Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1998 15:42:42 -0400 From: "Mark Pogany" <markp@en.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2401$foo@default> Subject: Lauren's VFT
Lauren,
You wrote:
) This year the plant has grown three rather large thick
"leaves" of a type I haven't seen before. They almost look
like trap leaves, but are bigger, wider, and do NOT have traps
on the end. What are these?
Sounds like light deprivation. How many hours of DIRECT, UNOBSTRUCTED ,
INTENSE SUN does your plant receive? VFT's are very particular about light.
Flood them with as many hours of ol' sol as possible.
Another suggestion is dormancy. A flytrap will often produce flared leaves
with tiny traps when it is emerging from dormancy before the characteristic
ones do. Has your plant had a proper rest period this year? This usually
takes place from November through March or so. A proper rest period involves
drying the soil (medium) out to bare dampness, reducing the temperature to
35-40f for the winter months, and shortening the photoperiod to 10 hours or
so.
I'm not positive this has anything to do with leaf development on VFT's but-
what sort of water are you using? I know from painful experience that hard
tap water applied to this species of plant will kill it in short order. Try
flushing your pot with eighter pure rain or distilled water. Do it a few
times. Then set your pot in a very shallow tray containing no more than
1/4-1/2 inch of pure water. Lots of sun! Even try putting it outside in a
very open spot ( 5 hours or more of unobstructed sol).
A master grower I know told me that VFT's flourish in a peat that remains
damp but is not waterlogged for any appreciable length of time.
Mark Pogany
Cleveland, Ohio
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