FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I am getting a S. purpurea ssp. purpurea in the next couple days, and I want to give it the best chance of survival. It is a young plant, that I plan to put in a pot of 2 parts peat to 1 part perlite and 1 part silica sand. I will dig a hole in the ground and place the whole pot under ground. I live near Boston, MA where the temperatures regularly are below freezing, and often remain at or below 20F. Now these plants grow up here naturally, so I figured that there best chance was to give the roots a similar environment underground as they would have naturally. I was also planning on insulating the area that I dug to increase my sarr's chance of survival, and was planning on putting grass clippings above the plant after placing in the ground.

My question is whether this would be harmful to the sarr or not. I know grass clippings can increase acidity. Just wondering if this could be detrimental to the plant over the winter period.

It depends on the soil you are putting the pot into. As the pot is probably porous or at least has drainage holes, water from the surrounding soil can leach into it. Many gardens have had their soils replaced with non-native soil types. You might want to make sure that the soil is acidic, low in minerals and nutrients, and in general, suitable for carnivorous plant growth.

Well the medium in the pot will be 2:1:1 peat, perlite, silica sand. The pot is plastic with a drainage hole. The ground will be near solid from the cold. It will be in a garden that has been treated with natural chicken maneur cracked chicken eggs, decomposed banana peels, etc. I plan to remove the pot in March/April when it is not as cold. I am mostly concerned with insulating the pot. Rigbt now, my plan is to put grass clippings overtop the pot. Is that going to cause any problems?

Hi Starchy.

i would advise against yopur proposal for two main reasons, the first is whilst the purp as a species is used to cold temperatures, if yours has been grown indoors or protected over winter, which if it has come from a nursery it more than probably has, putting it straight outside into the cold without acclimatisation may damage or kill it, secondly the soil you propose to bury it in, as you describe it is very rich in nutrients and whilst the plant will stop growing for winter, the minerals in the soil will leach into the pot through the holes in the pot and could damage it in spring as the plant starts growing and absorbs them.

Grass cuttings will also cause problems especially if they are short and green, as they will initially get hot as they rot down, then create a lot of bacteria and fungus as they rot, and finally produce nutrients that potentially will get into the soil, non of which is benificial, plus they will compact and probably choke the plant as it wont be able to breathe.

Have you anywhere else you could keep it cool this winter, then put it outside in spring and let it aclimatise for the year outside? Then it will go through winter reasonably happily without any doubt at all.

Cheers
Steve

Thanks Steve for the information. Sadly, this plant has to be outdoors this winter. All the locations that are ideal for winter dormancy for temperate CPs are already taken by my other plants. I got this purp for the reason of it being able to handle the cold.

Anyone have any suggestions for me? I could leave it above ground for a month to help acclimate it... Right now, the temp is actually mild for this time of year...

Okay, how about this plan?

I will dig a hole in the said garden mentioned above, but will not bury the purp/pot. I will just let it sit inside the whole. I will pack the soil at the bottom so it would be less likely to leach minerals into the pot. I will then wrap insulation inside the hole between the soil and the pot.

This is the insulation I had in mind:
http://www.sailrite.com/Thermozite-Ther ... 4Aod9yIAHQ

Doesn't purp purp live naturally in massachutas? and also it is used tocold temps. It can live in the wild as far north as canada.

I'm unfamiliar with US weather, but wouldn't it be easier just to wrap the pot in insulation and do nothing else?

Lokk at it's range map. Tthis is for S. Purpurea and covers poth venosa and purpurea.

Yes, but as Steve pointed out, the purp I am getting is not wild. 1) It was raised in a nursery in Cali 2) Purps in the wild are in the ground and have natural hardiness and insulation by being planted in the ground. The snow acts as extra insulation when it gets really cold.

I think this might be possible, we can figure something out to make this happen

I think what you need to do is first dig a big wide and deep hole of at least 1-2ft deep. Then put some rocks in the bottom, mainly big stones/rocks( but not the huge ones) the regular size ones sold in bags. Then put one plastic bag in the bottom and then put another resistant plastic bag to cover the hole completely so that the bag takes the shape of the hole. Open a 1-2 small holes in the bag and then put some rocks to hold it down and as draining system and that should do it, that will prevent minerals from the surrounding soil and it will also keep the plant more wet like in its native environment.

As for the plant, You do need to acclimate first and I suggest you use as the minimum a 10-inch pot( you din't mentioned anything about the size of the pot, which is very important) or if possible get a container a trash bucket or something that is 1FT deep and I really hope is also wide by at least 10-inches. Before putting your plant in the actual hole in the garden you need to do some acclimatization 45mins of light the first day, 1 hour the next day, 1hour30mins the next day..etc. Move plant inside or somewhere where is not going to freeze. After a 2 week period or 10 days your plant should be ready to put in the hole. When potting the plant in the soil try to cover really well by allowing the water to wash the peat which allows if to attach to the roots.

More things to keep in mind, is the location where you plan to put it in the garden, does it get a lot of light 8-hours at least? Will it get light both in winter, spring, summer, fall as far as trees covering or filtering the sunlight?
Will it be positioned east facing, south???? Just other things to keep in mind!

Good luck and hope you are able to make this happen!

Thanks jht. I am borrowing the garden space just for the winter so I can't do the rocks. But I think your idea is awesome. I may just have to insulate the pot above ground. what do you think of the insulation I mentioned from the link above?

I received my S. purpurea ssp. purpurea Wellington Co, On. in the mail today. I planted it in a glazed ceramic pot 10" deep and wide using 2:1:1 peat, perlite, silica sand. Not sure where I am gonna go with the arrangements for winter dormancy yet, but I will begin to acclimate my purp to colder climates tomorrow. Here is how it looks after I potted:









Thanks to meizzwang for raising this plant to look the way it does so far!

Amazing Plant
It will grow Great I can see that

After a little over 2 weeks of acclimating my purp to the new climate it will endure, I moved forward with jht's plan for winter dormancy outside. I made a few adjustments to his plan: I dug the hole and added rocks in the bottom for filtration. I did not line the entire hole with plastic, but did enclose the top 1/3 portion of a 5 gallon bucket with plastic. I then filled the bottom of the bucket with washed off rocks.

As for the pot that the purp was in, I lined it with 2 layers of bubble wrap, then a layer of insulated pipe tape, then a layer of duct tape to hold it all together. The pot was then placed inside the 5 gallon bucket, and placed in the hole I dug. I lined the outside with large rocks, and filled the rest with dirt. I then surrounded the area near the bucket with more plastic, as a top layer, placed a circle of rocks around the bucket to hold the plastic down, and topped it all off with some more dirt. I then rinsed the plant with a half gallon of distilled water.

Here are some photos of the process:


Cleaning the rocks to be placed inside the 5 gallon bucket


bucket to be used has many drainage holes


bucket with cleaned rocks


hole I dug in the garden


bucket placed in hole, with lined plastic around


hole with bucket mostly filled in


top layer of plastic added


final product



Thanks to jht for inspiring me to try out this experiment! When it's light out and I have more time, I plan to make a small fence with chicken-wire to protect against rodents.