FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello,

My VFT is very healthy and has about 15-20 traps on it now. When Autumn comes around, will i need to move my plant from the window sill in my kitchen where it recieves plenty of light when its time to go dormant. As you probably know, the weather in the uk is somewhat unpredictable. As its an indoor plant, will i need to move it outside when its time to go dormant? I have a shed with a window sill which i can place it on where it will still recieve plenty of light and it will be kept nice and cool. The winters here are again unpredictable, so i thought rather than potentially have it covered in snow, the shed may be a better option? It can be very cold here but the next day relatively mild for winter months.

My main question is, will it be too cold in the shed, or not cold enough? I assume that i cant keep it in the house as the heating will be on from November onwards no doubt.

any help is great thanks.

Hi Mike

I have a few VFTs here in the UK, that stay outdoors in a bog all year without too much trouble, even enduring the minus 16C of the winter before last without loss. They are slow to start in spring compared to greenhouse grown plants, but you would expect that.

All this is a long-winded way of saying yes the shed would be fine, so long as it doesn’t get too warm or suffer large temperature swings i.e. from pot being frozen during the night to high temperatures in the day due to winter sunshine. The constant freeze and thaw cycle does them in. The ideal range is 3-10C for dormancy with lower photoperiods, which you will get anyway as it will be in natural sunlight, keep the soil just moist and you should be fine. Even if the temperature does plummet, mine have always come through, they are quite tough really you know.

Cheers
Steve

Thats great, i will put it in the shed then come november time.

Thanks for the info!

cheers
Mike

Just remember that plants grown outdoors in bogs are less prone to getting frozen because of the surrounding ground that keeps the temperature more stable. I wouldn't put my plant in a pot in a shed and leave it there for freezing periods of winter.

Hi Hooofi,

Where would you put your plant then during freezing periods?

I live in the UK but i use a greenhouse and poly tunnel not sure if this is something you can do ? how many plants do you have ? if you only have a few the simple solution is bring them inside when i had like 10 i use to but them by the window in the back room and water them very little over the winter period so basically anywhere near a window for 3 months in the UK will be fine

If you have access to a greenhouse or poly leave them there then just watch the UK winter weather if it gets really cold for extended amounts of time then think about insulating the surroundings eg polystyrene bubble wrap or even a paraffin heater.

mikejman6 wrote:Hi Hooofi,

Where would you put your plant then during freezing periods?

In what kind of house do you live? A terraced house?