FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

so what do you guys, and matt, think?

the apartment i am living in now does not give me too many options. and keep in mind, that it stays well below zero up here for more than a few months. so i dont know if i should really leave them outside.

the picture that i posted was our "mud room." there is no heat in there. and is deffinately cooler than the rest of the apartment. and i figured, when it's -30 to -40 F at night, that being right next to the window and in the front room would be fine. i thought it would help even a little more to keep the plants insulated by drawing the curtain all the way too.

i dont know...

we also have a storage unit that is in the basement, of the apt nextdoor. i dont think it would get down to the temperatures outside. but that means i would have to buy lights and a timer and stuff. which is fine, i guess. but i kind of just did not want to bother with lights and all that.

oh yeah, do i need to use any kind of fungal spray or anything like that?

Do you know what the average temperature in your mud room is? It sounds like that might be your best option. As long as it doesn't routinely get up into the 70s F, I think that would be fine. It gets a fair amount of light, right?

Yeah, you definitely don't want to leave your plant outside in Gunnison, that will kill it without a doubt.

I think in your photos, I saw that your plant was in some sort of little terrarium, mostly to protect it from the cat, right? Well, I wouldn't leave it in that thing during dormancy. The increased humidity will increase the chance of fungal infections. I don't use any fungal spray for my plants, but I don't keep them in high humidity. Also, be sure to just keep the soil barely moist, not wet. Without the terrarium and with the decrease in watering, you shouldn't have to treat your plant with any fungal protection. Be sure to keep an eye on it though to watch for the start of fungal growth. If you do choose to leave it in the terrarium, you might want to use a fungicide.

Well... there is not a door or anything between the mud room and the rest of the house. so it might stay around 70 F. we usually have to keep the heat around 65 F, atleast. but i was thinking if i closed the shade all the way, it might help it keep a little cooler. you know what i mean?

(sigh...) i really just wish the cat would leave my plants alone. i had a different plant last winter, and the cat ate all the little sprigs (is there a technical term for the new leaves sprouting up?). and it never made it out of hibernation.

i have no idea what i'll do.

i know you said that you put your plants under a covered porch. what else do you do? do you leave them all in the tubs they are in? and if so, do they not have any standing water at all? do you ever bring them inside?

I actually have my plants on an unheated south facing porch. The porch is part of the house, but I keep the door to it closed so no heat gets out there and when it is above 30F or so, I keep all the windows out there open. The temps on the porch are usually in the 40s and 50s.

That sucks about the cat. When I had cats, I could actually train them to stay away from most things, but they would still occasionally get into stuff, so I know how frustrating that is. I know some people completely trim all of the vegetation off their plants when they go dormant, so if the cat does eat all of the new growth on your plant, it shouldn't kill it. Trimming off all of the vegetation is almost necessary if you go the fridge route. Have you considered that?

I'm not sure I fully understand the shade in the mud room. Do you say that closing the shade will make it cooler because it will block out the sun, or because the plant will be in the windowsill and the shade will insulate the windowsill from the heat in the house?

basically, yes. as far as i was hoping that keeping the shade closed, while the plants are on the windowsill, it might keep the plants cooler, compared to the rest of the apartment.

and yeah, the cat is my girlfriends. she's pretty good for the most part. but what can you do. she's a cat

and now that im talking about it. i think that when i had my plant last year. i didnt do any research at all. and i think it was potted in some miracle grow. so that might have been what actually killed it. not the cat

so what is the whole fridge process, not that my girlfriend would be entirely stoked on the idea. dont you basically wrap the rhizome in a wet paper towel?

I think that your window might work the best. Do you have any kind of thermometer so that you can check the temps in the window with the shade closed? I would guess that if you kept the shade closed, it would most likely stay well below 70F in that windowsill.

Yeah, I think that the miracle grow would have done the job much quicker than the cat would have.

I describe the fridge method here:
http://www.flytrapcare.com/venus-fly-trap-dormancy.html
But yeah, what you said is the basic idea.

just curious. what would be involved with doing lights in a dark, basement-type situation?

gunnison_cp wrote:just curious. what would be involved with doing lights in a dark, basement-type situation?

If you wanted to go that route, it would require a little bit more work and a bit of an investment, but nothing too serious. You would just need a timer and some fluorescent lights. Right now you only have one plant, right? If so, you could just use a CFL and a small lamp. You should keep the light within 4 inches or so of your plant. You can get a little analog timer from Wal-Mart for somewhere around $5. I have one for my terrarium. They're simple to set up. I don't know if you've ever used one, but there are little plastic tabs and each one you push down adds 15 minutes to the amount of time the timer is on.

You should try to keep the timer set to come on at sunrise and go off at sunset. This would mean that you would have to update it every couple weeks or so. Then, sometime in late February or early March, you could move your plant back upstairs and put it in a window until it gets warm enough to put it outside for the summer (once the chance of freezes at night are gone).

alright. well. i think im going to let it sit in the windowsil (sp?) for now.

how would i measeure the temp? would just a plain old thermometor work? and would i just stick it down in the soil? close to the rhizome? or should i put it a few inches away from it?

oh yeah, so do you keep your plants in the tubs during winter? and are they sitting in any standing water?

so many questions! thank you again Matt. ill have to let you know when im down on the front range

For measuring temps, I just use a little digital thermometer from Home Depot. It also give the humidity. No need to stick it down in the soil, but if you just have a regular old thermometer, that would work fine.

I keep my plants in the tubs, but I don't keep water in the tubs. I water about once every 2 weeks or so. I try not to leave much water standing in the tubs when I do water them. You definitely don't want to keep the plants wet like you did in the summer time.

Definitely let me know when you are in the front range. You could stop by and check out my plants if you want.

Matt wrote:Definitely let me know when you are in the front range. You could stop by and check out my plants if you want.

i will! sounds great

gunnison_cp wrote:(sigh...) i really just wish the cat would leave my plants alone..

Until we can grow a VFT that can EAT a cat I would kick it out or shoot it

Please don't take me up on the options above (only joking). In the UK most garden centres sell plants and products that repel cats, one of these plants is rue (Ruta Graveolens) it mit be worth a trip to your nearest centre and have a look at your options. Growing another plant next to your VFT or placing some scented product could help.

mlvc2002 wrote:Growing another plant next to your VFT or placing some scented product could help.

I hadn't even thought of that. Sounds like a pretty good idea Carl.

thanks guys!! i deffinately appreciate your comments.

Just a tip from a "cat lady". Cats like a little green in their diet as it helps with their digestion. I just bought some cat grass seeds and put them in a low pot in a place the cats could get at. They sprout in about a week. Or farmer's markets usually carry cat grass.Now plants,cats and myself are all happier!