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VFT flowering!

Do I trim it or leave it grow? The 'stalk' is about 1cm tall so far. PS does anyone have a bigger flytrap plant?

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Your best choise is to trim it unless you want the seeds. Which isn't really worth it. By trimming it, you can help the plant produce more traps.
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Nice plant.
 
Cheers for the comments
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Ill trim it off when it gets a bit bigger!

You may be able to see just below the stalk tiny VFT sprouting, do I have another plant growing?
 
I just discovered mine is flowering too! It's one of the ones I got from the local grocery store just a few months back. I haven't decided if cultivating (right word)? the seed is worth it on this plant, I have 3 more. Any suggestions?
Also, I'm wondering what this means for dormancy? Seems if my VFT is flowering now, it must think it's spring. should I skip dormancy this year?
 
Good question, CN,
My Dente is flowering, too. I had to let it flower. The "pretty flowers" are the only reason my wife lets me keep the plants!
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Haha! I guess I'm lucky I'M the lady of the house. My hubby wouldn't dare tell me I could'nt grow them! I think he's scared of me, hmmm.....  
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While I'm at the VFT question, I'd also like to know if I should spray my VFT's with fungicide. The reason I ask is I keep getting green algae on the moss, and I pick it off gently, but just to prevent more, should I spray?
 
Hi CN,
   If you let your VFT flower then I wuold definitely skip the dormancy this year.  Flowering takes a lot of strength from the plant and it may not have enough reserves to make it through dormancy, especially if you use the refridgerator method.
   I don't think fungicide will affect algae.  They are two different types of organisms.  Algae is found on damp soil that has some nutrients and lots of sunlight.  The nutrients could be anything from small amounts of fertilizer or minerals from the stores water to possibly stuff that makes up the dust in the air.  This last is conjecture on my part because dust is made of a whole bunch of stuff.  Scrapping the algae off and covering the soil with LFS or life sphagnum to block light should help prevent it from coming back for a while.
 
Thanks bck!

I transplanted yesterday, only because they simply need more space! At that time I pulled off all the green and added the peat/perlite to fill up the remainder of the pot, covering the top of the moss. So I guess I already did that without realizing it would help! Now I know, thanks a bundle!
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Hey Carnivorous Newbie,

Your plant looks pretty robust, but if you let it flower, I don't think in my opinion that I would skip dormancy. If you trim it; you should be able to skip a year.
 
  • #10
Me again,

Reverse what I said above. Should have proof read it better
 
  • #13
Okay those last three posts are what? Anyway, why should we skip dormancy? (My v-trap is also flowering) Doesn't that mean that the fly trap is sleeping? So why should it matter? Last question, Could I let it go dormant outside because I live in the higher mmountains of North Carolina. It frosts pretty hard and is usually below 20*F all winter which is usually about Thanksgiving through the end of March or the beginning of April. Last question, Should I cover it before it frosts and uncover it so it can do photosinthesis?(spelling?) Help!!!!!!!
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  • #14
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (carniverous newbie @ Sep. 20 2002,10:10)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Haha! I guess I'm lucky I'M the lady of the house. My hubby wouldn't dare tell me I could'nt grow them! I think he's scared of me, hmmm.....  
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While I'm at the VFT question, I'd also like to know if I should spray my VFT's with fungicide. The reason I ask is I keep getting green algae on the moss, and I pick it off gently, but just to prevent more, should I spray?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Are you watering top down? If so switch to tray watering. If you already tray water, try letting your plant dry out for a short time. If all else fails, cunsult someone who knows more about ways to get rid of cronic infestations of stuff, lol.
 
  • #15
Yes, I am tray watering...I haven't let them dry out for any length of time yet though. Maybe I'll leave the tray empty for a couple days before refilling it next time to see if that helps.
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I do seem to be having another problem though...all 4 of my VFT's are sprouting new traps faster than I can count! One of my VFT's is up to 13 traps, including the partially developed ones growing. (It's a good problem by the way)!
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  • #16
Wesley

questions answered:

1) depending on where you purchased the plant, you can skip dormancy for this year. Why would you do it? To have more time with your plant
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2) If the plant is flowering, it is not sleeping. It is just trying to make seed. VFT's will usually flower in the Spring and Fall. If I were you, I would cut off the flower stalk. It does take away from the plant making traps and you will see a decline in the appearance of the plant. If the flower is allowed to make seed, then it is even more taxing on the plant.
I assume that you were wanting the plant for the traps and not the flowers right?
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3) You do not want the plant to freeze. Ideal temps are low 30'-low 40's for dormancy. I wouldn't go further than that.
The plant, in the wild, is found in the northern part of South Caronlina and the southern part of North carolina....if you are in that area, you are perfect. If you are in the mountains, it might be too cold for the plant. I would put him/her in either the garage or the fridge. You can cover it if you wish, but I would allow it to have some light. It will help reduce the risk of mold forming.

carniverous newbie:

Is the mold slimy? That is usually a signal of something ( it is too late and I can't think
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) Scraping it off should help...try and take soil with the mold. You are probably only removing the mold, but more comes back
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I agree with Darcie ( again
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) I would try and water, allow the water tray to empty and soil slightly dry and then water again. It should help with the mold problem.
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  • #17
OK, the VFT's sucked up all the water in their trays last night, so they've been dry ever since. I'll probably wait a day or two and see how goes before adding more water. The green on the sphagnum was slimy. Once I gently scraped it all off (along with the moss around the general area) and buried it in peat and perlite, it seems to be ok. Some of the perlite is green, which is probably still the same problem. However, whatever it is I've been trying to keep on top of it and it doesn't seem to be effecting the growth of my plants at all, so I suspect it's under control.
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The flytrap that is flowering, oddly enough, is the one of my 4 babies who seems the least healthy. All the traps are exhausted and not in working order (I noticed this well before the flower stalk started growing). It is slowly attempting to sprout 2 new traps right now, but naturally not nearly as fast as my other 3. I'm going to leave it, and let it flower. I feel it's worth the risk to allow it to happen this once anyway, if this plant dies I can call it acceptable risk for the experience! I know the flowers may not be much to look at, primarily I'm just thriving on the fact that my VFT's are doing so well considering it was only a few months back I knew so little I killed 3! So I'm thoroughly enjoying watching the fruits of my labour (and the fruits of all of your help on this forum, thank-you). For some reason, given how well my plants seem to be doing, I feel the trap will be able to survive the flowering process, and that's something else I'm curious to see. Call it an experiment!
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I miscounted on the above post by the way. The plant with the most traps has 16, and the plant with the least is my blood red, with only 8. He's taking some time to recover and get back up to snuff, but he'll get there!
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