why did my plants die?

[Guest Frank MacGregor]

Thank you everyone for the feedback on nitrogen.

Could you give me some feedback on another matter, please? I created the right medium in that I used a combination of moss, sand and water, covered the terrarium with plastic wrap and kept it under a light. I fed my plants flies, crickets and mealworms.

They just kept turning black and dying. I started out with 4 plants and now have 1 left. I started 6 weeks ago.

Did I overfeed them or did I feed them too much during a dormant period? It's winter here.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[Guest CandymanMessiah]

Just my twopenneth

Force feeding your traps is bad - They will survive well enough without this. There is a chance that this is the cause of death, but only (usually) if you feed it too large/wet an animal, causing the trap to rot prematurely, but there are a number of other factors that cause the plants to die.

I never feed my plants at all with anything - If they catch a fly/spider themselves, then all well and good (and makes me smile at the wonder of these 'carnivores').

You mention plastic wrap to increase humidity - Too much humidity during the day and then cold nights (especially in the cold weather we are getting here in the UK) will increase the chance of mildew and mould forming.

Christian

[manders]

They don't need so much humidity, but wheather thats the cause I dont know

[alexa]

I agree with Manders, they don't like it that humid. Try to vent as much as possible.

Alex

[Guest Sheila]

Plastic wrap is only needed when you are germinating seeds. Growing plants need good ventilation. Vft traps can only trap and digest three or four meals after which the trap will die, so be careful not to overfeed it. You don't say which plants you are actually growing, but Vfts should be dormant now, so their blackening could be a sign that they are not happy being kept in a terrarium.

[Mike King]

Hi Frank,

VFT in my experience are not really subjects for a terrarium. Where do you live and how do you keep it?

[Vertigo]

Can you also clarify what kind of moss you're using? Most types besides sphagnum will tend to damage your plants one way or another.

[brad]

Frank,

Could be the effects of dormancy and all the trap stimulation and closures leading to death of the current crop of leaves. Terrarium growing of VFT is ok if you have decent ventilation to avoid fungal problems, very strong artificial light, sphagnum moss base for soil mix, and use of pure water (rain, distilled, deionized).

To actually determine if a VFT is dead, the rhizome just beneath the soil surface has to be rotted and dead (black soft mushy).

A live VFT rhizome is a tight bunch of leaf bases, with a white color, and will have a firm to solid feel when you touch it. If the rhizome is still alive you can easily recover the plants to health if you give the rhizomes good growing conditions, including strong light, pure water and sphagnum based soil mix.

Again, they are not dead until the rhizome is completely soft and mushy.

Good luck.

Brad

Ventura California

[Joseph Clemens]

You said you started with 4 plants and now have only 1.

By plants do you mean individual rosettes, or simply individual leaves.

And how are you determining their "death"?

Is the entire plant, leaves and underground stem turned to rotten mush, or have they simply stopped growing new leaves?

[Guest Frank MacGregor]

Thanks everyone for your help.

I live near Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada and it's winter here so they may not have liked being part of a study on new growth and I did sort of force feed them.

The humidity may have been a problem because there is moisture under the plastic wrap that covers the terrarium but there doesn't seem to be any mildew or smell of rot. I also didn't use a really strong light, just an ordinary lamp.

I dodn't actually know what type they are: they were sold as individual plants.

I seem to be using the right moss (sphagnum) and I'm only watering with rain water.

I thought they were dead because the plant (not just the leaves) all truned black and seemed to rot. I didn't check the root. I just thought it was dead as well.

Should I have been growing them outside of a terrarium? All the books I read said this was what to do.

Thanks for your feedback,

Frank

[Mike King]

Hi Frank,

Vancouver has a similar climate to the UK.

Your plants are sun lovers, they need direct sun grown in a greenhouse which is unheated for long term success. Humidity is not the problem, the combination of poor light and forced warmth is. The plants need a dormancy as they are native of North America experince cooler and cold temperatures. Growing them in sphagnum moss alone is not the best either. You can get a growing guide from my website..

[Guest VFT guy in SJ]

First and formost the light is wrong. A standard incandescant light bulb does not provide the correct spectrum for growing any plants, and also the heat it emits can cook a plant sealed in a terrarium in short order. Overall I would say your problem is most likely a combination of all factors listed above.

Humidity for VFTs is WAY overrated in my opinion. My plants regularly have humidity drops into the low 20s or teens in summertime and are no worse for the experience. I suggest uncovering it or removing it from the terrarium entirely.

I also dont really believe you can overfeed a VFT either, if the plant is dormant it simply wont close on prey. My plants are grown out in my garden and the only time a trap isnt closed around prey is if its exhausted itself already. Ive never counted, but I would say my plants caught in excess of 200 bugs each over the summer. They are quite adept at what they do. :)

I suggest that if you still have your plants you inspect the bulb to make sure if it is dead or not. If the bulb is still firm you may still save it. Get a compact flourescent light bulb (the kind that looks all twisted in a spiral) and a reflector lamp (the big round aluminum type) to use as your light source. Keep the soil moist but not wet to avoid rotting of the roots, then wait to see if it generates new life.

Good Luck

Steve