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UH OH! :o

nepenthes gracilis

nepenthes gracilis

Nepenthes Specialist
Did anyone see the Weather Channel? In NC they are supposed to be getting at least 3-6 inches of SNOW!!!!! IN VFT TERRITORY!!!! :eek: Will they be OK!!!
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Will it wipe out the VFT population in the wild??? Nep.G.
 
NG, the earth is in a warming trend right now, about 500 years ago, I think, it was even warmer than it was now for about a decade, it's a cyclic trend (That yes, we are now interfering with to some extent I am sure) but my point is, that North America has experienced Ice Ages before, and we still have flytraps... I am sure they will be fine!
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Hmm I never thought of that...............Does that mean they can be frozen during thier dormancy?
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Oh I wouldn't go that far, I think a plant frozen is certainly dead, my point is that something will always survive to propogate the species... you don't need to worry about all those flytraps in nature, as I am sure that they will be just fine!
 
YES, its snowing here in Virginia! :biggrin: We have 8" so far and its still falling! (Weather folks thought we'd get none to possibly 3 inches so they were off by a bit!). :) I moved my VFTs and sarras onto my back porch a few nites ago, but they are all covered with snow now. Actually snow doesn't normally hurt plants too much. It actually acts as insulationand protects plants from the colder air/wind above. Snow doesnt necessarily mean frozen ground. Often the ground is just soggy wet. Having the soil freeze is much more damaging than snow. We've had very cold temps here especially at night so I will see in the spring if anything got tooooo cold. Hmmm...now that I think about it, I should scoop up some snow and melt it for watering my plants.

I hope the plants are ok. For myself, I'm cozy inside with a cup of hot chocolate watching the beautiful flakes fall. :)

suzanne
 
Yes RP. But I let my S.Purpurea spp. Purpurea freeze the liuve sphagnum and all! And I don't think it will have any ill effects will it? This happens quite frequently in nature doesn't it to this Sarracenia species? LOL PlantAKiss.
 
S.Purpurea ssp. Purpurea frequently experiences freezing temperatures in the wild and should have no problems surviving freezes.
 
but if the plant freezes wont ice crystals form in it's cells, and rupture the cell walls? I guess a lot of plants go through this... but purps, all sars actually, to me, seem so tender... I guess they are made of more steely stuff than I thought!
 
LOL i can't beleive ur worrying about plants in the wild-there not made of tissues u know-LOL flytraps have to endure cyclones,floods and flash fires in their natural habitat-i am sure a bit of snow won't harm them-lol it's just natures way of weeding out the wimps-u don't want weak flytraps surviving and producing a new generation of weak plants do u? Survival of the fittest-Darwins law-it's too bad if all the flytraps get wiped out-it's just natures way-and for heavens sake don't worry about plants in the wild.......
 
  • #10
I don't know what I was thinking about the Purpurea Purpurea. Why up in the L'odrik Marsh where A LOT of Purpurea Purpurea's are it freezes over every winter. I am such an idiot! This plant is native to my area! And we get wicked cold temps in the winter. Nep.G.
 
  • #11
But flytraps are SPECIAL! :eek:
And they are quite delicate - I froze my entire collection last year!
Another point is that there would be far more flytraps in the wild if country yokels from Carolina didn't nick them. They are an endangered species and we don't want snow wiping any more out!
 
  • #12
Well, first of, just to make it clear, I am NOT worried about any plants out in the wild, I just think it's really important to distinguish the difference between a plant on your back porch in a pot, and one 100 yards away in a marsh...

The marsh is a bigger system than the pot, therefor it will by it's very nature not freeze as fast as a potted plant, and most likely will not endure temperatures as LOW as a potted plant, which above ground is subjected to winds and elements that hundreds of tons of surrounding soil, water, and plants protect, that a native plant does NOT have to endure as hard...

It may seem strange... but I think there IS a difference...
 
  • #13
Since we are on the topic of VFT's the bulbs I got from Phil and Jeff. I planted 1 and the other three are fugicided and slleping. The one I planted doesn't seem to be doing anything! It just seems to be doing nothing at all. Not even rotting!! :eek: What's up with this!!! I do have sand in the peat instead of perlite. Is this my problem? The pot is heavy rather then perlite mixtures. Is the soil too compact??? I think it may be. Nep.G.
 
  • #14
umm... sounds like your mixture is ok... is thep lant getting a normal photo period? Is it in a warm place?

NG, bulbs sold during this time of the year are still fresh out of tissue culture, and you don't need to put them in dormancy... though if they have been there for long, I would just leave them.

Give the plant a chance to over come shock... it usually takes about a week or two for me, before they start sending up shoots... I don't know if that isstandard or not.
 
  • #15
I got natural sand for a clean pit. Could it be the sand?
 
  • #16
Hi N.G. Are you growing them under lights? If you are using natural daylight then the plants are trying to go dormant due to the short days and you will see little or no growth till spring, if so you should drop your temp and let them go or it will tend to exhaust them, otherwise put them on a summer daylight schedule under lights and you should see growth shortly.
 
  • #17
Heh, the plants in the wild will be just fine. The snow will keep them at an even 32 F or so and actually protect them from freezing. The experience snow like this ever 5 years or so. I got my flytrap bulbs 2 weeks ago... 43 of 'em. I got em growing under lights and they seem to be waking up nicely. When it warms up a little outside I think I'll move them but I don't want them to get two dormancies in a row
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They would probably be fine though. My sarras outside are already sending up spring pitchers!!!

Noah
 
  • #18
G.C. it is only 1 VFT bulb. I do have it under a summer light period. It is right next to my Nepenthes tank so the light is ample as the Nepenthes are growing. It is next to the highland tank where there is a temp drop at night. Is it dormant? Should I move it away from the light so I won't kill it?
 
  • #19
Well N.G. it sounds like your set-up is good so I have to agree with R.P that it is still having a little travel shock. The best action would be none at all so you do not add to the problem with transplant shock too. Just keep an eye on it, if it does not start to fade then it is just taking it's time in coming around, let it rest. If your worried about the sand being contaminated just flush some distilled water through the pot a few times and that should remove the worst of it. Let us know what happens!
 
  • #20
I'll probably just let it do what it wants to. Thanks for all your help! Nep.G.
 
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