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Sarracenia Purpurea Hibernation

I am new to the world of carnivorous plants and my first plant was is the Sarracenia Purpurea because of the easy requirements in my region. I am in zone 9 and I read on wikipedia that this plant needs hibernation and is between november to january. For some reason, the place I am living in got colder and my sarracenia purpurea was flowering, I don't know what will happen but, the plant is still growing for some reason, newer leaves are starting to sprout and my plant is already pretty big. what should i do. can i still put it into dormancy right now? should i wait till next dormancy season to put it into dormancy?

Its getting cold lately but, it doesn't seem like my plant is going to go into dormancy, if i want to force it into an extremely late dormancy, how would i do it, i have no experience in this matter, can someone give as much details as possible to help me out?
 
Hello GTX..
I just asked you where you live in your other post! ;)
zone 9..woah..thats toasty warm!

I would leave all your CPs outdoors 24/7/365..
every single day of the year.
no fridge necessary..
yes, your climate is a touch warmer than ideal for S. purpurea, but most Sarracenia are native to the south east US and the gulf coast..so your winters probably arent much warmer than what they get in the wild..

yes, S. purpurea grows MUCH further north, and is used to colder winters..
but even in your zone 9, you still get a cool-down for the winter..even if its warmer than most of the US..thats plenty "good enough" even for S. purpurea.

just keep your plants outdoors!
you are one of the lucky ones...you can grow VFTs and Sarracenia outdoors every day of the year...nature will take care of dormancy just fine for you..you dont have to worry about it at all..

what are your winters like generally?
how cold does it get?

Scot
 
the weather gets cold enough that my hands burn when i wash my hands in warm water. thats usually the coldest and its january and its still like that. my house indoors is warm and it never gets as brutal as outdoor temperatures. i am afraid of putting the plants outdoors because i am still not experienced enough and also afraid that i might forget to refill the water and the plant dries out and dies.

How do i "coax" the into winter dormancy right now? some of the leaves are beginning to die slowly but the flower is still there. it doesnt seem like the flower might die soon.
______

also, ive also read somewhere that if you can't find bugs yourself, you can use diluted milk as a substitute. is this true? ive done it twice now and i haven't seen any damages to the plant but, am also unsure if it will do damage if i continue.
 
the weather gets cold enough that my hands burn when i wash my hands in warm water. thats usually the coldest and its january and its still like that. my house indoors is warm and it never gets as brutal as outdoor temperatures. i am afraid of putting the plants outdoors because i am still not experienced enough and also afraid that i might forget to refill the water and the plant dries out and dies. .

well..forgetting to water could be bad! ;)
but if you keep the plant in a tray of water, it will go many days before drying out.
you will probably only have to water twice a week..but you will have to keep an eye on it!

Get a plastic saucer, slightly larger around than the pot, sit the plant in the saucer, and always keep the saucer filled with water.
use rain water, distilled water, or reverse-osmosis water only! never use tap water or any bottled water from the store, unless it specifically says "distilled" on the bottle.
(most people with only a few small plants buy gallon jugs of distilled water from the store..most grocery stores carry it, and its cheap..with one plant, a 99-cent gallon jug will last you months!)

the saucers filled with water look like this:

dorm14.jpg


thats called "the tray method" of growing CPs..and its great for sarracenia and VFTs.

How do i "coax" the into winter dormancy right now? some of the leaves are beginning to die slowly but the flower is still there. it doesnt seem like the flower might die soon..

you dont "coax" it..you cant, because its the wrong time of year.
dormancy is created naturally by the seasons..your plant "goes dormant" by being outside all year..it will naturally go dormant in the winter...yo dont have to do a thing to "make" it go dormant..it will happen all by itself..
all you have to do is keep your plant outdoors, in a bright sunny spot, and keep the water tray filled..thats it! nature does all the other work for you..

you have no idea yet how LUCKY you are!
you dont *need* to use the fridge method! because of your native climate.

The plant is flowering because it thinks its spring..
and its slightly early, but its basically right..
ina climate such as yours, Feburary pretty much IS spring..(here in rochester spring doesnt arrive until April. :(
put your plant outside! today! :)
seriously..dont bother with the fridge this winter..its too late in the season now.
your plant would be MUCH better off outdoors..
fussing with it indoors will do much more harm than good..

also, ive also read somewhere that if you can't find bugs yourself, you can use diluted milk as a substitute. is this true? ive done it twice now and i haven't seen any damages to the plant but, am also unsure if it will do damage if i continue.

no, dont use milk..it might not harm anything, btu then again, it might..
CPs arent adapted to digest animal fat..thats why feeding hamburger to VFTs is no good either..

put..your...plant...outside.. ;)

and you will never need to feed it anything..
it will catch more than enough food on its own..naturally.

Scot
 
Scot... my wife would kill me if I had the trays on the carpet! I have to have mine in plastic grow trays, nestled in hand-woven, aesthetically pleasing baskets, on a 5 tier rack! Your window and porch bear a strong resemblence to mine, not to mention the scenery!
 
Scot... my wife would kill me if I had the trays on the carpet! I have to have mine in plastic grow trays, nestled in hand-woven, aesthetically pleasing baskets, on a 5 tier rack! Your window and porch bear a strong resemblence to mine, not to mention the scenery!

Jim,
that picture is from before I was married! ;)
at my own little bachelor pad..


dont worry..there is nothing unusual about your situation..I couldnt get away with that now either! :-))

Scot
 
LOL! I don't feel so bad, then. I'd love to hear what elgecko, BCK, and JBL have to say....
Hey... when are you visiting East Aurora?
 
all i can say is that, i was the tray method but, the problem with leaving it outside is that i would forget about the plant completely and would probably have forgotten to water it at all. as for spring time, its still very cold and is raining constantly so far, i don't think that is good if it wasn't used to the climate. as for spring time, i am not worried about that part but what i am worried about is that my plant hasn't yet gotten its dormancy period yet. i am afraid that it will die later on because it just flowered and there was just a baby boom of leaves coming out but they are a lot smaller than you would expect. letting this go would be easy, what i am worried about is if it will affect the plant at all.
 
put....it......out....side.

if it is alive, putting it outside is the best way to ensure its survival.
you are hurting it more than helping it by not putting it outside now..

as for "forgetting to water it"...well, if you easily forget about things like that, then maybe plants (or pets!) just isnt the thing for you..

its not too cold out..you live in Southern California!
if its above 35 degrees, its plenty warm enough for it to be outside.

the plant is not dormant right now..its not going to GO dormant this winter..
the fact that it just flowered and that its putting out new leaves proves that its not dormant..it thinks its spring..it wants to grow.

put...it....out...side...

forget about dormancy..dormancy is irrelevant right now..its springtime for your plant.
leave it outdoors 24/7/365...you never have to concern yourself with dormancy..ever.
as long as you leave your plants outdoors 24/7/365.

put...it....out...side...

Scot
 
  • #10
where exactly are you anyway?
LA?
San Francisco?

exactly how cold is cold right now?
how cold does it get at night right now? what temp?

Scot
 
  • #11
im a zone 9-er here....

when i was living in San Francisco, all my plants... were...outside, no problems at all, plants loved it!! yes, even my S. purp. :)
 
  • #12
Well, i will consider putting it outside but, before i do, i need to know what i should do to prepare it for outside, such as animal attacking it or fungus and insects nibbling on it. also, what are the tips to help conserve water and also not let anything pests get into the water dish when i leave it outside.
 
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