FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Guys,
Hope everyone is doing well. I have my plants in dormancy right now, and have a few questions.

I have my dana delights and vft's sitting in a window that is very cold. (bad windows ok?) Cold for indoors anyway. Behind them (farther away from the windows) sit my sundews and nepenthes.

First the plants in dormancy. My pitchers, while not growing anything new, are starting to turn red, even on the pitchers that are dead on top. Normal?

My VFT's (after being eating to a stump by squirrels) have very slowly started to grow small traps. Their water usage is very low.

I guess the question is whether all this behavior is normal for a plant in dormancy? I would guestimate the temp near the window to be about 55 - 60 degrees.

Should there be any growth during dormancy? Are they not getting the dormancy they need? They get full winter light / sun.

My nepenthes has one leaf that has turned yellow and has died. Newer and older leaves are still fine. It is still growing new leaves, but I wonder if the little tip on the end of the leaves will ever grow a pitcher. They look brownish and stay maybe 1/8th or 1/4th of an long. The newest leaves are very wide compared to older leaves. Maybe 2.5 - 3 " wide. Is this normal to have leaves die off like this and how can you tell if there is going to be something at the end of the leaf beside just a tip? What conditions are needed to produce traps?

The sundews are growing big but loose an occasional leaf.

Just trying to get a feel for this to make sure I don't need to make any corrections.

Thanks!

Does the temperature at the window fluctuate at all? If it stays the same, it won't go dormant . There needs to be a temp. change, light change, etc.

They will slow down growth a bit, but they won't completely stop growing...

Sorry I can't answer your Nepenthes question, I don't know much about them....

I have heard that venus fly traps can turn red during dormancy, so I wonder if pitcher plants can too or if it's simply a colour they turn before the traps die.

I'm sorry to hear about your squirrel mis-hap. Venus fly traps do continue growth whilst in dormancy however it slows dramatically. It's perfectly normal for your plant to grow new traps and leaves while "asleep". As for temperatures, fluctuating cold temperatures are important to let your plant go into a full, deep dormancy.

I do believe Nepenthes leaves die off occasionally (mine certainly have in the past), especially if they used to have pitchers on. The pitchers themselves require humidity and light to develop however the exact amount of humidity and light I can't say, it depends on what variety you have. Also, the soil must be moist at all times. Do you know what variety the plant is?

My Nepenthes currently have very slowed growth, this is due to light. If you are able to increase light and humidity exposure for your Nepenthes that suits it's species (Lowland, Highland, Intermediate, Ultra Highland) then you should start seeing more pitcher production.

Thanks guys.
If you search on this forum, you can find my tale of woe with the squirrels.

My nepenthes is a Judith Finn. Not a whole lot of humidity (40%?) right now. The temperature changes based on how cold it is out side, and at night, and when it is in the sunlight.

The tips of the new leaves look brown and almost dried out. Is that normal or will they continue to grow like that until summer comes when they get more heat. I keep the soil moist. It is putting out new leaves on a regular basis.

My Dana's will turn red with enough sunlight. Being winter, they get more sun now.

As long as the soil is always moist, humidity isn't too bad (40% isn't bad, they can adjust but higher would be great) and they get lots of light (indirect, partial, slightly shaded) they should be all right. Temperatures should be roughly 70-85°F during the day and 55-60°F at night and I would like to thank google for making my life easier today. My brain is so fried right now I think I could cook bacon off it.

My Nepenthes have so much leaf growth it's wonderful, but fewer pitchers. I'm trying to adjust my growing conditions to increase pitcher production -- so if I find anything changes I'll inform you.

Grey,
Thanks for all the help. The nepenthes has a lot of leaf growth, but the very tips usually come out almost brown. I assume if it was going to drop a pitcher, it would be greener and keep growing.

My last pitcher finally died and I had to cut it off. Please keep me informed.
Thanks.

You're very welcome!

I remember from past experience that depending on the variety of nepenthes, the traps start one colour and end up another. My N. Alata's traps start brown and furry, but grow and turn green then get a pink (eventually red) hue to them.

My N. Sanguinea starts with small green traps which eventually turn purple with a faint green spotting colouration.

I moved my smaller nepenthes (N. Ventrata) to my window to give it more light and see how its growing changes. I've noticed some of the "immature pitcher" leaves changing shape but nothing else as of yet.

Oddly enough, both my pitchers have started putting up a new pitcher. It is very cold by the window and we have 18" of snow outside. I don't know why they would start growing. They have been dormant since last Octoberish. By dormant, I mean no new pitchers.

Do you think the light is causing them to come out of dormancy?

I believe so. The longer days are a sign of spring, and this is how plants know it's the right time to come out of dormancy (as well as rising temperatures). Plants go dormant in the winter because the days get shorter and colder: so there is less light for them to grow.

It's getting to the time when you should be thinking of taking your plants out of dormancy, but it looks like they beat you to it!

Yeah they plants wake up due to warmer temps and longer daylight hours.
The plants should wake up in 2-3 weeks from now.

I can't say the temps have been warmer, but the light is definitely changing.

When should I consider re-potting them? Any techniques or things to consider when I do re-pot?

And right now they are getting light and heat as the temperatures have shot up from what they have been.

SquidBait wrote:When should I consider re-potting them?

Anytime now between and the end of March would be fine.

SquidBait wrote:Any techniques or things to consider when I do re-pot?

Not really much to it other than get the proper soil and make sure the roots are below the soil (and rhizome in the case of flytraps). For Sarracenia I usually leave the rhizome somewhat to mostly above ground.

Wait so Matt, you mean after repotting the sarracenia you should see
some rhizome poking out of the ground?