Today I wanted to do an update on one of the plants that I repotted two months ago. It looks just about the same in the center with all of the old "leaves" slowly turning brown and becoming less active in catching bugs. This year's traps are at least three times the size of last year's.
Here is one of the two new traps that have come up since then. You can clearly see that the leaf (trap) is tubular shaped and has its own umbrella of sorts to keep the rain out.
Before (left) and After (right)
We have had a violently windy spring so far. These plants are outside 24 hours per day and they get a little beat up sometimes. Here is a close up of the 'kink' in the first leaf to come up - it is the one going off screen above, a close up of the damage below.
This tubular leaf grows up and offers insects a chance to eat the ridges of its leaf, eventually arriving at the top and dropping down into a pool of digestive fluid. I am not sure if the kink in this leaf will impact its ability to trap bugs.
The cover photo is the top end of the damaged trap and below is the newest leaf that just opened up a few days ago. You can clearly see the ridge I was talking about. It is bright red.
The new and the old
This photo gives you a good idea of the size increase between last year, in the small pot before I transplanted it, and the new growing season.
As soon as both of these new traps finish growing to their full size, another one will begin to grow as a completely closed tube-leaf and then open for business.
I dug through my photos to show you one that had not yet opened.
I am very pleased that this plant adjusted to its new pot and is rapidly starting its summer-like weather. I am still replanting baby bug eaters almost daily and my distiller runs non stop to keep them all healthy.
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