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problem coming out of dormancy - help needed

B

barb

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I had to induce dormancy in my 3 year old flytrap this winter, because it was having problems producing traps. The plant had a normal amount of leaves which were green, fairly upright and healthy (no rot or wilting).

I put the plant in the fridge in a tupperware box at the start of December. The foliage remained green, but growth stopped. I checked on it every few weeks, but in the period since the last check the compost has dried out. It is quite hard and shrunk in size. I have stood the plant + compost in distilled water, still in the fridge overnight but, although the compost has absorbed some water, it has not softened and regained its volume.

I have some new growing medium available, but obviously wouldn't want to damage the roots by trying to remove the old stuff. Would putting the plant+old compost in a pot of new compost and watering be the best option?

I'd appreciate any advice to help save my plant.

Thanks
Barb
 
Hi Barb, sorry to hear about your plant, you might try wraping the ball of dried peat in a wet paper towel and leaving it in the fridge until dormancy is over to see if it loosens up over time, but if the peat will not soften up then you are going to have to CAREFULLY pry the stuff off of its roots piece by peice, taking care to damage the roots as little as possible, you will want to wait untill you are taking the plant out of dormancy to do this however so it will have a chance to heal and put out fresh roots to replace those that dried and died or peeled off with the peat. Good luck!
 
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