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Buy now or wait until next spring?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2021 3:34 am
by JAYSONE
Hi everyone! Just getting started with keeping VFTs and just wondering what the general consensus would be...?

I see some cultivars that are available from the flytrap store right now, but they are only available as starters or young plants...with summer ending & to increase my odds of success, should I postpone my purchases until the next growing season?

How much does the size/age of the plant impact survival during the dormancy period? I assume the larger and healthier the rhizome is, the better the odds.

I've scoured the forums for hours absorbing all the info in preparation but don't want to start off on the wrong foot with cultivars.

Appreciate all the constructive insight!

FWIW- I live in So Cal; 10A

Re: Buy now or wait until next spring?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2021 3:52 am
by MaxVft
Hi and welcome to the forums!
If you are looking to buy cultivars from www.flytrapstore.com(my reccomended), I'll let you in on a secret:
If you order from them during dormancy, they will actually send you much bigger plants than listed in order to prevent people from getting ticked off by the miniscule size of dormant plants. If you are not buying them I'd say just to still buy a cultivar right now, this time of year is the best they color up and you wouldn't wanna miss the opportunity before dormancy arrives :D

Thanks
Max

Re: Buy now or wait until next spring?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2021 4:12 am
by CPhunter101
MaxVft wrote:If you order from them during dormancy, they will actually send you much bigger plants than listed in order to prevent people from getting ticked off by the miniscule size of dormant plants.
You learn something every day! Thanks for the tip! :D

Re: Buy now or wait until next spring?

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2021 4:38 am
by MaxVft
No problem @Cphunter! Anything to help my fellow CP growers :)

Re: Buy now or wait until next spring?

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2021 3:03 am
by JAYSONE
MaxVft wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 3:52 am Hi and welcome to the forums!
If you are looking to buy cultivars from www.flytrapstore.com(my reccomended), I'll let you in on a secret:
If you order from them during dormancy, they will actually send you much bigger plants than listed in order to prevent people from getting ticked off by the miniscule size of dormant plants. If you are not buying them I'd say just to still buy a cultivar right now, this time of year is the best they color up and you wouldn't wanna miss the opportunity before dormancy arrives :D

Thanks
Max
Hey thanks for the warm welcome and tips!

I just received an order I placed elsewhere last week and have another pending. The ones I got are so tiny and look fragile but overall in decent shape.

I'll take your advice on my next purchase and wait and see how I do with these in the meantime. I think the Flytrapstore will be the only online shop I am comfortable with buying during dormancy due to all the posts I see regarding healthy rhizomes.

Also probably create a grow list so I have a reference of their growth and my success/failures.

Re: Buy now or wait until next spring?

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2021 2:43 pm
by bcavanau
If you grow them indoors under the correct environment you can skip a dormancy, maybe two. Lots of people do this with seedlings/starters to get some good growth. According to a source at the ICPS you can skip dormancy indefinitely with flytraps....I will probably try it with some of my plants.

Re: Buy now or wait until next spring?

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2021 5:04 pm
by MikeB
bcavanau wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 2:43 pm According to a source at the ICPS you can skip dormancy indefinitely with flytraps....I will probably try it with some of my plants.
Here is the article:

Grow Venus flytraps indoors
by John Brittnacher

Carnivorous Plant Newsletter
Volume 48, Number 4
December 2019

https://cpn.carnivorousplants.org/artic ... 78_182.pdf