FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So if you look at the picture you will see my setup. I have a couple of questions regarding it hope some you wonderful CPers could help me out.
Here's what I was thinking.
I will keep my darlingtonia outside all year long.
Having that said .. What should I do to keep the darlingtonia's roots cool?
My ideas:
1. Flush the darlingtonia daily and allow what comes out of the bottom of the pot to soak into the VFT pots.
2. Just use the tray method.
3. Let ice or snow sit on top of the darlingtonia pots ?

What should I do in the summer when it's really warm?
Please any overall advice would help my main concern is the darlingtonia .
Thanks guys!

Really need some help, don't want to the wrong thing to any of my plants

Nick_ wrote:I'm going to skip dormancy for this year only.

Expect the flytraps to not look so good (and possibly die) by late summer. I've "skipped" dormancy because of the timing of taking flytraps out of tissue culture and by the end of summer they'll stall, sometimes lose a lot of growth and start dying back.

I haven't had much success growing Darlingtonia and haven't spent much time trying to grow them, but I would guess that watering it daily from the top with cool water when it's hot outside would help.

Matt wrote:

Nick_ wrote:I'm going to skip dormancy for this year only.

Expect the flytraps to not look so good (and possibly die) by late summer. I've "skipped" dormancy because of the timing of taking flytraps out of tissue culture and by the end of summer they'll stall, sometimes lose a lot of growth and start dying back.

I haven't had much success growing Darlingtonia and haven't spent much time trying to grow them, but I would guess that watering it daily from the top with cool water when it's hot outside would help.

Is it too late to start dormancy, if it's not too late, what should I do to induce it?

Where did you receive the plants from and how long have you had them? They should already be dormant...they look pretty dormant to me.

Matt wrote:Where did you receive the plants from and how long have you had them? They should already be dormant...they look pretty dormant to me.

Even the cobra? And bugbitingplants.com, I've had the typicals (one in the back and the one with only one mouth) for about a month now in 20-25 Celsius temps but the other 3 traps have been in those conditions only for 2 days along with the cobra. And I thought they were supposed to get really brown/black and such during dormancy?

Nick_ wrote:Even the cobra?

Yeah, they go dormant during the winter too.

Nick_ wrote:I've had the typicals (one in the back and the one with only one mouth) for about a month now in 20-25 Celsius temps but the other 3 traps have been in those conditions only for 2 days along with the cobra.

Yeah, then they're likely about half-way through dormancy right now. The ones that have been indoors for about one month are probably confused and will start growing vigorously soon, but they'll go back to sleep if given the proper conditions to do so.

Nick_ wrote:And I thought they were supposed to get really brown/black and such during dormancy?

Flytraps lose a lot of leaves at the end of fall, which turn brown or black and die. But once those dead summer leaves are trimmed off, they look exactly like your plants do with just a few, smaller low-lying leaves that remain green all winter and perform photosynthesis. See the photos in this blog entry I made many years ago for what dormant Venus fly traps look like:
Dormant Venus fly trap photos

There are before and after photos there of when I trimmed off the dead foliage.

Matt wrote:

Nick_ wrote:Even the cobra?

Yeah, they go dormant during the winter too.

Nick_ wrote:I've had the typicals (one in the back and the one with only one mouth) for about a month now in 20-25 Celsius temps but the other 3 traps have been in those conditions only for 2 days along with the cobra.

Yeah, then they're likely about half-way through dormancy right now. The ones that have been indoors for about one month are probably confused and will start growing vigorously soon, but they'll go back to sleep if given the proper conditions to do so.

Nick_ wrote:And I thought they were supposed to get really brown/black and such during dormancy?

Flytraps lose a lot of leaves at the end of fall, which turn brown or black and die. But once those dead summer leaves are trimmed off, they look exactly like your plants do with just a few, smaller low-lying leaves that remain green all winter and perform photosynthesis. See the photos in this blog entry I made many years ago for what dormant Venus fly traps look like:
Dormant Venus fly trap photos

There are before and after photos there of when I trimmed off the dead foliage.

Oh, alright so this is what I did:
I put the cobra outside(it's going to snow tomorrow and the low is only 28F, and the rest of the winter projections are about 30-40) and I put my VFTs in the bathroom which has horrible insulation so the cold gets in easily, stays about 40-55 F in there during these times and I will be reducing the photoperiod from 15 hours down to 8 slowly, about 30 mins every... 2 or 3 days maybe?
What do you think?

Nick_ wrote:I put my VFTs in the bathroom which has horrible insulation so the cold gets in easily, stays about 40-55 F in there during these times and I will be reducing the photoperiod from 15 hours down to 8 slowly, about 30 mins every... 2 or 3 days maybe?

I would just make the photoperiod 12 hours and leave it there until mid-February or early March, then increase it to 16. Then I'd move them outside as soon as the chance of frost had passed.

I don't know for the Darlingtonia. I know that they can take temperatures well below freezing, even below 0°F, because they're native to right here where I live and it gets that cold at times. But I don't know how they'd do in a small pot like the one yours is in. The ground temperature is much more stable than the soil temperature in a pot...

Matt wrote:

Nick_ wrote:I put my VFTs in the bathroom which has horrible insulation so the cold gets in easily, stays about 40-55 F in there during these times and I will be reducing the photoperiod from 15 hours down to 8 slowly, about 30 mins every... 2 or 3 days maybe?

I would just make the photoperiod 12 hours and leave it there until mid-February or early March, then increase it to 16. Then I'd move them outside as soon as the chance of frost had passed.

I don't know for the Darlingtonia. I know that they can take temperatures well below freezing, even below 0°F, because they're native to right here where I live and it gets that cold at times. But I don't know how they'd do in a small pot like the one yours is in. The ground temperature is much more stable than the soil temperature in a pot...

Alright, any ideas on how to insulate the soil in the pot for the roots if put outside? Should I dig a hole in the mulch I have in my non-cp garden and just surround it in mulch while leaving the top uncovered?

I hesitate to even give a suggestion because I would just be speculating. Whatever you can do to stabilize the soil temperature in the pot should help.

Matt wrote:I hesitate to even give a suggestion because I would just be speculating. Whatever you can do to stabilize the soil temperature in the pot should help.

i just want to know if anything in the mulch is harmful otherwise id do it anyways.