VFT's Suck!

[cool85k5]

I find that deeper pots work the best for me,the window box planters work good also.




Jerry

 

[vraev]

I guess its relative to what the grower can provide to the plant. I acutally BEND in and follow the plant's orders as I have to change around my own life to let these grow for me....and so far yea...they are going great for me. And I just started in sept...i also had one in dormancy whcih came out successfully even though 2 others died. I guess those 2 plants were stressed and weak in the first place.

I guess it all depends. If you really like the plant...as I do.....don't give up.....try different things...get 2 plants...this time for dormancy...do the fridge with one and try attic with another....important thing is that they are healthy and not rushed or shocked.

 

[-=Joel=-]

In winter STOP watering them.

ONLY give them water when the pot is starting to dry.

As it warms up then start watering more often. Simple really

 

[Finch]

I guess i will not try these plants for a while, after reading this

 

[ChronoKiento]

Joel, I've pretty much tried everything, you can bet that if the pot freezes solid, even once then your VFT is screwed. Mine were outside until the first freeze until I rushed them inside for the rest of the winter. I didn't realize they were dead until I dug them up a month ago. Overwintering VFTs outside in places that are below freezing a lot in the winter requires either a large pot (bog garden of sorts) or to like.. burry them. Or possibly something like a cold frame.

This doesn't mean that I won't grow VFTs anymore though.

I love VFTs.

 

[zappafan]

Tall narrow pots tend to drain faster according to some, I've forgotten who researched that. Joel summed it up well about when to water.

 

[Clint]

Wouldn't short shallow pots drain faster?

 

[zappafan]

I'm not sure, I know small pots "dry out" faster, and the ratio of the soil mix is very important for drainage. I'm sure that someone said tall narrow pots drain water away faster. I've considered finding some nice Orchid pots for growing my VFT in.

 

[-=Joel=-]

Most of my vft are grown in 6cm square pots. Bigger clumps get put in slightly bigger pots.

My mix is 50 : 50 (ish) peat and perlite

My plants do freeze over in winter however normally not for more than 2 - 3 days at a time.

Where are your plants coming from ? Might be worth trying to track down better quality plants that have been looked after than store bought ones ?

 

[xvart]

If your vft freeze you should let them ride the freeze out naturally instead of bringing them indoors since the sudden change will do more damage than just letting them be frozen for a little bit of time and naturally readjusting to the cold dormant conditions they yearn for.

xvart.

 

[Not a Number]

Y'all can send them sucky VFTs to me and I'll make a pot'o sucky VFTs.

 

[JMurphy97]

The only water mine got in the winter was from the fungicide I sprayed on them.

 

[zappafan]

I kept mine in a cold windowsill in an unheated room, they did fine. I tend to reall baby my plants through dormancy.

 

[ilbasso]

Whew! I was thinking that there was something wrong with me! well, at least something ELSE wrong with me.

I am having one heck of a time myself with those little buggers. I had a big pot with many of them and was thrilled to find that a few were still tickin' a few days ago. I pulled them out and planted them in larger planters with some sarrs that are starting to think about waking up. I was very pleased that there were more VFTs than I had originally thought-about 5 total.

Today 2 are accounted for. Damn tree weasels (squirrels) got to them today. Okay, maybe chipmunks are to blame too.

I even managed to kill the red dragons that Sarracenia NW sent me over the winter. They got all fungusy and mushed right up after being brought inside. I never even had a chance to enjoy them!

 

[quogue]

I still think Flytraps are the coolest CP and I grow Ceph's, big Dews and some pretty nice Neps as well as assorted other CP's.
Flytraps are only dormant a few months outta the year anyways.
If they weren't so common they'd be in more demand than even Ceph's I bet!

 

[mabudon]

My outdoor VFTs were in -5 C conditions from January 15th to around March 15th (I used a temp logger in my bog, we were doing a bit of an experiment on EXACTLY what temps which species will survive, and will likely release some kind of something eventually after another year to compare this years data with)

They look fine now

 

[JRFxtreme]

Dang, I never realized so many people had problems with flytraps. They've always been easy growing for me. I started with 1 red dragon and about 3-4 typicals a couple years ago and now I have over 20+ extra plants from it.

 

[JMurphy97]

Dang, I never realized so many people had problems with flytraps. They've always been easy growing for me. I started with 1 red dragon and about 3-4 typicals a couple years ago and now I have over 20+ extra plants from it.

So what are you trying to say?

 

[JRFxtreme]

VFTs rule!

Do you keep your tropical plants under lights? If so, it might be worth while to try growing them indoors with natural and supplemental light year round.

Check out this topic: http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17309

If your light is strong enough to support healthy growth there is really no need for so called dormancy. Just keep them growing.

In Nature dormancy occurs so plants can survive the poor growing conditions of cold temperatures and short daylength that occurs in late fall and early winter. It also sets up the timing that VFT’s key on to flower together. It allows the seed to be set early to mid summer so the seedlings have a chance of growing and then surviving their first winter.

Mine get a dormancy but temps in the winter here rarely dip below 50-60 for an extended period of time, usually daytime temps are 60-70.

 

[ilbasso]

Anybody tried mouth-to-mouth with one to see if it'll help?