Carnivorous Plants/Venus Fly trap

Advertisement

Expert: - 10/10/2007


Question
I've have my Venus fly trap for about 2-3 months now and it's doing wonderful, but there's mold growing on the top of the soil. I'm not sure how to get rid of the mold or what to do. My plant is still growing great and thriving, but some of it's newer leaves are starting to become black, I'm guessing due to the mold. How do I get ride of the mold?

Answer
Hello Jessica,

You can kill off mold with sulfur based or neem oil based fungicides. Do not use soap based fungicides as they break down into fertilizer in the soil and can rot carnivorous plant roots. Apply the fungicide as stated on the bottle for best results. Too much fungicide can harm your plant as much as the mold, so just apply as directed.

Some tips that will help keep mold off your soil and plant without having to apply fungicide are as follows:

If the plant is in a terrarium or humidity dome, remove the cover or dome slowly by opening it a fraction of an inch every three days and propping it up. Every three days, keep raising it more and more until it is raised a couple of inches after two weeks. After two weeks remove it completely and your plant will be acclimated to low humidity and can live in an open pot. Mold likes stagnant, closed conditions, so it will be less likely to grow in an open pot.

If your plant is growing indoors, place the plant in higher intensity sunlight. Mold hates sunlight and Venus Flytraps thrive when placed in full sun outside. If the plant is growing indoors, you will need to adapt the plant to ultraviolet light slowly. Only do so if the plant has been adapted to low humidity first or it will cook in bright sun if it is under a dome. The best way to adapt a plant to high intensity sun is to place it in brighter windows each week until it is in an all day sun window, then move it outside in full sun. This will take two or three weeks and you will see some leaf burn on the plant's leaves at first. New leaves will grow in and will possess ultraviolet light resistance.

Keep fighting that mold off,

Christopher

Carnivorous Plants

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

Christopher Littrell

Expertise

I am capable of answering questions about the most common carnivorous plants found in cultivation. I have no personal experience with Byblis, Drosophyllum, Aldrovanda, and Heliamphora. I have not cultivated gemmae forming pygmy sundews nor tuberous sundews. For information regarding those aforementioned species, I would suggest contacting other experts. I can answer questions regarding most species of Nepenthes, tropical and temperate Drosera, Mexican Pinguicula, Sarracenias, and Dionaea. I have some limited experience with growing Utricularia, Cephalotus, and Darlingtonia.

Experience

I have grown carnivorous plants off and on for about 27 years. I have made the same mistakes and suffered the same mishaps that many growers make as they attempt to separate the myths from the realities of growing these plants. Currently, I am successfully growing a variety of tropical sundews, a Nepenthes, several Venus Flytraps of varying ages, and Sarracenias. I have been successful in stratifying Sarracenia seeds and providing artificial dormancy requirements for my temperate plants when needed.

Education/Credentials
I hold a Master's degree in Educational Psychology. Over my lifetime, I have constantly read books involving the growing conditions of carnivorous plants. I hope to incorporate the educational aspects involved in psychology with teaching other people how to cultivate carnivorous plants.

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.