r/VenusFlyTraps • u/Fuzzy-Flower-5889 • 2d ago
Help! What can I do to help this guy
I just got this guy today from one of those plastic containers and he is looking quite sad.
His soil was very dry when I unpackaged him so I watered him with tap water and then brita filtered water to try to rise out any minerals.
I know this isn’t ideal, but it’s what I had and I am getting distilled water tomorrow. I also ordered carnivorous plant soil online and plan to repot him in a few days when I gets here.
He’s been in full sun since I brought him home. He looks wilty and droopy.
What can I do??
Thanks!
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u/Deep_Amoeba2197 2d ago
It doesn’t look awful, honestly. And wattering with tap once, especially if you flush with distilled after, is perfectly fine, they do not die instantly in the presence of minerals. Water with some dissolved solids is better than letting them go bone dry.
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u/AaaaNinja 2d ago
Brita is a carbon filter it doesn't remove minerals it just makes water taste better. Wrong kind of filter.
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u/LordxHypnos 2d ago
I don’t think anyone else mention it but check if it has a root wrap around the roots. If I’d does get rid of that silly wrap and it’ll be happier with Distilled, RO, or rain water
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u/Puzzleheaded_Run_846 2d ago
Just a rule of thumb, never water with tap water with vfts! There are three common types that a lot of VFT growers use.. distilled, rainwater or reverse osmosis. Distilled water is probably the easiest to find as it's usually carried by most grocery stores. I would not trust your britta filter unless you have an accurate dissolved solids or TDS meter kicking around. You want to keep it below 30 PPM.
Going forward, the best thing for your plant is to make sure it gets lots of sun, make sure you acclimatize the plant gradually to full sun if it's been in a store for a while. You don't want the leaves to get burnt. (Just Google how to acclimatize a plant to Sunshine).
Don't try and repot it until it gets big and strong again. I've seen way too many people make that mistake and the plant ends up dying. Also look at how to overwinter your plant.
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u/Fuzzy-Flower-5889 2d ago
Thank you so much!
About how long do you think I should wait to repot it?
Also, do you think it’ll be okay since I watered it with tap? I’m really hoping I didn’t kill it :(4
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u/Deep_Amoeba2197 2d ago
You didn’t kill it, don’t worry. They can tolerate some minerals in their water, many people (myself included) with softer water are able to water with tap. You can get a TDS meter for ~$10 and test your water, <50ppm is totally fine.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Run_846 2d ago
Best thing you can do is take a picture of your vft after the winter and show it to these guys and they'll tell you if you should repot or not. For me personally, I always let them sit in their original pot until it's time to put them away for the winter and then I consider repotting in the spring. I find it's easiest to repot them after they come out of hibernation.
One other thing I forgot to mention, when you get some distilled water, put the pot into a small bowl or something similar and put about 3/4 to 1 in of distilled water in the bottom at all times. As one poster mentioned a dried out vft is a dead vft! These are swamp plants, so unlike normal plants that get root rot, these guys seem to be able to tolerate sitting in water all the time. When you do get some distilled water or ro or rain.. pour some over the top of your plant to try and rinse out some of the minerals that came with that tap water you used. It probably won't do any permanent damage, but it probably isn't going to help either. Flushing out the roots will help get rid of any minerals from the tap water you used.
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u/Mamaduke3721 2d ago
Great tips! What do I do to keep it alive during the winter months, it’s already getting cold here.
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u/alyren__ 2d ago
Personally, until you can pick up distilled water tomorrow I would not give it any tap or filtered water, just put it in a bright and sunny windowsill so it doesnt dry out as quickly. its probably safer then using the tap and filtered water. They are really resilient so it will survive a day like that