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Plastic cups over VFTS in the store? kill em or save em?

G

Gs'Cps

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Recently I was at my local garden center and was pleased to see a variety of cps ( VFTS, S.purperea, S.rubra, P.primuliflora, D.spathulata. And wouldn't you know it they were all covered in what some refer to as "death domes". The pings were all flowering and the VFTS looked happy, the drosera was a little burnt or possible mold from no air circulation, and all the sarrecenias were scrunched up at the top as if they were trying to lift the dome off, on my way out of the nursery I said " you'd be doing them good by taking the domes off" (politely of course :p) and the women at the counter mentioned how whenever they tried to take the cups off the plants withered and died.... I thought this over.... The conditions where the plants were seemed suitable, ample light and all in trays... So maybe it was the shock from going to 100% humidity to maybe 30%( 30% being the store humidity)...all my plants in my home (not out in the greenhouse) thrive on the windowsill in water trays.... What do you think about the "death domes" (as if the name doesn't say it all) .........:)
 
I've planted several plants directly out of death cubes into my outdoor bog garden, and other than a case or two of leaf burn from the sudden increase in light intensity I've had no problems and haven't lost any plants.
 
Those clear cups are mostly for shipping and so they don't have to be watered as much.I agree with the previous poster,take it off and give it sun slowly.If it gets any direct sun in the death dome,it will get way too hot inside.
 
I think the domes have been the best solution, currently, to the lack of knowledge and good water available to the staff at the big box stores. While I'm super happy to hear of CP's becoming a bit more main stream, I wish the stores selling them would remove the covers and water appropriately. If that were to happen and the plants were allowed to show there true form, then they would sell themselves along with jugs of purified water and in home filtration units for the truly smitten.

But for now, I have seen CP's only rarely available for sale in my area and usually only VFT's or a junk Sarracenia on occasion and every time the only thing saving their lives, or prolonging their impending deaths were the covers keeping evaporation under control.
 
I never really cared about the domes, but then again, I never needed them. My flytraps always have done well regardless of being in a terrarium or not.
 
Gs'Cps said:
I said " you'd be doing them good by taking the domes off" (politely of course :p) and the women at the counter mentioned how whenever they tried to take the cups off the plants withered and died...
Click to expand...

There is some important data missing from the woman at the counters story..
most likely they "withered and died" because removing the tops caused the media to dry out much faster, within a day or two, and no one knew enough to water them,
or to put them in trays of water..

Just "removing the domes" will not kill the plants..even with an abrupt change in humidity.
my guess if they removed the domes, then let them dry out due to simple ignorance.
they then made the false connection that "removing the domes killed the plants"..which probably was not the case at all.

Scot
 
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The plants usually die eventually due to lack of water, whether there is a cover or not. The cover probably contributes to this because it would be a hassle to remove the dome, water, and then put the dome back.
 
Whenever I purchased vfts from homedepot or walmart i would let them acclimate to my indoor environment with the dome on. Then I slowly opened it more and more each day to allow them to get used to the outside humidity. I noticed that if I took the dome of right away the plants would go into shock and the leaves would curl.
 
What's the llikelihood that the store uses water suitable for cps even if they do water sufficiently?
 
  • #10
SubRosa said:
What's the llikelihood that the store uses water suitable for cps even if they do water sufficiently?
Click to expand...

Probably the same as the likelihood that a random person purchasing one of the plants uses water suitable for it.
 
  • #11
Just got back from home depot a bit ago. They had VFT's at some point. Now they truly have about a dozen or so death cubes complete with death intact.
 
  • #12
Tanukimo said:
The plants usually die eventually due to lack of water, whether there is a cover or not. The cover probably contributes to this because it would be a hassle to remove the dome, water, and then put the dome back.
Click to expand...

Dont need to remove the dome to water the plants..
most places I have seen that have death cubes water them by sitting the pots in a shallow tray of water..
that is the places with least a small clue..
places with no clue dont water at all...in which case removing the dome increases the speed of death.
but in any event, its probably almost never that the removing of the dome is the actual root cause of death.

Scot
 
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