dormancy darkness

[traps]

hey its mark. this is my first year of dormancy for some of my plants. i was told on barrys website that its not good for carnivorous plants to be dark during dormancy. but my local carnivorous plant nursery in maryland PA said that its ok to have them dark while in dormancy.
i have my plants in my pops basment wich is about 60 digreas farenheight and is pitch black dark. i think i should move the plants back to my house and put them in my shed but it goes down to sometimess bellow 20 degreas farenheight on occasion.
what do you ,or others think i should do stay at pops or move them to my cold shed. i think the shed is better but when temp goes bellow 32degreas farenheight is where im debating
thanks for the help!!! im going to join the icps i think this year !!! ;D

[hcarlton]

It doesn't really matter if the plants are in a dark area, as long as there is air flow to reduce chances of mold, but during warm spells some light can be beneficial to the plants. And temps below freezing aren't a problem, and will help keep them dormant, just be careful when temps drop into the low 20's.

[ICPS-bob]

You do not say what species you are growing. For some species, 60F might be a bit warm for winter dormancy -- but for tropical and sub-tropical species it might be OK. For temperate species, the shed might be better -- however I would be concerned when the temperature gets into the 20F range if the pots freeze. Surrounding the pots with insulating materials would help. Remember to keep the pots watered. Many plants die during dormancy because they dried out.

[Alexis]

I understand photosynthesis ceases for a lot of species below 6C. If it's below 6C, it may be that it doesn't matter whether it's dark or not.

[maiden]

All my sarracenias and vfts are in my fridge since novembre, until mid feb. The temps is 4C and its dark of course.
I put each pot in a black plastic bag, and the substrat is almost dry, but not completely. I open the bags once a month to see if everything is fine. Sometimes i see some white spots on the substrat but the plants are not affected at all. I remove that with my finger.