FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

boarderlib wrote:

Kwient wrote:Calm down
But Maybe you are right, in Dutch i am way more funny

You'll know first hand when I'm pissed. This was just a heads up.

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No need to be pissed at all

Okey,
Time to go back to CP’s, talking about caring for and enjoying them and occasionally the mindless ranting

Secretariat73 wrote:Living in the middle of a desert, I sympathize with you. I grow my plants outdoors in Las Vegas, Nevada. Vegas is about as hot and dry as they come. Temps hit 106F yesterday with humidity at 8%. It will be even warmer today.

When I decided to get into CPs almost a year ago, info on how to grow these plants in desert conditions was nil. I knew the standard guidance would not work for me when the summer furnace hit. So, I merged my knowledge of desert growing with what I knew of the flytrap’s native habitat, and it is working so far. In case you find it helpful, I’d like to offer some tips that have helped my plants tolerate the Vegas summer since your conditions sound similar to mine. Just keep in mind that your mileage might vary.

My recommendations to help flytraps survive a bone dry desert furnace:

1. Tray watering is mandatory. I put as much water in my trays as the plants can drink in a 24-hour period. I aim for a 1/4" of water in the trays at the end of the 24-hour period. For me, this means I need to fill my trays to a depth of about 1 inch (cooler, no wind) to 2 1/2 inches (hot & gusty). Extra water is needed on windy days because the media will dry more quickly and the plants themselves require more moisture to stay hydrated. My containers are flytrapstore.com-sized cups. Larger containers require more water. When in doubt, I add a little extra water and make adjustments based on how much water remains the next day. As long as new growth doesn't blacken, I wouldn't worry too much about “wet” vs “moist” when growing in desert conditions during high heat. If new growth blackens, that is a sign of too much water (or roots sitting in water… see #2 below). I top water from time to time as well, but the plants always sit in water.

2. Make sure the plants are potted in containers high enough so that their roots will not sit in water when the water tray is full. Flytraps do not like their roots submerged in water.

3. In full sun, water trays can get as hot as the outside temp. Make sure the water trays are shaded during the hottest part of the day so that the plants don't boil in their trays. My flytraps no longer receive any sun after 3pm due to this issue. The plants can take the high temps only if their roots remain cool. Keep in mind that hot water will cool as it wicks upwards from the tray into the container. So, overheated water trays are less a threat to larger, taller containers than to smaller, shorter ones.

4. Clean the water trays regularly to avoid a pathogen breeding ground.

5. Flytraps do not require full sun during summer in the desert. They do just fine in filtered sun. They might not color up as well, but they will survive and will reward you later when things cool down. If your plants are not yet acclimated to desert growing conditions, place them in bright shade or strongly filtered sun and acclimate them to lightly filtered sun over the course of several weeks. Tossing a non-acclimated CP in full desert sun in the middle of summer spells almost certain doom. Non-carnivorous plants have a hard enough time dealing with it. Don’t do it. (My plants sit in full sun but most of them were acquired during dormancy and have had all year to settle in.)

6. I use lfsm. As long as the plants like it and it holds up under my summer conditions, I'll stay with it. I have no experience growing flytraps outdoors in peat.

7. Beware of mineral buildup. Unless you use distilled water, buildup will happen. When it happened to several of my plants, I unpotted the plants, rinsed the moss, and repotted the plants in the old moss with some new moss mixed in as needed. LFSM seems to stand up to reuse well.

8. Use white containers. Although they might not be aesthetically pleasing to look at, Styrofoam cups work great because of their insulation properties.

9. After the sun has passed, I like to spray my plants with a bit of water at the end of the day. This adds humidity, provides immediate moisture relief, and cools the plant. Avoid doing this during the day despite the temptation. If it's hot enough, sunlight can heat up water sitting on the plant enough to burn it.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Thanks a lot for the advice! I have been doing a lot of your recommendations in the first place so it seems that I was on the right track. I have since then put my plants a place that doesn't get any direct sun after 2:00 to avoid overheating. I can I see a picture of your growing area? It would help a lot. Thanks.

_-SphagnumFromHell-_ wrote:Thanks a lot for the advice! I have been doing a lot of your recommendations in the first place so it seems that I was on the right track. I have since then put my plants a place that doesn't get any direct sun after 2:00 to avoid overheating. I can I see a picture of your growing area? It would help a lot. Thanks.

Glad the advice was helpful. My outdoor growing areas were recently combined into one large area that currently receives about 6-8 hours of direct sunlight. Here are some recent pics.
Real life happened and my water trays reached about 105F before I could combine the growing areas, leading to a bit of heat damage but nothing serious. (The flytraps have had it much better than my sarracenias, though. Between the high winds, birds, thrips, aphids, being overdosed with Maxsea, and being overfed with bugs, my sarrs are a rather ragged group. )

As a precaution, all of the flytraps will be moved this afternoon into the gated area much closer to the home ahead of 110F+ heat that will hit tomorrow and Friday. I am certain they can take the heat and light in their current location but not so confident about whether the water trays will stay cool enough. In their new location, the plants should receive about 4-5 hours of direct sunlight. I think they might be able to weather the imminent 115F+ temps in that new location, but we’ll see how the low 110s go first.

t9gear wrote:Now sit back.
Watch some Brads Greenhouse.
And have a Rum and Coke


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Old Post I know, but I darn near wet myself when I read this. And it's exactly what I do when I'm frustrated! Hahahaaa

Secretariat73 wrote:

_-SphagnumFromHell-_ wrote:Thanks a lot for the advice! I have been doing a lot of your recommendations in the first place so it seems that I was on the right track. I have since then put my plants a place that doesn't get any direct sun after 2:00 to avoid overheating. I can I see a picture of your growing area? It would help a lot. Thanks.

Glad the advice was helpful. My outdoor growing areas were recently combined into one large area that currently receives about 6-8 hours of direct sunlight. Here are some recent pics.

IMG_3805.JPG

IMG_3802.JPG

IMG_3810.JPG

Real life happened and my water trays reached about 105F before I could combine the growing areas, leading to a bit of heat damage but nothing serious. (The flytraps have had it much better than my sarracenias, though. Between the high winds, birds, thrips, aphids, being overdosed with Maxsea, and being overfed with bugs, my sarrs are a rather ragged group. )

As a precaution, all of the flytraps will be moved this afternoon into the gated area much closer to the home ahead of 110F+ heat that will hit tomorrow and Friday. I am certain they can take the heat and light in their current location but not so confident about whether the water trays will stay cool enough. In their new location, the plants should receive about 4-5 hours of direct sunlight. I think they might be able to weather the imminent 115F+ temps in that new location, but we’ll see how the low 110s go first.

I notice all your pots are elevated off the ground. I just did that to keep them cooler. I put 2x2 inch boards under the trays. Last year I didn't have a issue with hot deck boards but I realized last week with near 100F temps, my deck boards were scorching hot. Some of my traps look like Grun: burnt tips and a few warped traps. I even have them shaded after 1 to 2 pm.

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FlyTrap Hunter wrote:I notice all your pots are elevated off the ground. I just did that to keep them cooler. I put 2x2 inch boards under the trays. Last year I didn't have a issue with hot deck boards but I realized last week with near 100F temps, my deck boards were scorching hot. Some of my traps look like Grun: burnt tips and a few warped traps. I even have them shaded after 1 to 2 pm.

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I wanted to keep the plants elevated when they were relocated later that afternoon because I thought the water trays would stay cooler (and it would be easier on my back!). However, they ended up sitting on the patio because I had nothing big enough to hold everything.

As it turned out, the trays actually stayed cooler because the concrete absorbed the water's coolness in the evening hours, and when full sun hit, that concrete provided an insulating effect. The patio stayed much cooler beneath the trays for longer than it otherwise would have without the trays being there. The effect only lasts for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours in full sun before the water trays begin to gradually warm, but that's not an issue since the plants only receive full sun from about 10am to 1pm (they receive very bright shade for the remainder of the day). Beyond 4 hours and the trays would begin to simmer. So, this has been a very pleasant surprise.

With the reduced heat and light in the new growing area, there have been no further issues with overheated trays and sun damage. The plants also require less water. They've taken 113F and 8% humidity so far without a problem.

Here's a current pic. There are a lot more containers due to a mineral build up issue requiring immediate repotting for everyone except the B52s (which had been repotted only a few months ago for the same issue).

Hope your plants continue to hold up as well!

Who's growing the big ol' flower stalk?

And nice labels on the pots! Label-makers are wonderful.

Secretariat73 wrote:They've taken 113F and 8% humidity so far without a problem.

Wow. My plants can barely take 100F and 20% humidity. I wonder if it's a genetic thing. Do you have any cultivars that have shown to be hardier than others? Maybe ones that tend to color up well?

schmeg wrote:Who's growing the big ol' flower stalk?

And nice labels on the pots! Label-makers are wonderful.

That would be my Walmart typical. I wanted to see the effects of flowering in my conditions before I allowed a cultivar to try it next season. Flowering definitely slows down the plant, but ever since the stalk began to blacken, the plant has been dividing like mad. Its traps are also much smaller (by at least 50%), but I am reluctant to attribute that to the effort of flowering and setting seed. Other divisions of that plant were not allowed to flower, and they also display the same smaller-sized traps. So, I think the summer heat is most likely to blame.

I like the labels, too! They make it so much easier to work with my collection and in identifying all my plant babies!

_-SphagnumFromHell-_ wrote:

Secretariat73 wrote:They've taken 113F and 8% humidity so far without a problem.

Wow. My plants can barely take 100F and 20% humidity. I wonder if it's a genetic thing. Do you have any cultivars that have shown to be hardier than others? Maybe ones that tend to color up well?

Four standouts come to mind for varying reasons...

1. For summer color, Maroon Monster is at the top of the class for me. That one has maintained its red coloration throughout the summer. It has remained a lethal hunter despite the heat and is a vigorous grower for me.

2. B52 is my most vigorous grower right now. Consistently produces larger traps despite the heat. But not much color to the traps right now. Good hunter even in high heat.

3. Wally reproduces like nobody's business, even in the desert heat. For me, the inside of its traps still redden up despite the heat (if they are allowed to stay open long enough to do so).

4. On the smaller side of flytraps, Long Red Fingers appears to be one of the most resistant to mineral build up. When I repotted that one, I got a reading of 250ppm (had to retake that several times to make sure I wasn't getting a false reading)! The plant hadn't been doing much for a while, but now that it is growing in refreshed media, it is taking off.

Just my opinion based on how my plants have performed so far.