Expert: Christopher Littrell - 5/4/2008

Question
QUESTION: Last  year I put my Venus Flytraps and my Pitcher Plant in a stand and covered it with a plastic cover in the back of my patio where it gets cold but I don't think it gets that much wind.Now that they are coming out of dormancy it seem that my Purple pitcher and my Parrot pitcher are the only one's that seem to be growing my venus flytraps and my judith hindle & my white pitcher don't seem to show any grouth.Next year can I put them in a plastic storage container with a cover on it(which means no light)I used to put them in the garage but we sold the house and I am now in a apartment with no basement.


ANSWER: Hello Pam,

Sorry to hear about your plants that did not seem to survive dormancy. The main things to remember about dormancy is that short photoperiods bring dormancy on while cold weather makes dormancy easier to survive since mold has a harder time growing in cold conditions. Other aspects that diminish the chances of infection and mold attack would be open pot growing, even during winter, and ultraviolet light from short photoperiod sunlight. Enclosing the plants and keeping them in lightless conditions would increase the chances of mold growth on their dormant roots, increasing the losses you would have. I successfully overwinter my Flytraps and Sarracenias indoors in an ice chest with several frozen water bottles, keeping the chest open by day in a sunny window and closed at night. If outside growing is possible, place your plants outside all year and simply place the plants in large buckets of mulch with a layer of mulch on top of them to insulate them if the temperatures there get below freezing. If the temperatures remain just above 32 degrees in winter, you should be safe most of the year. If only a few days get that low, just cover the plants for a few days in the coldest times and keep them open the rest of the time.

Christopher

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: So what your saying is keep them outside in the bucket and put mulch on them.leave the cover off in the daytime but put the cover on at night.I live in New York and the weather stays below 32 for a little more than a few days.My purple pitcher & my Parrot pitcher have a lot of leaves on them do I cut them off or cover them with mulch.If so what kind of mulch do I use.

Answer
Hello Pam,

You can use regular tree bark mulch, hay, or pine needles... anything that provides insulation, yet some air flow, to the plants while being easy to remove after the risk of deep freezing has passed. Just keep the mulch on while the temperatures are freezing or below.. take the mulch off when the temperatures are above 32 degrees and keep an eye on the weather reports for low temperature days.

Purple Pitcher Plants grow more slowly than other pitcher plants, so leave their pitchers as much as possible... only cut back dead or dying growth. The other Sarracenias can be cut back, leaving about half the leaf length sticking out of the ground. The pitchers tend to die back more severely in low temperatures on other species of Sarracenias. Purple Pitcher Plants keep their leaves even in very cold weather more often than not.

Christopher