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Trying to save a few lives--any tips

Hey guys/gals,

I was hoping to save a couple of, "half-priced" because they're "half-dead", VFTs from my local Home Depot. I want to give them the best possible survival rate and have come to a roadblock of sorts. When you buy these plants (the ones with the "humidity" cup over them) are they planted in 50/50 peatmoss perlite/silica or are they in need of a transplant. They aren't the healthiest of plants so i don't want to kill them with shock while transplanting.

Any ideas,

Zac
 
Assuming they were planted in appropriate soil and not fertilized, the least invasive approach would be to simply knock the plant and soil out of the small pot, make a depression in a larger pot with fresh soil, put the plant and old soil in the depression, and fill the voids. Then place the newly potted plant uncovered in a bright location (but not direct full sun) for a couple of weeks. Some will differ and say put in direct sun immediately, but I prefer changing conditions gradually and allow the plant some time to adjust.

If you suspect the original soil is bad, knock the plant out and put it in a bowl of water to gently wash the old soil from the plant, then carefully repot in fresh soil, trying not to break the roots. This is a bit more invasive, but should not be a problem. VFTs are pretty tough if planted in good soil and given good water.
 
Keep the plastic dome on when you get it home. Keep it out of bright light. After a day or so, remove the dome for during the daytime and put back on at night. See how it responds. It may take several days. Move closer to the light each day. Basically, you slowly acclimate these plants to bright light and total air circulation.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Xadis @ Aug. 11 2005,9:36)]When you buy these plants (the ones with the "humidity" cup over them) are they planted in 50/50 peatmoss perlite/silica or are they in need of a transplant.
I've found that most of the Dionaea along with other plants you find in the stores are potted in the dirtiest looking LFS known to man (geez I hope it's lfs...) and peat. No perlite or sand that i've ever really found.

You honestly have a 50:50 shot of rescuing them, depends on what the plant itself looks like.

What's visible with the plants that shows they aren't the healthiest?

Rot and fungus depending how long they are let go are probably the worst. If it's etoliation than that's a simple fix, and if they dried out, well watering helps. The rhizomes can last a little bit without water even though some of the leaves will shrivel and dry up.
 
VFTs are tough. You don't need to mollycoddle them.

Buy your VFTs, pot them up in new peat and put them where you want to grow them. As long as you don't put them in fierce sun straight away, they'll be fine. Don't bother with any silly domes that encourage fungus.

These VFTs have just been living in a DIY store for a few weeks - nothing major.
 
What makes them look so bad:

Most have more than 50% of their traps dead/blackened.
Soil looks as if it was scooped out of the cracks in the parking lot(which is why I asked weather it was really soil)
Very Very Droopy looking due to lack of growth I presume
Oh and they're on shelves which are constantly shaded

I'm gonna try repotting, I have 12 and am hoping for a 50% survival rate. Should I plant in straight peat or the mix i suggested above

zac
 
If the media they are in looks bad then change it completely. I would mix some perlite or sharp sand in with the peat to give better drainage.

Usually if there is still a little life in vfts there is a very good chance they will recover, if 50% of each plant is still alive then you have a very good chance they will all recover. The droopy effect is probably caused by lack of light while they have been growing, better light conditions should improve this on all the new growth.
 
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