What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Dormancy

hey guys, me again anyway Its freezing cold outside and I'd like to know if an early dormancy this year is out of the question, I would only put full grown plants in it, but I'd like to start an early dormancy that way maybe I could get them out a little early next year, anyway I'd put them in a fridge that has temps around 43 degres, anyway just wanted to know what you guys think
 
good question. my VFT is going dormant but if I put it in the closet (outside) it would come out of dormancy in febuary!!!! I think it MIGHT be a little too cold!
then again.... I live in NC, VFTs are from NC, and my VFT's are going dormant so who knows?
I'll probably HAVE to put them into dormancy once we start using the heating.
 
I start my dormancy around Thanksgiving to middle of February. I use the refrig method.
 
what I said was a yes? I don't think I ever even typed a "Y" let alone a "yes"
he he he....
smile_n_32.gif
 
Where will the plants be while dormant? If they'll be in the fridge, I suppose you can begin and end it whenever you like. If they're outside, they'll take care of the timing.

My Sarrs stay outside and I've never noticed a particular moment when they become dormant because it's such a gradual process. Their growth in dormancy isn't just slower (or stopped) - it's different. Kind of like what an S. oreophila does in mid summer. It isn't a productive time of year and they spend it preparing for better times ahead.

I'd want them to go as far as they can naturally before shoving them in the fridge. But I've never tried that method and am just plain ignorant about it.
 
I put them in the balcony's closet. it's not heated but I guess it's a little warmer. all of the 4 or so plants I put on dormancy last year made it... so I'm HAPPY! (it would be a pain to find another dormancy place)
but I'm worried about the dormancy issue this year. I just put them there around thanksgiving last year... but now they're going into dormancy and it's still a long time till thanksgiving! I don't want to starve them to death in the closet!
 
if you live anywhere in North America North of North Carolina,
(that did make sense, read it slowly! ;)
and your plants have been outside all summer and autumn, then they are already "going dormant" naturally..and might already be fully dormant for all you know..
here in upstate NY we are due for a cold and rainy spell thats going to last all through the weekend!
PERFECT weather to move the process along! (the process of going dormant..)
we are going to have nightime lows in the mid 40's..maybe even high 30's!
I wont bring my plants in at all unless there is a chance of frost..
(im talking about VFT's and Sarr's only)
my plants are probably dormant right now..I dont know if they are or not, and honestly it really doesent matter..
I will put them in the fridge only when nighttime temps drop below freezing..
they will probably remain outside another week or two..
exactly when they go into the fridge is totally unimportant..
they still come out in mid-February regardless..
if they went into the fridge today, or 3 weeks from today, it makes no difference as to when they should come out..
"going dormant" is a slow gradual process..it cant be timed to the day..
"dormancy starts today, because today is the day they go into the fridge"
nope, cant do it that way..
your plants should still be in full-swing growing through all of August and into mid-September..
sometime in mid or late September the process of going dormant beings to slowly kick in..we dont know exactly when it is, and we dont need to care..
by right now, mid-October, the plants are just about fully shut down..maybe not quite fully dormant, but almost there..
So the way I look at it, my plants take a solid month to "go dormant",,they do it naturally outside from approx mid-september to mid-october..
(actually, it begins even earlier than that..plants start to get "dormancy cues" in July and August! even as they are still growing.. they "sense" the slow decrease in daylight, and the process begins..)
Nature does all that for me, I dont need to do anything..
then, by late October or the beginning of November (whenever nightime temps warrant it) they go into the fridge..
THEN the "3 months of dormancy" begins..
realistically, dormancy should be all of November, December, and January..
mine usually stay in until mid-February, just because spring doesent arrive until April around here, and there is no real need to speed up the process by bringing them out extra-early..

So! if your plants have been outside..leave them outside a little bit longer..
unless temps are going to fall below freezing..
40's is perfectly fine (and GOOD!)
middle and high 30's is also pefectly fine..
just let nature do the job for you!
smile.gif

then put them in the fridge (or wherever you put them) when nature gets too cold for them to remain outdoors..

So that would be a "no" from me.. ;)

scot
 
  • #11
yuppers... ;) love the 80s degree weather.

so if my S.purpea (sp?) needs a dormancy, how am I to do that?
just go and shove it in a fridge?
or is there specific settings for the fridge?
or am i to slowly introduce it to the cold?

lol.. i thought that throwing it in a fridge when its been in the 80 degree weather might hurt it.
and whats the average temp of a fridge?

i guess so long as the temp is right, you can make them go dormant whenever.!
 
  • #12
Patch, as my longwinded fellow New Yorker said, somewhere in there, dormancy is a process. For many of us, it is already happening. Dormancy is made up of a few factors - lighting, temperature, and moisture - in that order of importance. While we classically think of cold temps as being the main thing, it is photoperiod that is the biggest factor. Fortunately, we don't have to take matters into our own hands for that one. Temperature is more difficult to control. But being in the desert southwest, your 80 degrees will eventually come down.

yes, you are right. Going from 80-> 40 would be a bad experience. What you want to do is let the temps naturally come down and when it gets close to refrigerator temperature, then you can safely put Sarracenia pitcher plants and VFT's in the fridge. Believe it or not, last winter my VFT's went dormant on a window sill, followed by a screened in back porch, followed by the butter keeper. I never sprayed it or covered it. I just kept it slightly damp. then I pretty much reversed the process in mid-February.
 
  • #14
Uhhhhhhhh, what was the question again?? ?? ??
laugh.gif
 
  • #15
Ah yes, Kirk. This was about Kirk. Yeah, you're about a month to a month-and-a-half early to slap it in the fridge. Yes, Colorado is going through a cold period for the moment - but it will warm back up again. That could also explain why photoperiod is a more influential factor than temperature.

Ah, to be in the "can of worms again" !

smile_m_32.gif
 
Back
Top