FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

these are my first ever carnivorous plants. my grandfather bought them on the internet, and he shipped it to me. the sundew and vtf spent 3 days in the road being shipped to me. when they arrived yesterday, the sundew had no dew at all and one traps on the vft had a black spot.

so it's been one day. i let their pots sit in a container filled with and inch distilled water since yesterday. the black spot on the vft seems to be getting bigger, and the sundew has some black coloring on a few of the new tips. are those things to be concerned over? i have absolutely no experience on carnivorous plants, and i really don't want to kill my plants by accident. anything i should do or keep in mind to keep them alive?

Do you know the basics of care for them such as:
1. Use rainwater, distilled water, reverse osmosis (RO) water, and in a tight dehumidifier water to water them with. Only water below 50ppm TDS. Most people's tapwater is not safe for carnivorous plants.
2. Only use a zero-nutrient growing mix. No "potting soils". Usually a 50:50 ratio of peat moss and perlite works well for most plants.
3. Do not use Miracle-Gro products (peat moss or perlite) as both contain fertilizer...peat moss is really bad, though some people state the perlite is safe to use being as it has a low amount of fertilizer in it. To be safe, I stay away from all MG products.
4. Sundews/droseras like to be from moist to soggy wet. If it is cool where you're at I would not keep them soggy...maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of water. In the sun or beneath warm growlights you could go a bit deeper. Summertime I'm not scared to keep an inch or a little more in my trays...some people go half the height of the pots. Read up on your variety of sundew and see what its specific likes and dislikes are.
5. Flytraps don't like soggy conditions. They want it moist, but not soggy. They want there toes in a little water but not up to their knees, if that makes sense.
6. Don't let any CP dry out.
7. Flytraps grow best outside beneath the sun...4+ hours. It takes good lighting indoors to grow them well. Some sundews can "burn" when under full sun for extended periods...same for warm grow lights. Also some sundews don't like hot temperatures...your plant looks kinda like a capensis (Cape Sundew) and they like it more "room temperature" rather than hot summer temperatures outside...they make very good windowsill plants.
8. Depending on your location the flytrap may be going dormant where it looks bad, doesn't seem to grow, and just flops around looking wimpy. As the photoperiod shortens and temperatures drop the flytrap senses this and begins dozing off for it's winter nap. Only keep it moist during this time as its not using a lot of water and too much water during this period can cause it to rot. Now, if you're in the southern hemisphere then it's turning into summer and the plant is beginning to wake up. Location is important...you could at your general location in your control panel...it would help people when giving you advice.

Those are just some basic growing tips.

Black spots can be normal on flytrap leafs, plus this time of the year in the northern hemisphere it might be getting ready to go dormant. The overall color looks ok on the flytrap but lack of any red coloration in it means it isn't getting an abundance of light. Flytraps growing under full sun or strong grow lights will most times attain a reddish color inside the traps...same with sundews, they will take a reddish color on, too, when under strong lighting. Light is *always* good, though.

I'm not sure what to tell you about the brown tips on your sundew. They may be there from the trip the sundew took...traveling can be rough on them. Some people will put a plastic bag over them for a while to help maintain a humid environment that might encourage more dew to form. Given time, though, the sundew should start producing dew without the humidity dome over it. If it's in a cool environment I don't think I would bag them, though...remember the rotting issue if cold and wet. For now, give them plenty of light (don't burn them with a bulb, though! ) with a very sunny window, outside in the sun (gradually introduce them to more and more sunlight over a period of a few weeks...acclimate them to the sunshine), or use a grow light of some kind. They've gotta have light.

Give them a little time to recuperate from the journey, follow basic care instructions, and they should be fine!

Btw, welcome to the forum!!!!
Ed

^^^^This^^^^
However, to expand slightly.
Sundews are very persnickety when it comes to shipping, they stall out when given different conditions, and take (sometimes) weeks to recover. I've even seen then stall moving them to my neighbors house across the street. It'll recover in time.
The VFT looks good, really nice actually. But it does appear to be planted a bit too deep. The line on the rhizome where the white fades to green is about where you want the surface of the media. Since you recently got it, you should be able to simply "wiggle" it up a little.
Good luck, your grandfather is a very thoughtful guy.

thank you very very much for the advices. can't tell you how much i appreciate it! hopefully i'll be able to keep them alive with your help.

i have read guides about the "rainwater/distilled water only" thing and the water level of the soil, so i know a little bit about those. i'm currently confused about sunlight and temperatures. i'm currently living in bali and it gets pretty hot here so i don't know if it's safe or not to leave my sundew and vft under direct sunlight. some people say it'll be fine and that they love the sun, but some people also said that the sunlight could bake them if it's too intense. what counts as "too intense"?

In my opinion, direct morning sunlight in Bali would be just fine, but I wouldn't subject them to direct PM sun along with the heat. If possible, find a place that gets direct AM sun until about 10, then is mostly shaded after that. They'll get enough light that way, and they won't have to deal with the stressors of intense light and heat while they acclimate to your conditions. Once they've acclimated (about a month or two), you could experiment with leaving them out in more direct light, but I would still stay away from direct light during the hottest part of the day.

morning sun, and shaded areas after. will keep that in mind! guess my front porch would be a good place for it to keep getting sunlight while staying shaded... thank you very much for your help!