest of the leaf itself continues to blacken. Sometimes it starts out with the teeth of the traps, and turns yellow behind the blackened areas, then finally blackens itself. An interesting note is that this normally effects the trap section first. I have a plant in a very warm and apparent to me now, slightly stagnant terrarium. The plant is now in active growth and putting up a few leaves at a time. The leaves are coming in fine, but once the beginnings of the trap start to fold away from the leaf blade itself, the trap is starting to blacken before even fully forming. The half developed leaves that had existed produced traps that were quite deformed, almost looking like an aphid or fungus gnat larvae attack.
After quite some thought I have a general idea of what causes this, at least in my case.
When you first receive the plant, it's normally in a slight case of shock from being uprooted. This combined with being repotted again during active growth can lead to further shock. If the media isn't sterilized there are micro-organisms, bacteria and fungus normally present to some degree. The plant in shock along with any of these three factors is just begging for one to infect the plant itself.
Another cause that i've noticed that helps the fungal/mold to spread and infect the plant more is high temperatures along with high humidity. Both of these factors can cause mold/fungus to explode into growth. If the plant hasn't fully recovered from the previous shock, it most likely won't be able to fight off any given infection.
Dionaea tend to die off and rot away from what i've experienced when sitting in terrariums with low air flow, high humidity and high temperatures. All these mixed together can aid in the infection in the plant, and cause the blackening of leaves. The dead leaf material then contributes to infection in the rhizome and causes a rot of some sort. All of the factors actually tend to bring further problems not far behind them due to the fact that the plant itself is weakening.
As jimscott has said in numerous posts, along with quite a few others, Dionaea likes its air flow. They are more apt to grow especially well near Sarracenia outside in the free air, soaking up the natural light than with any terrarium grown plant. Notice how naturally not many cp's at all besides Sarracenia grow in area's around Dionaea? Probably a very good hint on the growth of the species.
I'll follow up when I can as i'm actively researching this subject and trying a few things to rectify these situations. It seems to be the most common cause for the loss of Dionaea in my experience.
I have noticed that when receiving a new Dionaea specimen (normally of a bare root variety), that they seem fine for the first week, but as soon as the plant starts to really settle in and provide new growth and hope to the grower, that the traps start to blacken. After a short period of time, if this blackened area is left then the rest of the leaf itself continues to blacken. Sometimes it starts out with the teeth of the traps, and turns yellow behind the blackened areas, then finally blackens itself. An interesting note is that this normally effects the trap section first. I have a plant in a very warm and apparent to me now, slightly stagnant terrarium. The plant is now in active growth and putting up a few leaves at a time. The leaves are coming in fine, but once the beginnings of the trap start to fold away from the leaf blade itself, the trap is starting to blacken before even fully forming. The half developed leaves that had existed produced traps that were quite deformed, almost looking like an aphid or fungus gnat larvae attack.
After quite some thought I have a general idea of what causes this, at least in my case.
When you first receive the plant, it's normally in a slight case of shock from being uprooted. This combined with being repotted again during active growth can lead to further shock. If the media isn't sterilized there are micro-organisms, bacteria and fungus normally present to some degree. The plant in shock along with any of these three factors is just begging for one to infect the plant itself.
Another cause that i've noticed that helps the fungal/mold to spread and infect the plant more is high temperatures along with high humidity. Both of these factors can cause mold/fungus to explode into growth. If the plant hasn't fully recovered from the previous shock, it most likely won't be able to fight off any given infection.
Dionaea tend to die off and rot away from what i've experienced when sitting in terrariums with low air flow, high humidity and high temperatures. All these mixed together can aid in the infection in the plant, and cause the blackening of leaves. The dead leaf material then contributes to infection in the rhizome and causes a rot of some sort. All of the factors actually tend to bring further problems not far behind them due to the fact that the plant itself is weakening.
As jimscott has said in numerous posts, along with quite a few others, Dionaea likes its air flow. They are more apt to grow especially well near Sarracenia outside in the free air, soaking up the natural light than with any terrarium grown plant. Notice how naturally not many cp's at all besides Sarracenia grow in area's around Dionaea? Probably a very good hint on the growth of the species.
I'll follow up when I can as i'm actively researching this subject and trying a few things to rectify these situations. It seems to be the most common cause for the loss of Dionaea in my experience.
I have never grown VFTs (or any CPs) in a terrarium. Many others here are much better qualified to comment. I agree that many problems result because hot, humid, stagnant air or water are ideal culture conditions for lots of bacteria and fungi. An injured or stressed plant provides an opportunity for disease organisms to attack. Once a plant becomes established, it is better able to resist and survive. My VFTs grown outside do much better and have fewer problems than the VFTs in my greenhouse. I think exotic diseases and pests have a harder time becoming established outside than in an artificial environment. I suspect that the further you grow a plant from the "natural" environment that the species evolved, the more likely that the plant will succumb to disease.
PlantAKiss
Moderator Schmoderator Fluorescent fluorite, Engl
I think another key point to take note of, is that in natural sunlight sitting outdoors and not hidden behind a pane of glass, the plants receive quite a bit of UV which to my knowledge would help to "burn" away fungus/molds that normally decimate these plants in an enclosed "protected" environment.
Well so far so good. I had some plants that were exhibiting the same problems. Of course they were in a tank. I took them out and plopped them on a window sill, a week or so later and there is new growth starting to pop out everywhere.
Truly can't beat putting them back in nature and leaving them alone...well, except for the ever watchful eye of the obsessive compulsive grower.
Truly can't beat putting them back in nature and leaving them alone...well, except for the ever watchful eye of the obsessive compulsive grower.
