Dividing VFT plants

[lorenzo]

My VFT (about 4 years old and has been repotted in past) now seems to have multiplied. It now seems to emerge from two or maybe three different "centres" within its pot. One just burst through the surface the other day.

I don't want to divide it if I can, as I am very proud of how long it has survived and don't want to mess it up. Can I leave it in the pot as it is, or is that likely to cause any problems? I guess I could repot it to a larger pot without too much worry to give it a bit more room.

Many thanks for any advice.

[Aidan]

If there is still plenty of room in the existing pot, the plants may be left as they are for now. But, as they grow the plants will continue to divide (it's what they do ) and at some point you will have to bite the bullet and either divide them or repot into a larger pot.

[wadave]

Lorenzo,

If you are worried you will damage your flytrap and possibly lose both you might want to leave them together/ repot until the new offshoot is of mature size.

This way the new offshoot will have it's own root system and they should almost fall apart when you come to repot.

In my experience this will give both plants the best chance of survival.

Dave.

[ICPS-bob]

For me, the best time to divide plants and repot in fresh soil is in late winter or early spring just before the plant emerges from dormancy. At this time, there is virtually no transplant shock and the divided plants enjoy the new space.

[Hikenyura]

Probably its a little late but dividing them right before dormancy and right after dormancy is the best. The growth spurts will heal the rizomes, more space/ airation inproves root growth and overall growth.

[wadave]

If you're afraid of damaging them, I find that the best way to remove the soil is to gently tease the lose stuff off and then place them in a container of water and jiggle it around.

The peat mix litterally falls off, and if the plants are ready to divide they will fall apart as well.

For some reason I hate to see VFT's so stacked together that traps grow inside other traps or traps getting squished against the side of the pot.

It was late winter here and I repotted/ divided my 'Vigorous' VFT's and they are all sending up new shoots. Now I am looking forward to the new larger pot being filled with the ever expanding plants. There is nothing like the sight of a pot filled with big, healthy traps.

I will be repotting some of my other clones shortly as their pots are way too small.

Dave.

[wadave]

Here's an update on my other VFT's:

I repotted my two overcrowded pots of VFT's last week and the state of the roots was a little disturbing. The potting mix was quite old and smelling rather like rotting fish, slightly salty and the roots were very unhealthy.

In other words well overdue for a repot, if left for much longer some of them would have become a statistic!

I removed them from the pot and swished them around in a bucket of water as above, they fell appart very easily and from two small 1.5 inch pots I planted out a total of 22 individuals. If I had forced some of the others I could have made that 28 but why force them?

Each time I separated a plant I would sit it in a glass of water containing a few drops of superthrive to stimulate new root growth. Then when they were all separated I planted them out in fresh mix and watered them in with the water from the glass.

So now it is a week later and all of them are just loving their new home, each and every one of them is sending out new traps and putting on some colour.

I am looking forward to a big pot full of healthy VFT's, and I will take a photo later this year and show you the results.

Dave.