Bad Dormancy / Slow Start

[jimscott]

Half the VFT's & Sarracenias died but those that survived, the pitcher plants are sending up their first pitcher plants of the season:

S. leucophylla?

S. Dana's Delight

S. rubra flower

S. Love Bug

S. mitchelliana

S. Scarlett Belle

'Spade'

I'm not sure what these are anymore:

 

[tommyr]

Wow you lost HALF? That stinks. What happened? Too cold? Some of mine were slow to start as well. I started the Flavas and VFTs indoors but the others went outside and are taking their sweet time.

Here's some Flavas (shot last week):

 

[jimscott]

Tom, they look great!

I live in an apartment with no basement or attic. For the previous 2 winters I had them in a co-worker's garage. They did well there. But then he said he couldn't do it this year and I had to scramble to find housing. You'd be amazed how many have "crawl spaces" as opposed to real attics. I did come up with another co-worker. He had a second floor apartment that was going to be left unheated and unoccupied. I took it. Unfortunatley, it wasn't cold enough and I could tell that it wasn't watered enough.

 

[tommyr]

Tom, they look great!

I live in an apartment with no basement or attic. For the previous 2 winters I had them in a co-worker's garage. They did well there. But then he said he couldn't do it this year and I had to scramble to find housing. You'd be amazed how many have "crawl spaces" as opposed to real attics. I did come up with another co-worker. He had a second floor apartment that was going to be left unheated and unoccupied. I took it. Unfortunatley, it wasn't cold enough and I could tell that it wasn't watered enough.

RATS! Well my attic is way too cold so in the fridge they go every year. What about your Cobras? Did they make it?

 

[jimscott]

They were like chaff! But Notanumber sent me a few plants and they are growing.

 

[tommyr]

They were like chaff! But Notanumber sent me a few plants and they are growing.

Ahhh, what a guy! Good for you. My Sarr. collection is small or I'd send you a few. I may have a spare Purpurea next year and maybe a Flava. I should have lots of Scorpioides gemmae this winter too.

 

[jimscott]

I could always use D. scorpiodes. They start off fibe for me and then go into a funk in the summer. Some then just die.

 

[jimscott]

Fresh pictures:

 

[Adam]

Starting to look better

 

[jimscott]

Thanks.... only about half of the Sarrs have open pitchers and the VFT's are recovering from shock and a horrible dormancy.

 

[Adam]

Barely any of my Sarrs have open pitchers. I am not using minibogs again, as they get pests more easily than my bog.

 

[jimscott]

The bog next door gets raided by critters. It has cost me valuable plants. My buckets are all on the porch, second floor. They are uber-safer there!

 

[tommyr]

The bog next door gets raided by critters. It has cost me valuable plants. My buckets are all on the porch, second floor. They are uber-safer there!

Yeah, I've got woodchucks so I try to keep my stuff up a bit. So far so good.

 

[Adam]

We just have a fenced in area. Birds have been the only problem.

 

[tommyr]

We just have a fenced in area. Birds have been the only problem.

Lucky you! Chicken wire or some deer fencing would help.

 

[jimscott]

A couple more pics:

Schnell's Ghost

Dana's Delight

 

[Taargus]

How awful that half your collection didn't make it! What made it seems to be looking good so far at least.

This was my 1st yr giving a sarr purpurea and VFT a dormancy. I live in an apartment too, but luckily it is an older building and there is a space between the storm windows and glass window that stayed about the perfect temp. When they get bigger though, I am going to run into the same problem, no place that isn't either heated or too cold (darn NY winters.) Have you tried using any of the fridge methods with them?

 

[jimscott]

From 2005-2006 we lived in an apartment that had an attic. It drew some heat from the second floor apartment, enough to keep it from freezing but cold enough to keep the plant asleep. It was ideal. And then we had to move. This apartment complex didn't have an attic and I had to find a place that could accommodate the, So for the next two years a co-worker kept them in his garage. They did well there. But he couldn't do it this past winter and I had to scramble for another place. Another co-worker had an uninhabitable second floor apartment and I though that would work. Ultimately, it wasn't cold enough and it seemed to have been kept a little too dry. This past February, while calling around for more plastic pots, I stumbled upon a wholesale greenhouse and have a working symbiosis with the owner. I give her plants and she gives me pots. She also has a section that is kept barely above freezing for the winter and is willing to house mine.

 

[jimscott]

Complex Hybrid

Fledgeling

HCW

leucophylla

leucophylla

psitticina

Dixie Lace

 

[tommyr]

Nice Jim! I love going by my sarrs and hearing "Bzzzzzz". That's bug talk for "HELP ME!".

Then I hear the plants going "Om Nom Nom Nom!"