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Help! repotting emergency, need advice soon!

Hi, I repotted all of my venus flytraps individually in 6 inch tall pots, unfortunately, these tall 3x3 wide plastic pots I planted my flytraps in had barely any floor cover, just a plastic cross piece to hold the plants in.  When I took my flytraps out of their dormancy a little over a month ago, I needed to have a means of covering the bottom of the containers, so that the sphagnum/perlite mix would not fall out.  All that I could think of then was aluminum mosquito screen/mesh to line the bottom with.  All has gone well for the past month or so, the plants have come out of their dormancy, started growing big traps, (my red dragons have been showing nice color for early in the season) and I have clipped all of the plants' flower stalks.  

Until this morning, when I went to my greenhouse-style terrarium, and saw something that I had not noticed (or looked at) before: the water in the tray the pots were sitting in had turned a bit of a rusty, reddish-brown tinge.  I have known that minerals in water kill flytraps, so it was only then that I realized that the mesh screen I had used was had been slowly rusting into the flytraps' water supply!  

I immediately took the mesh off the bottoms of the pots, replacing it with a sheet of plastic liner with holes in it (for water).  I rubberbanded this around the outside of the container.  
After that, I cleaned out the water tray, and filled it with distilled water.  I now have the flytraps sitting in that, but there are still minerals in the soil, as I see that rusty tinge in the water that drips out of the pot.

The flytraps are actively growing and have been attempting to flower, so should I just repot them or will they be alright in the soil they are in now.  What should I do?  How do I keep the plants alive (since they have been reaching impressive sizes and I really don't want to hurt/kill them!)

Thanks.
 
it's probably tannic acids. the peat makes the tray water into tea basically.


i still dont understand what the mesh was for, your holes can't be THAT big.

i wouldn't use any metals again, esp. zinc, if i were you.

the aluminum probably hasn't done anything at all.
 
I agree, aluminum is pretty inert; the 'tea' colored water is the sphagnum peat 'juice' and is a good thing.

If you're watering with the proper water, I wouldn't 'dink' with them anymore; they've been through enough already.

What they need now is AMPLE light and maybe 1 quick foilage mist of 'Superthrive' considering the stress they've been through.

Good luck.

p.s. Welcome to the forums!
 
Id say they will probably be fine. Id top water them for the next couple weeks. That will flush out anything comming up from underneath. Next time try a coffee filter. It will decompose quickly, but it will hold the media long enough for it to compact enough not to drain out.

Steve
 
or garden cloth.
 
Good idea, JLAP. Or, weed block cloth is what I use. Allows free passage of water, and no media escapes. BTW, Aluminum mesh doesn't "rust". It has a different form of breaking down. Just don't use metals anymore. If you are worried still, flush the pots three or four times, and be done with it. Keep a tight eye on the plants, and at the first sign of trouble, come here and scream! Help will be at your fingertips!
 
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