FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So I live in South Texas and its usually pretty hot down here. And I have one venus fly trap and I was wondering if anyone can recommend ways to make my plants be successful.
To be more specific I would like to know what containers to use (so water won't evaporate) and what ways to make them go dormant correctly. Where I live, the weather in winter can be cold the morning and really hot the afternoon or cold one day and hot the other.
Also, I have had these plants for about a year and I just want to make sure they're alright. The reason I'm worried is because I don't know if they went through dormancy and new leaves that barely open are start to turn yellow at one spot and then it turns black. So I don't if the sun is burning it and if the spot I have it in doesn't work

Help would be appreciated

Thanks

I live in austin and the winters here are great for dormancy. Like many of the other plants around, flytraps sense the trend in daylight and temperature more than a single warm day here and there. The dying traps could be from burning/excessive heat. Not all VFTs are affected by this but I've had problems with it too. I haven't yet successfully grown flytraps outdoors here through a summer (due to multiple factors), but you may want to try a screen shade or dappled shard from a tree midday. I tend to think larger pots are better for outdoor growth since they will retain moisture better in the heat and provide more insulation against extreme cold, but in theory you could make almost any container work given the right care.

I live here in San Antonio and have grown VFTs outside for about 3 years now. I agree with xr280xr that the dormancy period is ideal here. Leave them outside in the cold and just enough water here and there. The months of July, August and September are the hardest on the VFTs. Because mine are outside all the time, they will harden off and get used to the gradual heat increase. In the past I monitor how my VFTs are doing with the heat. If they looked stressed, I bring them inside and put under the lights where they will do great and even get some great color to them. 2 weeks ago I deceided to try a shade cloth I purchased on ebay pretty cheap. It starts to shade the plants at about 2 pm and by 4pm they are all in the shade. This has really helped a lot as I am seeing more green sprouts shooting up and not burning the tips. The shade brings the temp down and the VFTs are liking this. So snakiestpluto 29, you can leave them outside but see if you can shade them from 2pm on as this will be the hottest part of the day. You can use 2 dowell rods with some shade material attached to them and position it to where it gets morning sun, but not the high heat at 2pm.

TOYZ_2 wrote:I live here in San Antonio and have grown VFTs outside for about 3 years now. I agree with xr280xr that the dormancy period is ideal here. Leave them outside in the cold and just enough water here and there. The months of July, August and September are the hardest on the VFTs. Because mine are outside all the time, they will harden off and get used to the gradual heat increase. In the past I monitor how my VFTs are doing with the heat. If they looked stressed, I bring them inside and put under the lights where they will do great and even get some great color to them. 2 weeks ago I deceided to try a shade cloth I purchased on ebay pretty cheap. It starts to shade the plants at about 2 pm and by 4pm they are all in the shade. This has really helped a lot as I am seeing more green sprouts shooting up and not burning the tips. The shade brings the temp down and the VFTs are liking this. So snakiestpluto 29, you can leave them outside but see if you can shade them from 2pm on as this will be the hottest part of the day. You can use 2 dowell rods with some shade material attached to them and position it to where it gets morning sun, but not the high heat at 2pm.

Thank you for the replies! And I'll check out the shade cloth, but is there a specific percentage that I should use?

Thanks!

I live in San Antonio as well and you're right the Texas summer sun can be quite harsh on VFTs especially during July, August, and the early part of September. What I had to do is find a sweet spot in my back yard where my plants are able to get a good 5-6 hours of direct sunlight during the mid morning into the late afternoon and then they go into shade. I've found that this gives the plants enough direct sunlight they crave and also at the same time they won't cook in the brutal Texas sun. I still get a little bit of die off from burning but nothing too terrible. As mentioned you can also purchase a shade cloth if you want your plants in full sunlight the entire day. Another point is always check your soil hydration levels because the sun can dry it out very quickly. During the hot months I check it daily after I get home from work and it's not unusual to water them every other day or every 3 days (and that's using deep pots). If I leave on vacation or anything I move them into a slightly shadier part of my back yard and use the water tray method so they don't dry out while I'm gone. Happy growing!

I live in Houston. When should I put my flytraps outside to begin dormancy? I'm ready to do it any moment now, it's November 16.