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Having Trouble with your plant?

Pests

Remember that your soil is its own ecosystem! that means not every tiny bug you may see crawling around in your substrate is a pest! some are beneficial (soil mites for example) and can never be fully eradicated. They help keep your plant healthy by eating decaying matter

The Rule of Gardening:

If it's fast-moving, it's good. If it's slow-moving it's bad

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6 Common Fly Trap Problems

2

Hitchhikers

  • Mold or white fuzz

  • Algae

  • Weeds

What to do:

Remove the hitchhikers. Weeds are inevitable and will have to be removed. However, Algae and mold indicate there is too much moisture with not enough airflow. Remove mold, increase light, air flow, and consider repotting into a new soil mix 

  • Pests

What to do:

Pests have different abilities to survive based on what kind they are. However, the most effective way to remove them is to unpot the plant, toss substrate and run the plant under water, removing it completely. Then submerge the plant under water for five minutes. Take the plant and repot it into brand new soil and let it recover

3

Slow/No Growth

Plants that are in dormancy will die back and grow less, unable to take food. If your plant is in dormancy, raise the tempurature and hours in direct bright light until your plant recovers

  • No growth during the summer season

What to do:

This is usually caused by not enough light, root problems, or issues exiting dormancy. Adjust lighting, repot if necessary. If dormancy is the issue, see above. A plant that also gets no dormancy period can have this issue and degenerate.

  • No/ slow growth after repotting

What to do:

It is common for fly traps to take some time to grow new leaves after repotting as they focus on growing down into the substrate rather than leaves on the surface. However, this could also be caused by damage to the roots from repotting and only good conditions and time will allow recovery

4

Many Traps Turning Black Quickly

 

  • Mineral build-up from tap water

What to do:

Switch to distilled, RO, or rainwater. You may remove the plant from its soil and flush its roots, repotting to new carnivorous-safe soil and wait for the plant to recover.

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  • Root Damage

What to do:

Trim dead leaves and make sure the plant has good growing conditions. Recovery from root damage is simply a waiting game and may take a long time.

  • Overfeeding

What to do:

Stop feeding and wait for the plant to recover its strength, this could take months

5

Foul Smell

A foul smell can have many causes, the most common being rotting plant tissue, a fungal infection, or trapped insects

  • A rotting plant below soil

What to do:

Remove decaying roots and rhizome, repot into new substrate that will clump in your hand when squeezed but won't drip. Rotting of the roots is mainly caused by overwatering. Adjust your watering schedule.

  • A rotting plant above soil and trapped insects

What to do:

Remove decaying traps, avoid insects that are too big for traps to handle. Adjust watering schedule and add more light.

  • Fungal infection (Mold included)

What to do:

Remove surface soil and replace, if needed use a mix of neem oil and water and spray daily until the issue resolves

6

Dormancy

 

A Venus Fly Trap that does not go through dormancy has its lifespan substantially shortened.

  • Drop the tempurature to around 5-10 degrees celcius

What to do:

Many people place their Fly Traps in the fridge to maintain this

  • Give only 4 hours of light per day

What to do:

Install a grow light in the fridge with an automatic timer for 4 hours

  • Lessen watering

What to do:

Less watering, but make sure the soil never dries out

Dormancy must last 3-4 months to gain full effect

  • Checking for life

What to do:

Dig up the rhizome (white base of the plant) if it is firm and white the plant lives, if it's brown and mushy the plant has died

1

Leaf Issues

 

  • Traps are small and weak

  • Long, thin leaves

  • Turned a pale green

  • Leaves growing without traps

  • New leaves raised up (Reaching)

What to do:

All of these are signs that the plant is not getting enough light, you may need to change where it is placed or get a grow light so that the plant can get enough rays to grow. Give 8-12 hours of direct light

  • Traps won't close when touched

There are many reasons a trap may not activate. The most common are that the trap is too old, the plant is stressed, or it is in its dormancy period

What to do:

Check lighting and water, do not trigger the traps. If dormancy is the cause, raise the tempurature of the plant's location

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