Marko.D Posted November 22, 2010 Report Share Posted November 22, 2010 Hello! I'm Marko and I'm a new member of this forum. I grow Venus Flytraps for few years. Here are some photos: I think my plants are doing good except one thing: they have a weak coloration. They get few bright red traps, but that's very rare. CLONES: You might think i have greener clones and that is what i thought until i didn't exchanged plants. My friend from Belgrade has plants with bright red traps and when we exchanged plants, they became pink-green. She took a photo of her plants: and here the same plants in my cultivation LIGHT: my plants are in a bright sun (spring-autumn) from sunrise till sunset ...Sarracenias that i also grow get different strong coloration. WATER: plants are always in a few cm of water. I use spring water or sometimes rainwater. I was thinking that spring water might be bad for them so for experiment i used distilled water. They looked the same. SOIL: I use pure white peat, or sometimes i mix it with perlite. I don't think soil is the problem. DORMANCY: plants always have good winter rest, and my friend's plants (she sent me) spent winter outside (with minimum protection). DISEASE: i had problems with fungus that causes mosaic look. I removed infected plants and i don't think weak colour is a result of infection because i have fungus from last year and i never had bright red coloration. I'm sorry for my bad grammar. Hope you have some ideas how to improve my coloration. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ Posted November 22, 2010 Report Share Posted November 22, 2010 Firslty welcome to cpuk! You say it is bright sun - is it full direct bright sun?? Does the person you exchanged with grow in a greenhouse? Also it seems the friend you mention is growing several clones in that big pot - which ones did she send you? Some of hers had bright red traps buit some were only pink in the traps - perhaps you got the ones that were pink? In which case yours dont look much different. Perhaps try a clone that you know gets very red traps? Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marko.D Posted November 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2010 Thank you for the welcome and reply! Sun is direct (no shading or filtered). In july and august it gets so hot that Sempervivums(that I grow near by) shrivel. Dionaea-s are most beautiful at this time. My friend keeps her plants in the same conditions. She doesn't have a greenhouse. I know she sent me red clones. She also sent me clones with red teeth, but as you can presume...plants in my cultivation have only green teeth. Also, few years ago i bought plant that had bright red traps. New leafs lost coloration and i wasn't able to achieve such coloration ever again. This plant gets few bright red traps from time to time but that is not a rule. Next spring I will try to get some of the all red clones so we'll see how will they look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesse Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 Also, few years ago i bought plant that had bright red traps. New leafs lost colorationand i wasn't able to achieve such coloration ever again. A good red coloration is promoted by - lower average temperatures and - a good temperature drop at night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marko.D Posted November 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 A good red coloration is promoted by- lower average temperatures and - a good temperature drop at night I suspected they could be too hot. The growth is very good where i keep them and i supposed instantly those are the perfect conditions. I will replace some of them to the less hotter position next spring. jesse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will9 Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 (edited) Hi Marco,i can be very wrong but can you see how match PH you have in your peat?If to high plants make no color at all,i not think this problem is the liht or the temps! i not know what you main whit spring water but this can hold match fertilizer or calc,the best is give allways rainwater.Meaby you can mix some spar needles to your mix it s making this more acid, cheers Will Edited November 23, 2010 by will9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marko.D Posted November 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 (edited) Hi Will! I never measured pH of my peat but your words sound reasonable to me. I had experiment with other water but this was demineralised water from the store, and this water could also had some chemicals added that could change pH. I had the most bright red traps in autumn when rains came and i could collect larger amount of rainwater, but also temperatures went lower. Next year i will have to make experiment both with water and temperatures. Thank you Will! I also had theory that my plants eat a lot, so they don't have to waste their energy in producing red traps. That theory sounded very good till i didn't try to grow Venus Flytraps on 17'th floor balcony. There is much less bugs and i thought plants will have to produce red traps to attract more. Traps were the same... Edited November 23, 2010 by Marko.D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicizer Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 (edited) A good red coloration is promoted by- lower average temperatures and - a good temperature drop at night the difference between the temperature of day and night it's very important for the colour of the VFT. my clone are more red in september, than in august. red clone become brown... about humidity??? Edited November 23, 2010 by publicizer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marko.D Posted November 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 Plants are outdoors in a bright sun, they always stand in a water but I would say that air humidity is low. Is humidity a reason why plants in a greenhouse get bright colors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallsg7 Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 This is an interesting subject for me.Here in england my dionaea colour up best when there is most sunshine.Normaly mid summer.There you clearly have an abundance of sunshine judging by the outdoor cactus!So it must be a different problem for you.It will be very interesting to find out the exact reason why your plants are not colouring up.Once we all know the answer maybe we can all get our own plants to colour up better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicizer Posted November 24, 2010 Report Share Posted November 24, 2010 the humidity is the last factor. if have test with different water, peat, place..the last element that we have no speak about is humidity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marko.D Posted November 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2010 This is an interesting subject for me.Here in england my dionaea colour up best when there is most sunshine.Normaly mid summer.There you clearly have an abundance of sunshine judging by the outdoor cactus!So it must be a different problem for you.It will be very interesting to find out the exact reason why your plants are not colouring up.Once we all know the answer maybe we can all get our own plants to colour up better! I think i will have to make more experiments in the future. I will let you know my results for sure. the humidity is the last factor.if have test with different water, peat, place..the last element that we have no speak about is humidity. How important is pH and water for coloration? Did you get any other results or difference in temperatures between night and day is the only important factor? (except bright sun of course) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will9 Posted November 24, 2010 Report Share Posted November 24, 2010 I think PH is the most important factor for give color to the plants,temp? i think this is not test out and so far i know not proof ,but i think it s of no matter,this is only matter for dormancy.Plants that go in dormancy can also chance color. Whit PH i am sure ,it s for all plants ,set buxus in acid soil and you have after a time yellow plants ,cactus the same ,set this in calc ground and you become also yellow plants. This is only my opinion and what i experience whit garden plants and cactus,i don t know if this is so for carnivores to but i supoose it s the same,meaby other growers have other experiences and i like it to hear,it s allways good to hear some other opinions for learning from. So i think your plants looks very liht green ,allmost yellow.There for i think it s your PH thats not riht,but meaby i am wrong and it s something else, Cheers Willy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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