Question
When the leaves turn black, do I cut only the leaf or at the base?  Sometimes the base is black, too.  Do I cut the whole thing off?

Answer
Hello Lydia,

I just cut off whatever is dead. One trick is to wait until the trap is almost completely blackened before clipping it at the petiole. Often enough the petiole remains green for a while longer, sometimes for weeks. If the petiole dies back all the way to the ground just clip it off as low as you can without cutting anything else by accident.

Christopher