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Jello

ChrisBranleh

Magical Bystander
Hello my name is Chris.I live in South Florida and of course i love Carnivorous plants. In the past i've bought one plant, but unfourtunately i did not keep the soil wet.Eventualy the plant died of dryness :-(

But now i've bought me a new one! I got mine from walmart.Here it is:


<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j300/l0st_mind91/Top.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>


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(sorry about bad quality and size)

They're not that healthy, because they ate a wasp that was hit with some poison, so half of them died. but they are comming back.i have a few noobie questions if you don't mind :banana2:

lately it hasn't been raining at all.Infact, my water tray is starting to drain and little mosquito worms are forming. What exactly is "Distilled" water?water from the sink?I have a near by canal and i was wondering if it is ok to get water from there for my plant.


also, i live South florida, and i'm not sure if it's too humid.I want to plant my pot outside and not cooped up in this container and pot.Do you think its safe?What should i do to find out?I was wondering what kind of soil should i use?I'm only 15 so i dont know what this "sphagnum moss" is.I've even tried to google it but i'm not the greatest with this kind of information.Is there any other kind of sand or soil i could use?I know it shouldn't have nutrients but what kind?soil from normal grass with no fertalizer?
 
Welcome to TF! You come from the right area for outdoor growing... but I wouldn't attempt that right now. First, take the lid off. Second, see if you can find long fibered sphagnum in Walmart or Lowes or Home Depot (~$4). Distilled water can be purchased at a grocery store or Walmart. Set the VFT pot in a plastic container with ~1" of water and put a fluorescent light ~6" over it. Then allow the plant to recover.
 
Can i leave it in the container and outside?I was thinking of fetching canal water as soon as i wake up tomorrow.I dont think i can get a ride to walmart and purchase long fibered sphagnum or distilled water.And i also dont have fluorescent light.
 
If I were you, what I'd do is repot the plant into a peat/perlite mix (stay away from miracle grow brands, these almost always have fertilizers added and fertilizers are guaranteed to kill your flytrap) and just set it right outside in a tray of distilled water (take the plastic container off). Don't use canal water because its just as bad as tap. Any water thats above about 80 TDS is dangerous to cp due to the minerals and salts present. Distilled water is usually 0 or not much higher than that, so its ideal.

Tap water in Miami is around 125-140 TDS so your tap water is probably just as bad, canal water has to be high in impurities too.

With winter on the way, the sooner you get your flytrap outside and recovering, the better. Because its used to low light and constant humidity (via plastic dome), it might burn a little and look even worse, but should recover quickly.

Remember:
Lots of sunlight
Pure water (distilled/clean rain)
No fertilizers
 
With dormancy on the way, should i still repot the plan right now?I was told to wait till march, after dormancy to replant, which is what i plan to you
 
Its really your call. If you decide to leave it in the pot, it'd be a good idea to flush the soil well with pure rain/distilled a couple times to make sure any extra mineral & salt build ups are removed from the soil. Your flytrap may even cope better if its roots aren't disturbed just yet. I just prefer to re pot newly acquired plants as soon as I get them so that I know for sure that they're in a good soil mix and to get it out of the way since the plant is already disturbed due to changing environments.

If you can't guarantee the quality of the soil, its usually better to change it.
 
Welcome! I think your plant issues will clear up. They are never in the best conditions when in those containers. :)

BTW...you will get more answers to your questions in the VFT forum. I would move the topic but since its an intro topic, I'll leave it here.
 
Welcome! Sounds like you've already got some good advice here. Time to kick back and relax now that all the work is done! lol.

xvart.
 
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