FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey folks. First of all... thank you everyone for the wealth of knowledge that this site provides. I am enthralled by CP's and have started a garden of my own, and this forum is a fantastic tool for learning.

Now to my question...
Last year I started some VFT's from seed. I also started some Purpurea and Darlingtonia from seed this past spring. I guess I wanted to have an appreciation for the upbringing of these plants from seeds before I start purchasing plants next spring to expand my garden.

I started a bit late with my Darlingtonia. The fly traps are taking off like crazy, and there are a bunch of little pitchers coming out of the purps. My issue is with the Darlingtonias. They sprouted in May, and I have about two dozen little seedlings. After reading care sheets and forum input, I am a bit frustrated with my results so far. The seedlings are now almost three months old, and some of them are less than a half of an inch tall (some even smaller). Its like they have stalled and I don't know why.

They drain well, and I water them twice daily. They get 4 hours of direct sun, and shade the rest of the day. They are in LFS and peat mixed 50/50 with perlite.

I have searched for pace of growth, and I cannot seem to find if this amount of growth is normal.

Soo.... is it? Any experience or advice? Due to their size, would it be advantageous to skip dormancy this coming winter and leave them under lights all winter?

Thanks in advance!

Darlingtonia are extremely slow growers from seed. What you're experiencing sounds normal - I have a Darlingtonia seedling that sprouted in March, that has 3 tiny true leaves. The Sarracenia seedlings I sprouted in June have already outpaced it.

If anything starts dying though.... then that's when I would worry.

i got some 2yr olds from linton a few months back.

fantastic looking plant, but still very small for their age.
theyre no bigger than a childs little finger in height

but theyre alive, happy, and ever so slowly growing so i cant really ask for much more from them.

Thanks for the replies. That is what I figured.

Any thoughts on skipping dormancy at this age?

i dont think they have dormancy?

i just stuck mine straight under some fluro's and its winter here at the moment?

Darlingtonia are native to where I live and they definitely are dormant in the winter. I'd imagine that they'll grow for a while without dormancy, but eventually start to decline.

Thanks everyone. Matt... thanks for the input. I thought since they are so small that maybe being cold and in freezing conditions would be harder on them than a full-grown. I guess they all go through it to become full-grown, though!

I plan on starting an overwintering log in another post so people can learn from my upcoming experience (and hopefully success). I am hoping to keep it different and interesting in that the weather here in the mountains of VA in winter can be freezing and windy or very warm. We have had snow in late May and 80's in December and January before. Other times its predictable and quite normal.

Thanks again!

PS... If I am going to make an order for a variety of plants this spring, what is the optimal time to do it? I assume plants being shipped from WA to VA respond better depending on where they are relative to waking up from winter?

The weather here in southern Oregon can be quite harsh as well. Last year we had highs up over 110°F and this winter we had lows into the single digits Fahrenheit. The mountain variety of Darlingonia grow only about an hour from where I live and the weather is nearly identical to where I'm at. They're able deal with quite extreme temperatures, so I'm pretty sure that they'd be fine in the mountains of VA. But, as always, plants do a bit better if you baby them and keep them from experiencing the extreme heat and the extreme cold.

HokiePV wrote:If I am going to make an order for a variety of plants this spring, what is the optimal time to do it? I assume plants being shipped from WA to VA respond better depending on where they are relative to waking up from winter?

I'd say that anytime between late February and early April is the best time to order plants if you're looking for minimal shock. Though, most carnivorous plants aren't too affected by being repotted at almost any time of the year.