AboutSarracenia Northwest Expertise Need help with your carnivorous plants? Ask the growers at Sarracenia Northwest! Carnivorous plant experts Jeff Dallas and Jacob Farin are here to give you myth-free advice regarding the growing of all types of carnivorous plants, including Venus flytraps, Sarracenia, Darlingtonia, Nepenthes, Heliamphora, Cephalotus, sundews, butterworts and bladderworts. If you had trouble growing carnivorous plants in the past, discover the simple secrets to keeping your plants alive, healthy and beautiful.
Experience With over 40 years of combined experience, Jeff and Jacob has definitely taken a straight forward approach to growing carnivorous plants. Their unique philosophy is unparalleled in the carnivorous plant community!
How to Submit Your Question: Use the "Ask a Question" link below to submit your question. Make sure to provide as much information about your growing conditions, and, if possible, upload a CLEAR photograph of your plant. No cell phone cameras, please. Allow up to 48 hours for a response.
If the link is not visible...This means that we are maxed out with the number of questions for the day or we are away from the nursery. Please search the database for recently answered questions (click the link "View Past Answers" below), read our care sheets on our main website or return tomorrow to submit your question. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
Question Hi, I'm a novice at growing carnivorous plants (or any plants, really), so I started this spring with a couple of species that sounded hardy: Drosera adelae and an Asian pitcher plant. I have both plants sitting in a west-facing window, where they flourished beautifully through the summer. Now fall is ending and it's turning wintery in Wisconsin, and I'm wondering what to do with them. Both seem to have halted their growth, and the Drosera isn't very dewy anymore. I've read several posts about people winterizing their plants, but it seems those people are mostly growing outdoors. I don't think either of these will survive a Wisconsin winter outdoors, so what should I do? Do I need to stick them in a fridge? Should I leave the window open one night to give them a taste of frost? I'm a little clueless, but I don't want my babies to die on me. Thanks in advance,
- Tim
Answer Hi Tim,
Fortunately, both of your plants are true tropical plants. The decrease in vigor is due to short days. Since they are tropical they have no dormancy, so there's no need to put them in the fridge or anything like that.
If you want to get them perked up try supplementing them with additional light. With just a couple of plants you can use a fluorescent desk lamp brought down within 3 inches of the plants. It's best to put the light on a timer to give them a 12-14 hour day. You may also want to check how cold it is in the window, and move them back a bit if it's real cold there. These plants rarely see temperatures below the 50's in nature.
When you get a chance visit our caresheet pages at http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets You can get a better idea of the natural history of many of the plants, and their general care.
