Red flytraps not opening

Red flytraps not opening#449174

By Peanut -  Mon Apr 01, 2024 9:19 pm
Posts:  2
Joined:  Mon Apr 01, 2024 8:32 pm

- Mon Apr 01, 2024 9:19 pm #449174

Hello, long time lurker first time poster.

I've cared for carnivorous plants for a few years now and managed to successfully keep them alive.
However I just can't seem to figure out why the same care does not work for dionaea full red varieties (at least in my case) and have lost a few throughout the years following this same behavior.
Was wondering if someone had any idea why this might be since I couldn't find an answer:

I bought a couple of small Reds along with some typicals two months ago, yet they grow ridiculously slow comparatively, one seems stunted while they other one does grow but then the traps don't open at all, they stay closed, even the old traps closed and never opened again.
(I added a picture of a bigger typical I bought along with a rhizome division I did around the same time in the same tray which seem to be doing fine.)

I grow them on my roof, lots of wind, 85% full sun
Peat/perlite soil, no ferts
I water them plenty every second day and let the water tray stay dry for like half a day.
Distilled water around 15-30 ppm.

Thank you for your time!

.

Attachments:

Re: Red flytraps not opening#449180

By Panman -  Tue Apr 02, 2024 12:05 am
Location:  Atlanta, GA USA Zone 8a/8b
Posts:  6408
Joined:  Wed Mar 04, 2020 8:41 pm

- Tue Apr 02, 2024 12:05 am #449180

Reds do grow much slower and I have personally found them to not handle a very cold dormancy as well.

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Re: Red flytraps not opening#449201

By steve booth -  Tue Apr 02, 2024 8:48 am
Posts:  1240
Joined:  Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:15 am

- Tue Apr 02, 2024 8:48 am #449201

As they are not green they have a lot more trouble photosynthesizing, they simply absorb less light so grow slowly. They need really intense light to grow well, the wind may be causing problems too, a greenhouse reared plant (which most bought plants are) don't know wind. Their roots aren't used to absorbing the extra water required to compensate for the additional transpiration from the leaves, so they have to grow more roots to compensate which reduces the top growth as the plant's resources go to the roots. Once acclimated they are OK but obviously the wind (depends on its velocity and dryness) will strip the plant of fluid and slow down growth.
Cheers
Steve

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Re: Red flytraps not opening#450349

By Peanut -  Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:54 pm
Posts:  2
Joined:  Mon Apr 01, 2024 8:32 pm

- Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:54 pm #450349

UPDATE:
It was tiny red mites that I couldn't see due to the plant color.

Who would've thunk

Thanks for the replies guys.

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