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Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 7:42 pm
by idwaneo
Hello everyone!

Im here to post some experiments about forced dormancy of recently bought flytraps during winter season. I was told that the flytraps i got, are currently having a summer season but I decided that I can’t risk about believing such and decided to force them to sleep. During this experiment I have 20 plants. And all where put to fridge brutally without slowly changing the temperature. They have been there for 2 months and counting.

I will be providing photos of my plants as they go out from dormancy to see if they will be affected or grow as any normal plant who was gradually introduced to cooler temperatures.

2 months of brutal dormancy:
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How do you think they look like? Dying? Shocked? Brutalized?

Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:14 pm
by Matt
They look fine. Putting them in the fridge basically puts them in a state of suspended animation, so they probably look pretty similar to when they went in. Though, I'd expect to see some of the larger traps turning black. Surprising there aren't any!

Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 3:05 pm
by idwaneo
I took 10 plants out from fridge after brutally throwing them inside my fridge. All 10 are growing fast now and I noticed today that a flower stalk is going out from one. That’s a clear sign that plant is happy and had/has proper care. So after all nothing has died or been damaged. I still have 10 more for a 3 months dormancy experiment.

Bulb going out:
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Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:50 pm
by Matt
idwaneo wrote:I noticed today that a flower stalk is going out from one. That’s a clear sign that plant is happy and had/has proper care.
This is a common misconception. Adult Flytraps flower every spring regardless of their health status. Even a flytrap that is near death will attempt to flower.

Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:59 pm
by idwaneo
Matt wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:50 pm
idwaneo wrote:I noticed today that a flower stalk is going out from one. That’s a clear sign that plant is happy and had/has proper care.
This is a common misconception. Adult Flytraps flower every spring regardless of their health status. Even a flytrap that is near death will attempt to flower.
So how to know if my flytrap is healthy? Just by checking if there is new growth and that the new leaves will not turn black before opening?

Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:09 pm
by Matt
The overall appearance of a flytrap can generally tell you if it is healthy or not. Some tell-tale signs of poor health are long, thin leaves with small traps, which indicates a lack of light.

When flytraps are struggling with poor growing conditions, the new growth usually won't look good. It will either blacken before it matures or will be stunted. Of course, new growth slows and gets smaller in the fall naturally as flytraps enter dormancy. But it's usually pretty easy to tell the difference between a flytrap going dormant and one that is having health issues just based on the color and other visual cues of the new leaves and traps.

Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:15 pm
by idwaneo
Matt wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:09 pm The overall appearance of a flytrap can generally tell you if it is healthy or not. Some tell-tale signs of poor health are long, thin leaves with small traps, which indicates a lack of light.

When flytraps are struggling with poor growing conditions, the new growth usually won't look good. It will either blacken before it matures or will be stunted. Of course, new growth slows and gets smaller in the fall naturally as flytraps enter dormancy. But it's usually pretty easy to tell the difference between a flytrap going dormant and one that is having health issues just based on the color and other visual cues of the new leaves and traps.
What about this trap with no teeth? It means its gonna die? Sick? Thx
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Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:21 pm
by Matt
idwaneo wrote:What about this trap with no teeth? It means its gonna die? Sick?
It does appear that there was something that is stressing the plant as it was creating that trap. Without knowing the history of how the plant was growing, it's really hard to come to any sort of conclusion.

To me, it looks like the plant was actively growing and then stalled. Perhaps that trap was half-way formed when the plant went into the fridge?

Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:40 pm
by idwaneo
That trap grew after i took it out from fridge and put to my cold windowsill with barely light but warmer than fridge from 5C to 16-20C

Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:51 pm
by Matt
A sudden change of conditions like that can make a flytrap shocked and stall growth as well. And if it stalls, any traps that are forming usually don't finish growing correctly.

Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:52 pm
by idwaneo
Very strange since all were in the same conditions and only one developed that trap.

Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:57 pm
by Matt
All plants in the same conditions doesn't mean that they will all grow exactly the same or have (or not have) the same exact issues :)

Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2020 11:04 am
by idwaneo
Will this shock kill the plant? Or it is just a temporary condition?

Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2020 12:47 pm
by Matt
Shock won't kill the entire plant. That trap might never look right, but once the plant gets a good feel for what the days are doing (getting longer or shorter), it will resume normal growth.

Re: Brutally Forced Dormancy of Flytraps [Experiment]

Posted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 10:06 am
by idwaneo
Some update of how my plants are after waking up
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