A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 venus fly trap

my venus fly trap has gone all balck and i'm not sure if it has died please help me

Ross...I know nothing about Venus Fly Traps...I've never had one.

Here is some info on them for you...
Venus Fly Trap

...and I'm going to move this topic down into the Carnivorous plant Forum so that others here that have them will see this and can help you.

Cindy

What kind of soil mix are you using? Do you keep the pot in some standing water? Do you trip the traps closed a lot? Have you fed it at all? If so STOP. Do they get enough light? Some traps WILL die back, new ones will grow to replace them.

Tom

i use house plant compost but i heard that they hibirnate so i'm not sure if its hibnated or died

House plant compost is the absolute wrong soil - VFT's need very acidic soil, which translates into no nutrition. They have evolved to eat bugs since the soil they are grown in has little or no nutrients. This is why you should never fertilize your VFT. With the compost, you are giving it lots of nutrients, thereby overfertilizing it.

Also, hibernation occirs during the winter months, so your plant is past that possibility. Can you include a picture?

Peat and coarse sand 1:1 is the 'soil' you want. Check the other VFT postings and general info sites. It's not necessarilly dead. Maybe you can save it.

it is either going dormant or there is not enough humidity