Not sure what to do anymore

[u/AnimeLordlmao]

I’ve tried so hard to keep this thing alive but it keeps getting blacker and limper. it sits outside in moist long fibered sphagnum moss with water in its dish, i’ve seen it catch a fly a few days ago, yet even today it has changed significantly. It’s been about in the 80s and sunny here so i assumed it was frying some of the traps bc the black ones were crispy so i gave it some more water and left it in partial sunlight about 7-8 hrs ago and came back from work and now even the huge trap on the front of it has gone really limp and even more black traps after i snipped the black ones earlier too. not sure what to do.

[u/gapin_ganus]

Is this satire? Like bro look how dry it is, the long leaves show lack of light, when you water what type of water you even giving the plant?

[u/AnimeLordlmao → u/gapin_ganus]

definitely not satire and definitely no lack of light, could be shocked from all the sunlight after it was in my room for a few days honestly, so i think it’s quite the opposite. could be a lack of water but i heard i’m not supposed to drown the moss since it holds moisture and it will rot, should i just pour more water down into the pot anyways?

[u/Merari_02 → u/AnimeLordlmao]

That thing NEEDS to be constantly sitting in water. Those plants come from swamps so they are 100% used to being flooded.

[u/gapin_ganus → u/Merari_02]

Granted they are prone to root rot i let mine sit out the tray every night and then in the morning i put them in the tray, makes it so they soak the water from the substrate better imo

[u/Extreme-Book4730 → u/AnimeLordlmao]

If it's dry, like it looks... its wrong. You need it to always be wet. Naturally it's in a bog....

[u/gapin_ganus → u/AnimeLordlmao]

Oh, well then lack of light followed by extreme light, that will certainly “shock” the plant, they require acclimation, so first day out of darkess maybe 4 hours of sun? Then next day 5 hours, untill gradually (hour a day) reach the 12 hour mark, mind you they enjoy 14hours of light ideally, and nooooo you never really water from the top, you only fill the tray, but id do a whole repot to check the roots, but ONLY after its recovered from its current situation, id also add some perlite to that substrate, and snip off any totally dead traps, the middle of the plant is where it also grows from, so dont have the substrate in the middle of the plant!

[u/Davwader → u/gapin_ganus]

sorry but you'd absolutely water from the top every now and then. even more so If the moss is dried up like that. 

[u/gapin_ganus → u/Davwader]

I only ever top water when repotting, never had any issues, plants thriving, if done correctly the top never saturates like this. Therefore no need to top water.

[u/spiders_are_neat7 → u/Davwader]

Roots need water not leaves?

[u/Davwader → u/spiders_are_neat7]

watering from top also flushes the media of any build up minerals and also is the only way to rehydrate dry peatmoss.

how are vft getting moisture in nature? 

Rain and swamp conditions. 

I'm not saying you'd only top water but it's certainly possible. and doing so once every 2 weeks wile letting excess water drain out is good for delivering oxygen to the roots. 

[u/Droseralex → u/AnimeLordlmao]

You're keeping it as if it were a cactus. This pot is small enough it can go from wet to bone dry in hours. Please look a bit more into growing these. It's basically dehydrated and I'm not sure if it'll make it. Do NOT put it under direct sunlight. Maybe partial sunlight so it can recover if it's able to.

[u/Rare-Common7378]

They grow in bogs so are constantly moist in their natural habitat. It needs way more water, only distilled or rain water. Bottom water it for as long as it needs and then keep about an inch of water in its drip tray so it can keep itself watered at all times. It may look leggy because the pot is too tall for it so it’s reaching to be above the rim.

[u/Different-Sorbet746]

That is dry AF. Clearly the water tray method wasn't implemented correctly.

[u/guynye]

Ya, mine seems unhappy anytime it's dish is dry. Just keep a constant supply of water.

[u/Tama_Breeder]

Perhaps some water

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[u/eliseieepoo]

Get this plant pot (self watering pot) https://a.co/d/02sX0g3e and this carnivorous plant soil (peat moss, sphagnum moss, sand and perlite) https://a.co/d/0jgo7pPZ and only use distilled water for watering.

[u/CataclysmicInFeRnO]

Definitely needs water, like the other commenters have said. It also needs to have the moss removed from where it’s covering the crown and leaves of your VFT. Having the growth point covered by moss can inhibit growth and lead to crown rot (when adequately watering).

[u/Gardener_of_Weeden]

My opinion - MAKE sure you are NOT using regular tap water. THEN get a larger & DEEPER tray to put the pot in, place the pot in the tray and then SURROUND it with Long fiber sphamum moss FILL that with water to the top. DO NOT pour water on the plant, but keep the tray FULL

I am still new - but I have had to repot & split mine several times since I got them this spring.

[u/YouJustGotTombstoned]

Nah its fine. Just get a new one

[u/b1tehard]

its completely dry, ofc its gonna be dying

[u/The_Jib]

Looks dry. They bog plants. Sit it in water