Time to wake up?

[Guest]

I think I'll start bringing my plants out of dormancy. Some of them are already showing signs of waking up, as they were put to sleep in October.

 

[Guest]

Do you have them growing under lights or outside? If they're outside, mother nature will decide when to wake them up. I've found that mature Sarracenia love a long dormancy period. Seedlings can be "pushed" with a shorter dormancy or none at all. Many people like to use this technique to attain mature plants, quicker.
I'm getting a little anxious for spring myself!
imduff

 

[Mike King]

Hi,
I would leave it until the end of Feb... Reason is botrytis prone time is upon us..

 

[Guest]

Well, like I said, they're waiking up already, and my S. flava finished flowering a couple of weeks ago. I mean, they've gotten the minimum 3 months of dormancy. I think they'lle be alright

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[sarracenia]

It's amazing the power of internal clocks. Mine have been in the garage since late Nov. There are no windows and I only turn a regular lamp on there during the day for light. Well, the S. flava's have blooms shooting up now. I'd like to put them in the sun, so they can get some good energy production, but it's still too dang cold right now.

 

[Sarraceniaobsessed]

Just for a weather update from down here close to where sarracenias grow natively, the temp in Atlanta this am was 16F, in Walton County, FL was 27F. I don't think they are waking up anytime soon in their native habitat. For those you you who worry about your Venus Fly Traps and the cold, the temp in Wilmington, NC this am was 27F. My concern for waking up the plants to early is that even though they appear to be fine in the long run it will exhaust them and they will eventually die. One year waking up early is fine, several in a row and I think you will have problems. I would explore options of storing them in a cold frame outside and heating it with a light bulb on the coldest of nights. Down south, we have 'pit' greenhouse that uses the earth's temp. to maintain a reasonable level and on the coldest night such as last night we throw a heavy blanket over the 'pit' and but a 100 watt ligth bulb in it. These plants are not as tender as we think. They are quite hardy if they have a proper cooling down peroid and some protection. I remember reading some where a fella had sarracenias in Kansas. It gets #### cool there, well below 0. Just some thoughts.

 

[Guest]

You're right, but they went dormant early (mid October) and it has been three months, so I think they'll be ok. Thanks for the advice

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[mindmaze128]

Strange thing for me too.. I have 2 sarrs here in Puerto Rico, and I would have though that they wouldn't got into dormancy if I left them outside. However, they went into dormancy around late october, and they seem to be coming out of dormancy now. Very strange!