FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Pardon the long post. The following is NOT a thorough scientific investigation of dormancy, but it is based on some things that I have read and observations I have made.

So, I have a theory on how light and temperature come into play on dormancy. At its very basic level, plants are factories. They take in water and CO2 and create oxygen and sugar. This process is photosynthesis. There are three factors that impact how efficiently the plant is able to perform photosynthesis. These are light intensity and/or duration, CO2 level, and temperature. When light intensity is low, sugar production is low. When light intensity is high, sugar production is high … sort of. The enzymes that are used in photosynthesis are temperature sensitive. At low temperatures, the enzymes don’t have enough energy to process the molecules. Additionally, at higher temperatures, the enzymes don’t operate as efficiently because the heat starts to break down the enzymes. That is a very basic description of what happens in the process of photosynthesis. So let’s look at the process for flytraps in their natural setting.

With the onset of Fall, sun intensity and duration start to decrease. This results in a reduction of sugar production. As light continues to decrease, so does temperature. As temperature continues to drop, sugar production decreases even more. The reduced sugar production causes chemical changes in the plant that cause it to stop growing. The plant is now in dormancy.

Throughout the Winter, light intensity and duration is at its lowest levels. The plants do not have enough resources to perform much photosynthesis so it remains in a dormant state. Temperatures will continue to fluctuate and, even thought they may enter the optimal area for photosynthesis, it isn’t consistently up, and the light levels are still not conducive to photosynthesis.

As winter is ending and we enter Spring, light intensity and duration start to increase as does average temperature. As both of these parameters increase so does sugar production. The continual increase in sugar production causes chemical changes in the plant that signal it to start actively growing again. Occasional temperature drops do not retrigger dormancy because the trend of sugar production is up and the level is high enough to maintain growth.

During the Summer, temperature and light levels continue to increase. The temperature starts to move out of the optimal level for the enzymes but the increased light duration and intensity maintain sugar production levels until the light and temperature start to drop again moving toward fall.

I believe that it is the process of photosynthesis and the trend and levels of sugar production that trigger dormancy. A significant and consistent change in either one, or both can trigger a dormancy response.

I think it needs a little more validation. I put this together based on some basic knowledge. I may be way off base but it seems to make sense.