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Ask questions about how to grow and care for Venus Flytraps

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By Ani
Posts:  79
Joined:  Thu May 12, 2022 8:43 pm
#423752
Hey all!

I think my flytrap is properly going into dormancy now. Despite being a windowsill flytrap, I think it's been subject to the cold from this very thin window pane and a lot of the older traps and some of the others are turning black, but the new growth in the middle seems fine. I've adjusted my watering to scale it back a little at a time, letting the tray dry out longer between waterings.

The only thing is, my flytrap went and had like 2-3 babies earlier in the year, and they are starting to compete for space. But from all the places I read, it sounds like repotting should be done at the start of spring when they start coming out of dormancy.

As long as I gently remove the blackened leaves to free up space and energy, am I OK to wait until then to separate them? Also, when it comes to removing dead leaves, how many am I OK to remove in one go? There are a quite a few there (and more on the way), but I wasn't sure if even removing the dead leaves causes any stress to the plant? Should I just remove a few each week, or am I alright to take off as many as I can when they turn? I may have to leave some on (or parts of some) there regardless, because some of the baby trap petioles are providing a bit of an obstacle course! lol

Thanks for any advice!
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By steve booth
Posts:  1221
Joined:  Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:15 am
#423757
You are correct, splitting and repotting is better carried out in spring. As for the dead foliage, anything that is fully black can be removed in one go, except where doing so may damage the smaller plants or growth points. Your picture shows blackening leaves (still fleshy with green parts) these can be left till the nutrients are absorbed back into the rhizome and pulled off once they go dryer, or if they really offend you, cut off as low down the petiole as you can although you can lose some energy that way.
Cheers
Steve
Ani liked this
By Ani
Posts:  79
Joined:  Thu May 12, 2022 8:43 pm
#423761
Thanks for the advice. I wait for the leaves to go fully black and start turning kinda crispy before I attempt to remove them. I usually - when I have good access to where they are close to the center - snip them off as close as I can, but leave a bit of wiggle room so I don't hurt anything else. With these ones with baby traps in the way, can I risk tugging on the dead leaves with tweezers instead and pulling them off that way? I'm always scared it may accidentally pull off too much if I try that. If they are dry and crispy enough, would a tug with a pair of tweezers be enough?
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By steve booth
Posts:  1221
Joined:  Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:15 am
#423793
If you try to pull off leaves that are still a bit fleshy, they will still be attached to the rhizome quite firmly while they are draining the nutrients back to the rhizome, so they will be still pretty well attached and pulling them could dislodge the rhizome and plantlets. When they are black and drier, they are only loosely connected, and a sharp tug (while holding the plant just to be on the safe side) will pull it off. Or alternatively snip it off and leave the plant to sort the 'clasp' bit to the rhizome out, which it will, as that what they do in the wild.
Cheers
Steve
Ani liked this
By Ani
Posts:  79
Joined:  Thu May 12, 2022 8:43 pm
#423828
Thanks again for your response. I'll wait for them to go dry and crispy before I try anything. And I'll probably just cut off what I can safely reach and avoid tugging.

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