Expert: Christopher Littrell - 7/20/2007

Question
within the last week my fly trap has started to go black on some of its leaves and heads, i was just wondering if theres anything i can do to improve the health of my plant.
thanks

Answer
Hello Stephanie,

Without knowing the conditions you are currently growing the plant in, I will be unable to specific as dying leaves can occur for a number of reasons in Venus Flytraps.

Here are some pointers:

1.  Water only with soft water as tap and drinking water usually contain too many minerals. The calcium and magnesium in hard water alters the soil Ph and will slowly kill Venus Flytraps, so always water them with distilled, reverse osmosis, or fresh rain water.

2.  Never fertilize your Flytrap. I know the temptation is strong to use regular potting soil and to fertilize every plant, but carnivorous plants almost without exception all die when their soil is fertilized or when they are put in the wrong type of soil. They will slowly succumb to root rot and blacken, shrivelling into nothing. If your Flytrap has been fertilized or in the wrong soil, rpot it imediately by uprooting it and washing the roots with soft water, then planting it in a 50/50 mix of sphagnum peat moss of the premium Canadian variety from the dry bales, never the bags (they often contain fertilizer), and regular perlite with no additives (make sure it is not a name brand that fertilizes everything they make). Once repotted in the right mix, it should start growing correctly again if it is still stong enough.

3.  Flytraps grown in terrariums and pots with domes are more succeptible to mold and root rot as well as water cannot drain in terrariums and their is no air movement. The leaves of plants in closed high humidity conditions are weak and floppy, easy prey for fungus spores. A cure is to remove the dome or terrarium lid slowly by opening it a fraction of an inch every 3 days until it is completely off and the plant exposed to regular humidity. It will adapt and grow stronger leaves if it is not already too far gone. Repot it into a new open pot if it is in a terrarium after adapting it to low humidity.

4.  If your plant recently flowered and is inside, it might be weak from lack of light. Adapt the plant to higher light conditions by placing it in successively more intensely lit windows and eventually place it outside in direct sun. One week, place it in a morning sun window, next week, in an all day sun window, the week after that, outside. It will grow new leaves that are more resistant to ultraviolet light and will be much happier.

5.  If your plant has been eating large insects or fed improper food items, like hamburger, it will suffer loss of traps as well. Leave the plant to it's own devices and let it capture it's own food. Another problem with the idea of feeding the plant is that often they are indoors where they simply cannot get enough light to digest insects, so their traps die in the process. Adapt the plant to higher light levels and get it in sunlight and it will be much healthier.

I hope some of these tips help you to identify the problem area so you can save your Flytrap. Send me a followup if you can think of anything else that might have caused a decline in your plant.

Christopher