- Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:41 am
#2137
I have several carnivorous plants- 3 venus fly traps, a doodlebug, a few cape sundews and a purple pitcher plant. They are pretty young plants. I bought them in August. I had them outside on my screened in porch until probably about the 2nd week in October. They had experienced temperatures into the 30s, causing them to go dormant or atleast semi dormant. They stopped growing and some of their leaves turned black and their traps no longer worked.
I had to bring them indoors b/c there was frost outside and temps were going below the 30s. The venuses are in 4 inch pots. The doodlebug and the pitcher lant are in 6 /12 inch pots. I tried to keep them cold. I was bringing them back and forth between my foyer and the outside. It got too warm in my foyer and as a result, they began to grow again. They were only getting north sun in my foyer, so I brought them into my dining room where they were getting east sun. They were getting east sun for a few weeks. It was getting cold in my house, so i had to put curtains up so I had to get them artificial light.
They (the doodlebug, venuses, pitcher plant and cape sundew) all have been under a 4' shoplight with 2- 40 watt florescent tubes for a month now. The doodlebug and venuses are not doing too well. One day overnight all of the leaves on the doodlebug shriveled up. There is still new growth, though. It grows very slowly once in awhile. The venuses refuse to make new traps. They are growing, but eventually the tip of leaf where the trap grows turns yellow and then brown. On only one of my vensues, the trap has gotten to the stage where it has teeth on it. It's been like this for a few weeks now. It has also started to turn yellow. Do you know why this is happening? Are they dying?
I originally had them (the venuses) 10 inches from the artificial light. A week ago I moved them closer. They are now 7 inches away from the light. I also do not have them in a terrarium, b/c I was told that they can adjust to low humidity. (house humidity) Should they be closer to the light?
I keep the florescent light on 12 hours a day. For 3 or 4 days I decreased the duration of the light to 10 hours. My purple pitcher plant began to fade, so I thought this meant not enough light, so I increased the duration of light to 12 hours again. Did I confuse them even more now? I want to try to get them to be dormant again. I've lowered the temp in my house to 63 degrees. Before I had it on 64- 65 degrees. Somedays it's drafty and cold in my house, other days it's warm. When I use the hot water in my house, it gets warm. Is this change in temp confusing them?
What triggers dormancy? Light or temp? I was going to decrese the light to 10 hours again and keep it at that to try to get them all to go dormant. Should I do this?
I also keep the top of their soil completely dry, b/c I was having a problem with mold. I keep the rest of the soil moist. I water them with distilled water every 5 days -once a week. They are in 50 peat moss and 50 perilite soil mix. I want to keep them on the drier side b/c I don't want mold or bugs and I don't want them to rot. Is this ok? I don't want to disturb them now, but I buried them alittle too deep- Their grow points are buried a little bit.
I've attached pictures of my plants. PLease help me!
I had to bring them indoors b/c there was frost outside and temps were going below the 30s. The venuses are in 4 inch pots. The doodlebug and the pitcher lant are in 6 /12 inch pots. I tried to keep them cold. I was bringing them back and forth between my foyer and the outside. It got too warm in my foyer and as a result, they began to grow again. They were only getting north sun in my foyer, so I brought them into my dining room where they were getting east sun. They were getting east sun for a few weeks. It was getting cold in my house, so i had to put curtains up so I had to get them artificial light.
They (the doodlebug, venuses, pitcher plant and cape sundew) all have been under a 4' shoplight with 2- 40 watt florescent tubes for a month now. The doodlebug and venuses are not doing too well. One day overnight all of the leaves on the doodlebug shriveled up. There is still new growth, though. It grows very slowly once in awhile. The venuses refuse to make new traps. They are growing, but eventually the tip of leaf where the trap grows turns yellow and then brown. On only one of my vensues, the trap has gotten to the stage where it has teeth on it. It's been like this for a few weeks now. It has also started to turn yellow. Do you know why this is happening? Are they dying?
I originally had them (the venuses) 10 inches from the artificial light. A week ago I moved them closer. They are now 7 inches away from the light. I also do not have them in a terrarium, b/c I was told that they can adjust to low humidity. (house humidity) Should they be closer to the light?
I keep the florescent light on 12 hours a day. For 3 or 4 days I decreased the duration of the light to 10 hours. My purple pitcher plant began to fade, so I thought this meant not enough light, so I increased the duration of light to 12 hours again. Did I confuse them even more now? I want to try to get them to be dormant again. I've lowered the temp in my house to 63 degrees. Before I had it on 64- 65 degrees. Somedays it's drafty and cold in my house, other days it's warm. When I use the hot water in my house, it gets warm. Is this change in temp confusing them?
What triggers dormancy? Light or temp? I was going to decrese the light to 10 hours again and keep it at that to try to get them all to go dormant. Should I do this?
I also keep the top of their soil completely dry, b/c I was having a problem with mold. I keep the rest of the soil moist. I water them with distilled water every 5 days -once a week. They are in 50 peat moss and 50 perilite soil mix. I want to keep them on the drier side b/c I don't want mold or bugs and I don't want them to rot. Is this ok? I don't want to disturb them now, but I buried them alittle too deep- Their grow points are buried a little bit.
I've attached pictures of my plants. PLease help me!
Attachments:
Doodle Bug
doodlebug_a.jpg (128.23 KiB) Viewed 6559 times
doodlebug_a.jpg (128.23 KiB) Viewed 6559 times
Light Set Up, Purple PItcher Plant and Cape Sundew Seeds (disregard the seeds in the pic)
more_plants_a.jpg (94.87 KiB) Viewed 6559 times
more_plants_a.jpg (94.87 KiB) Viewed 6559 times
Venus Fly Traps
venus_flytraps_a.jpg (145.71 KiB) Viewed 6557 times
venus_flytraps_a.jpg (145.71 KiB) Viewed 6557 times