Question
About three weeks ago i purchased two large flytraps that were kept in these big cube like terriums. I acclimated them to lower humidity over the course of two weeks. Now i put them on my west facing deck to get full sun in the afternoon. The leaves and traps were very big and standing upright. Now the leaves have all fallen down and are laying on the pot. Also, the edges of the leaves are turning brown and the "fangs" of the traps are also turning brown. Is something wrong happeneing?

Answer

Venus flytraps outside   Hi John,

Sometimes even with going through the hardening-off process, leaves will be so soft from being in those cubes they just don't adapt well to normal conditions.  Considering you are in Massachusetts, your outdoor humidity is probably pretty high this time of year too.

What you can do now is help the plants start over.  Cut all the leaves off of the plants except for any small ones just developing.  This will stop transpiration and give the plant a chance to grow normal leaves that are tough and able to handle normal conditions.  It's still early enough in the summer that the plant will have plenty of time to grow new leaves before fall.

I've experimented with hardening off over the last few years with "death cube" plants and found this to be the most reliable method.  If a plant hasn't been in a cube very long, it can adjust.  However, if they've been in the cube very long, and in some cases with big chain stores it can be several weeks, the leaves have just been in low light and high humidity too long to salvage.  Removing the leaves lowers the plant's stress so it can recover.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com