FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I noticed the tops of new traps just barely poking out of the lfsm so I removed some of the moss and found that the new rhizome growth is growing straight down? I repotted because the moss looked like it needed a refresh and placed the rhizome at an angle to bring the new growth closer to the surface.
Question: Should I have just left it alone until dormancy and just removed the moss covering the new growth? (I think I know the answer to this one. lol)

Looking at my other vft's there are quite a few with downward trending new growth but not all of them, is this:
Normal?
Rhizome trying to escape 100-degree heat at the surface.
Crispy top layer of lfsm forcing new growth down?
Growing towards a wetter medium?
Residual multiplication hormones?
or
I don't know what I'm doing but having fun doing it - Ha ha

Most of my flytraps think they are submarines. They are constantly diving.

Panman wrote:Most of my flytraps think they are submarines. They are constantly diving.

Do you even bother to uncover the new growth or just let them do their thing?

I straighten them out when I repot. If the new growth looks like it is struggling, I will repot it.

Perfectly normal rhizome morphology. One of the reasons I've recently been avoiding sphagnum moss for my Dionaea media is because the LFSM fibers can constrict rhizome growth and sometimes force the plants to grow in funky ways.

Yeah, I tried using LFSM on a few plants for a few years. They grow O.K. in it but what a PITA to repot. They will go back to good 'ol plain old peat/perlite this winter. They don't do any better IMHO in LFSM. I see no difference at all.

I see a huge difference between LFSM and peat/perlite. In straight moss, mine grow much faster and handle the heat better. I find the rhizomes submarine regardless of the media.

I don't know about huge, but my plants definitely prefer LFSM - I usually cut it with a little donut of rich peaty mix near the bottom of the pot though, both as filler and to retain a little extra water away from the roots that go down the middle (mostly), which (I think) helps the plants out when I'm away for a while not watering them - The roots pretty much only see the LFSM though.

LFSM is definitely harder to repot though, it tangles up and I've definitely damaged more roots with it than with peat, which you can mostly just rinse away.