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i'm gonna need some help.

upper

Capensis Killer
today i got my first VenusFlytrap. free. from my email neighbor.
they gave it to me with no traps on them at all. they cut off everything that turned black so now i only have the base sticking out. its still green but the tip is starting to turn black. i dont even know if its still alive.but when i first got it it doesnt have any traps, but the bottom is still green then the bottom near the root is whiteish. i repotted it in peat moss+perlite(sp?) and i got a clipon table light with 42 Watt Spiral Fluorescent Replacement Bulb(equivalent of 150watts) and put it on my table. i dont know how to keep it humid so i put it in an empty plastic tub. i also put the plastic tray filled with water under the pot. do you guys think there's any hope for the flytrap at all? i dont know if its dead or not. they said they got it from OSH. i just started browsing the internet and stumbled on to his forum.
 
so it is the bulb of the plant only?
rhizome should be white (the base of the plant)
if it is white, it is still alive, and there is still hope for the plant, just keep it in good light and watered, and it should show some new growth in about a week
 
yeah so long as the rhizome is good the plants usually rebound but understand that it will look weak and miserable for alittle while... i actually rescued a really small offshoot that was dieing on a shelf becuase of what they had had it planted in well I repotted it and just waited and it came around... took longer than a week... but it came aruond and its now putting off big new leaves
 
depending upon the lighting conditions, he could see a new leaf or two forming within a week or 2 is what i meant, i didnt mean it would be like OH SNAP IM GROWIN AGAIN haha
 
and a question, what color should the root be? the tip of the root was alittle black and fade to white from the top
 
Yes, green and white are good signs. The roots should be blackish and the rhizome/corm/bulb should be firm and not mushy when gently squeezed. Don't dig it up to check it at this point.

However, confirm that the peat moss is Sphagnum peat and both the peat and Perlite are free from fertilizer. If either contain "Miracle-Gro" then that is not a good thing. If you cannot find either without fertilizer locally you can order them from Andrew (the proprietor of this board) from Flytrapshop.com. He can probably get it to you in 4 days or less via Priority Mail.

If the plant is dormant it may take more than a couple weeks to resume growth. Being as the plant was bought at OSH chances are it is not dormant.

Be sure to water with distilled, rain or water filtered by Reverse Osmosis only.

Otherwise you seem to have many of the basics down already.

Additional reading:
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81026
http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq2000.html
 
thats fine, my plants usually have black roots that fade as they reach the rhizome.
i think thats normal. here are a few of my VFTs, if you look at the pot on the bottom right, i have 2 akai ryu that were cut back to bulb and are coming back. one may have died, i am not sure.
CPs064.jpg
 
thankyou so much, you guys have been very very helpful. another question. i have the big office water filter thing from arrowhead, they deliver me 10 gallon every month. can i use those drinking water? or does those water have mineral? also there's this fuzzy white stuff in the old pot, they look like chewed up piece of white chicken but it dried up now and its pretty soft, just wondering if anyone knew what that was. i'll provide picture in an hour or two when i get my camera back.
 
ummm the white stuff is mold i think
remove that......
as far as the water, i wouldnt risk it
just get 45c RO water at your local grocery store
or the 1.09$ distilled water or w.e it goes for around you
 
  • #10
well the white stuff is stuck on the root, so i'm worried i might damage the root removing it.
 
  • #11
oh....hmm
root rot :|
eep
idk if thats what it is, but lets hope not.
btw here are some new pics of my dentate VFTs
DentateVFTs006.jpg

DentateVFTs004.jpg
 
  • #12
DSC00155.jpg

the white thing i'm talking about, it turned kinda light brownish now after i put it in peat moss.
DSC00154.jpg

some root came out when i took out the thing that you said is a mold.
DSC00153.jpg

as you can see some roots came out...
 
  • #13
I will simply repeat what I recently wrote for a similar question: ;)
(actually..below is a montage from a few posts)

sounds like you are doing the best you can for this plant right now..

but honestly, you have picked the worst possible time of year to start growing a VFT..because its the dead of winter right now and the plant should be fully dormant..
the fact that is not dormant could cause it some problems later on..

this is what I would do if I were in your shoes..

forget the terrarium.
forget the aquarium.
forget buying any new lights.
you dont WANT the plant to be vigorous and growing right now..its not the right time of year for that.
The plant should be resting right now..
you cant give it a real, cold dormancy because its not prepared for that..sticking it 40 degrees would shock it and kill it.
so you need to give it the best kind of rest you can...its not ideal, but any rest is better IMO that trying to force it artificially back into summer right now.

I would stick the plant in ANY window..dont worry about the light...the light isnt important right now.
the plant shouldn't be growing much anyway.
if you have a cold drafty window, that would be better.
keep a small bit of water in the tray so it doesn't dry out.
leave it alone, except for watching the water level, until April.

In April, put it outdoors, anywhere that gets lots of full direct sunlight.
if it survived the winter, it will come back to life and start putting out new growth..
if not...well, it happens to all of us!
just start over, in april (best time of year to start) with some new VFTs..
but I suspect the plant will probably live..

then keep the plant outdoors until October, by which time you will already know what you are going to do about VFT dormancy for next winter..for your 5 VFTs and 3 Sarracenia you will have by then! ;)

Also..
IMO, VFT's and Sarracenia should never be grown in terrariums..
the climate inside a terrarium is just all-wrong for them..
the climate is fine for a few months...but VFTs and Sarrs need very different climates at different times of year..

keeping VFTs in a terrarum is the same as trying to grow maple tree seedlings in a terrarium..
you can replicate June - August ok in a terrarium..sunny and warm..but what about the other 9 months of the year?

Maple trees need a gradually warming spring to come out of dormancy, a gradually warmer and sunnier summer, a gradually cooler and darker autumn, then a cold and dark winter to be fully dormant.

..cycle repeats...

so do VFTs..
its not an option..its a necessity.

If you grow a maple tree indoors, it will die within a year...the non-changing environment of a terrarium will also eventually kill a VFT.

VFTs need it warm and REALLY sunny in the summer..DIRECT sunlight..
where can you find that? outdoors in the summer! ;)
Nature provides the perfect light for free..
then you need gradually decreasing photoperiod and gradually decreasing temps from summer into autumn..
where can you find that? outdoors..again nature does all the work for us.

The only tricky season for those of us in the Northern states is the winter..Spring, Summer and Autumn are a breeze..just keep the plants outdoors April - October.
but the plants need a COOL winter..the winter of South Carolina..
but winters in the northern states are too severe and will kill them if the plants are left outdoors..

there is a ton written in this forum about winter dormancy..
you have 10 months to read up on that before you have to pick a method. ;)

Scot
 
  • #14
Hey there upper, nice to see you made your way to terraforums. That's a pretty sorry looking plant... Scotty's advice is right on the money.

If it dies, just wait until spring before trying again.

I think your "mold" is long fiber sphagnum moss. Which is good. Most CPs enjoy a little LFS.

You should only be using distilled or RO water. Filters do not work well enough.
 
  • #15
i thought it was LFS as well
i had some in my pots as well.
 
  • #16
i dont know how to keep it humid so i put it in an empty plastic tub.

I'm not sure that the plastic cover is necessary. Humidity is overrated. If you do want to continue to use it make sure that there are some holes so that air does not become trapped and stagnant. Air movement is good.

i dont know if its dead or not.

It's probably dormant, meaning growth is slowed down and is resting.

i have the big office water filter thing from arrowhead, they deliver me 10 gallon every month. can i use those drinking water? or does those water have mineral?

I wouldn't use it. They usually add some sort of minerals or additives to make water taste better. You're better off collecting rain water or buying a gallon of distilled water at the grocery store. If this is your only plant, you could buy a gallon of water and it will last a long time. My grocery store sells distilled water for 79 cents.

i have the big office water filter thing from arrowhead, they deliver me 10 gallon every month. can i use those drinking water? or does those water have mineral? also there's this fuzzy white stuff in the old pot, they look like chewed up piece of white chicken but it dried up now and its pretty soft, just wondering if anyone knew what that was. i'll provide picture in an hour or two when i get my camera back.

do you guys think there's any hope for the flytrap at all?

Yes, there is always hope.

Welcome to terraforums. With our collective knowledge powers combined...

xvart.
 
  • #17
Welcome to terraforums. With our collective knowledge powers combined...:-))

.... but first we'll confuse ya!
 
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