Expert: Christopher Littrell - 8/3/2009

Question
i have three venus fly trap and then suddenly all my vft trap now have like little small teeth. half of the trap teeth are small and straight, and the other half are still curled teeth like as you see when a new venus fly trap is form. What worng, what happening, i have a photo here.
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   i live in california
     in zone 8
     half direct sun and half artificial light
      i put it in 50%peat moss and 50% perlight

Answer
Hello Aaron,

Carnivorous plant leaves often deform in various situations. I can't open your picture, however; from your description, I would say that either your lighting is inadequate or some environmental effect is damaging the plants. From what I surmise, you have the plants indoors in a window with florescent lights over them. Make sure the window light is the brightest sun window you have, even then, it will not be considered full, direct sun as window glass redirects some of the light. Also, ensure that you have at least 12000 lumens of florescent cool white or true daylight tubes 4 inches or less from the leaves and on for a full 16 hours a day during the growing season.

Watering is often another potential concern. When Venus Flytraps are given water with too great a concentration of minerals their soil sours and they begin to grow deformed leaves and will eventually die within a few weeks to months. Make sure you only water them with distilled, rain, or reverse osmosis water that is not softened with salt or allowed any additives like potassium and magnesium. What is called drinking water is inadequate for carnivorous plants as it is distilled and then has minerals added to improve taste. Drinking water will kill most carnivorous plants.

If you can think of any chemicals or additives you allowed to contact the plants then that might be the culprit. Send me a followup if you can think of anything that could have affected your plants and, if you can, try to add the picture or enter a website address I can open so I can see what is happening to your plants.

Christopher