Q: How do I take care of my sick plant?


Nice trap! A: About twice a week I am asked about a sick plant. Symptoms I hear about are the following:

• The plant is wilted, even though the soil is wet.
• The plant has long, floppy, spindly leaves.
• The plant's new traps blacken or die prematurely.
• The plant is just sitting there not doing anything.
• The plant may be slowly dying, but the grower is not sure.

Plaintive, panicky e-mails call out for help on my screen:
"What do I do?"
"Help me, Obi-Wan, you're my only hope."

Sadly, there is no special revivification treatment for your precious carnivore. The best treatment for a sick plant is the same treatment for any Venus flytrap---give it the best growing conditions you can. If I were given a sick plant I wouldn't do anything special to it. I would make sure it were in the right soil medium, then grow it side by side with my other plants. If it lives, it lives.

Grow your plants well, whether they are healthy or sick. If your plants die, as they sometimes will, try again. But learn from your mistakes.

Page citations: Personal observation.