AboutSarracenia Northwest Expertise Got a carnivorous plant problem? The growers at Sarracenia Northwest can help! Carnivorous plant experts Jeff Dallas and Jacob Farin have helped thousands of growers around the world, and they can help you too. When you submit your question, they will diagnose your situation and offer a solution to help you get your carnivorous plant back on track.
Experience With over 40 years of combined experience, Jeff and Jacob has definitely taken a straight forward approach to growing carnivorous plants. Get the straight facts from the guys who grow and propagate thousands of these plants every year.
PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR QUESTION:
We no longer answer how-to questions (i.e. How do I propagate...?; How do I grow...?).
Instead, we help growers by diagnosing a specific plant problem and offering solutions (i.e. Why is my sundew not producing dew?; Is now a good time to divide my Sarracenia?; Why are the traps turning black?; What's a good substitute for perlite?; Why didn't my seeds germinate?; Can you identify this carnivorous plant for me?)
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.
