FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello everyone!

The holiday season is (almost) among us! I hope everyone is having a good one this year.

My VFT (Cecil) and my Capensis (Luna) are experiencing their first winter this year. We're in England. Cecil got frosty last night, but I'm sure he'll thaw today (cold but sunny). It's been sopping wet so I've taken the trays out from under their pots (they're outdoors) because it literally rains buckets every single day. Luna is devoid of dew at the minute, it keeps getting washed away by the rain. She's got a new flower on the way and a new split! her rhizomes are peeping up from her mossy bed, so I foresee i'll have to repot her and her spawn soon. Cecil is entering dormancy i think, not much change with him. He has a baby now tho, so that'll be exciting to try to split from him next spring.

ANYWAY, introductions aside, I've accumulated enough funds now to buy a small greenhouse for my babies (and future babies). Yay or nay to greenhouses? By this, i don't mean a fancy schmancy thing, just literally a zip up plastic tarp thing on a metal frame. A few questions as i am an extremely new plant mother and have also never used a greenhouse in my life:

1. How will this affect (or help?) cecil's dormancy? i thought because it's unheated, just a plastic room for him outside it'll keep him dry in the torrential rain but also allow him to experience cold temps for dormancy?

2. Luna is devoid of dew, and has been for the past week or more as it's been raining non stop. Will the greenhouse help shield her from the onslaught of rain for her to catch a breath and develop dew? I'm extremely worried about Luna, to be honest. The ends of her hairs have little black round balls and she's not dewy at all despite her being outside. Is it too cold? she's a capensis though so she's meant to be fine with the temperature drop? Perhaps it's the torrential rain we've been having every day for the past month and a half?

3. (and this is such an embarrassingly silly sounding question) does it affect how much direct sunlight they're getting? I've been told that a window cill will provide filtered sunlight (via the glass), so will this mean they're still getting direct sunlight in the greenhouse because it's just a sheet of plastic/mesh?

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for your advice. My plant babies and I look forward to hearing what you guys think. Merry almost Christmas!

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8689234

In case you were wondering which mini greenhouse i have my eyes on, it's this one.

Will the green mesh make for not enough sunlight to my cp's? it's not very sunny as it is in England :'(

The greenhouse will help protect the plants from the extreme cold and worse, desiccant winds, although that size tend to heat up in the sun very quickly when shut and cool also down quickly which may be a problem with high temperature swings. Rapid freeze and thaw cycles are killers.
The Capensis, if kept outside, won't have dew, the flower will die and the whole plant will die back now as it is too cold for it, all foliage will go black and the plant will disappear completely over the next couple of nights as frost is forecast, (as might the VFT) but it will grow back from the roots in spring, they are nigh on indestructable. Capensis as the name suggests, are South African.
Keep them both damp (dont let them dry out) and the GH well ventilated to slow up the possibility of rapid heat-up (zip door half-open/tied up?) and they should be fine.

Cheers
Steve

steve booth wrote:The greenhouse will help protect the plants from the extreme cold and worse, desiccant winds, although that size tend to heat up in the sun very quickly when shut and cool also down quickly which may be a problem with high temperature swings. Rapid freeze and thaw cycles are killers.
The Capensis, if kept outside, won't have dew, the flower will die and the whole plant will die back now as it is too cold for it, all foliage will go black and the plant will disappear completely over the next couple of nights as frost is forecast, (as might the VFT) but it will grow back from the roots in spring, they are nigh on indestructable. Capensis as the name suggests, are South African.
Keep them both damp (dont let them dry out) and the GH well ventilated to slow up the possibility of rapid heat-up (zip door half-open/tied up?) and they should be fine.

Cheers
Steve

Thanks very much Steve! One more question, will the green mesh be too shady for the plants? Or will it be alright? or will i have to get a clear one?

Hi TS
The green mesh is fine, I have had similar things in the past, it and the plastic does stop some light, but if you are using it primarily for protection and as an 'early start' for plants and it is located correctly they do a good job. The mesh is reinforcement as the wind/elements would reduce them to nothing in no time otherwise.

Cheers
Steve