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Post by clasby on Oct 23, 2011 21:33:31 GMT
Hey everyone,
I know I'm beating a dead horse with this thread, but bear with me please. I live just west of Toronto in Ontario, Canada and am weighing in my options for the year's VFT dormancy.
Previous years I've simply put my entire terrarium in the fridge and had good success the following spring - plants come back no problem. But I've read nothing but negative things about the fridge method, so I'd rather not do it this year.
October has been chilly. Except for a warm front that lasted a few days, we've had day time highs in the low to mid teens, some days in single digits (in celsius obviously) and night time lows in single digits for the most part. That in conjunction with the reduced photo periods, it's plain to see the VFTs are already well into starting their dormancy. I plan to keep them outdoors until frost becomes an issue - probably mid to late November.
As for indoors, the only window in our finished basement faces north. The basement is heated, but still much cooler than the rest of the house (sorry I can't quote specific temps).
I know that the dormancy is more photo period rather than temperature so I was wondering if leaving them in the window in the cooler (but still heated) basement would be sufficient for dormancy.
Any opinions and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cam
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Post by Aidan on Oct 23, 2011 23:32:57 GMT
Sounds like a reasonable plan. A temperature in the region of 10C or lower is generally thought to be ideal.
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Post by Hamata95 on Oct 25, 2011 15:49:11 GMT
I can't remember the exact conversion but flytraps are hardy down to 20F which I'm sure what that is in ?C. I hope this helps
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Post by clasby on Oct 26, 2011 2:13:00 GMT
It's not the cool I'm worried about too much. Like I said the basement is finished. It's actually them being too warm for dormancy.
Another question I can't seem to find a consistent answer on: How long a dormancy is considered sufficient? 2 months? 3?
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Post by Hamata95 on Oct 26, 2011 15:43:36 GMT
well the Nursery I buy my plants from says there growing season is April through November.
Hope this info helps
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Post by bluemax on Oct 27, 2011 6:46:42 GMT
I really don't want to muddy the water but even with the aid of the most talented and accomplished cp growers in the world I believe that the best methods are those that work for YOU. If I had consistent success with a given method I would probably continue with it. 'Just my opinion.
- Mark
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Post by mbfmark on Feb 4, 2012 5:32:35 GMT
Actually VFT's can take much lower temperatures than 20F in winter, provided it isn't for extended durations. They grow as far inland as the Sanford, NC area where the record low is -3F. Even for Wilmington, NC, the center of their range, the record low is 0F. My plants grow in an outdoor bog garden in the Blue Ridge Mtns where we experience many nights below freezing from December to Februrary, with always several nights in the mid-teens and even single digits some years. Growing in the bog, which will sometimes freeze solid, they are doing just fine, even though some will get frost heaved out of the ground and have to be pushed back down. I know of growers are far north as central Virginia (inland away from the coast) who have raised them outdoors for years. But I suppose the northern limit of where they would survive is probably not much farther north than that in the Eastern U.S. While we do have these temperature extremes, we almost never stay below freezing during the day time except in exceptional cold spells, so it pales when compared to Ontario, CA. Still, haven't lost a plant to freezing yet! (Oh, by the way, same is true with Drosera tracyi and Drosera filiformis "Florida All-Red"- even though my bog will freeze solid from time to time, they do just fine through the winter.)
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Post by DroseraBug on Feb 8, 2012 3:55:03 GMT
Actually VFT's can take much lower temperatures than 20F in winter, provided it isn't for extended durations. They grow as far inland as the Sanford, NC area where the record low is -3F. Even for Wilmington, NC, the center of their range, the record low is 0F. My plants grow in an outdoor bog garden in the Blue Ridge Mtns where we experience many nights below freezing from December to Februrary, with always several nights in the mid-teens and even single digits some years. Growing in the bog, which will sometimes freeze solid, they are doing just fine, even though some will get frost heaved out of the ground and have to be pushed back down. I know of growers are far north as central Virginia (inland away from the coast) who have raised them outdoors for years. But I suppose the northern limit of where they would survive is probably not much farther north than that in the Eastern U.S. While we do have these temperature extremes, we almost never stay below freezing during the day time except in exceptional cold spells, so it pales when compared to Ontario, CA. Still, haven't lost a plant to freezing yet! (Oh, by the way, same is true with Drosera tracyi and Drosera filiformis "Florida All-Red"- even though my bog will freeze solid from time to time, they do just fine through the winter.) I agree with the above and live further north by a little in NC, however not Canada. My bogs with many vfts get into the twenties with extremes into the teens during nights. I've never had problems as long as temperatures reach back up above freezing within a couple of days without freeze protection measures. From my research dormancy needs to last at least two or three months. If temperatures are predicted to remain below freezing for days, mulch them or easier protect them by covering the plants with something. Here, temperatures have dipped really low at night in winter and I cover the gardens with blankets just to be safe and never had issues. I've also missed these cold periods and had no problems. I would try to stay below 50F degrees for at or over two months for a good dormancy without letting the plants freeze solid for days. Short periods just above 50 during the day is common in their native habitat and should not affect dormancy. My vfts including seedlings thrive year after year with temporary frozen conditions in NC. That is not Canada. Some sort of protection may be required but as stated above these plants have been very cold tolerant for me too (with soil frozen solid temporarily).
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Post by billmcenaney on Apr 7, 2013 19:33:23 GMT
I can't remember the exact conversion but flytraps are hardy down to 20F which I'm sure what that is in ?C. I hope this helps C = (F - 32) * (5 / 9) F = ((9 / 5) * C) + 32 "C" means "degrees celsius," and you know what "F" means.
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Post by isteveb on Sept 4, 2015 23:53:46 GMT
Hey everyone, I know I'm beating a dead horse with this thread, but bear with me please. I live just west of Toronto in Ontario, Canada and am weighing in my options for the year's VFT dormancy. Previous years I've simply put my entire terrarium in the fridge and had good success the following spring - plants come back no problem. But I've read nothing but negative things about the fridge method, so I'd rather not do it this year. October has been chilly. Except for a warm front that lasted a few days, we've had day time highs in the low to mid teens, some days in single digits (in celsius obviously) and night time lows in single digits for the most part. That in conjunction with the reduced photo periods, it's plain to see the VFTs are already well into starting their dormancy. I plan to keep them outdoors until frost becomes an issue - probably mid to late November. As for indoors, the only window in our finished basement faces north. The basement is heated, but still much cooler than the rest of the house (sorry I can't quote specific temps). I know that the dormancy is more photo period rather than temperature so I was wondering if leaving them in the window in the cooler (but still heated) basement would be sufficient for dormancy. Any opinions and advice would be greatly appreciated. Cam
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Post by isteveb on Sept 4, 2015 23:55:10 GMT
I have a similar dilemma with my flytraps. I live in South Florida and wonder how I can get my dormancy to kick in when it never really gets cold enough (down to 45 F but only rarely).
Any suggestions would be welcome.
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Post by paulkoop on Sept 5, 2015 1:00:26 GMT
Up root rinse wrap in paper towel store in crisper drawer for a month bam winter is over ( i hear it works iv never done it) i live in canada but mild side lol
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