Expert: Christopher Littrell - 11/28/2007

Question
Its late November and I don't know if my vf's are dormant or not. Over here in
north central Arizona it stayed rather warm till just a week or so ago. I set
them out a few days before Halloween; I was growing them indoors before
that.  I read that some of the traps are supposed to start wilting. They are but
not at an unusual rate from what they were before. The daytime
temperature's been in the 50's to lower 60's while Night time's been in the
upper 30's. I've been tray watering the soil but not at any excessive amount.
Is my plant that I've kept alive for 6 months doomed to wither and die when
spring comes? I've looked up websites on dormancy, but a lot of them
suggest trimming the leaves off and sticking the plant in a fridge.

Answer
Hello Jonathan,

It is a bit early to give up on your Venus Flytrap.

The main concerns about dormancy are that the plant has received natural light from a window or outside, or that artificial light has been reduced in day length over the course of October and November from 16 hours, down to 12 by November, and then further down to 8 hours by the end of November. After that, the plant can be cooled down over several days until it gets winter temperatures down into the 40s. So long as the temperature does not drop below 32 degrees for any length of time it should be fine... but protect it from deep freezes as that can dry it out and kill it eventually if it is in a pot. Potted plants need to be kept at just above freezing temperatures just to ensure they do not succumb to the cold. In the wild, Venus flytraps do survive drops below freezing quite well, but those are growing in the ground with vegetation around them to provide natural mulch.

I also have an indoors Venus Flytrap that I am placing into dormancy this week. It is down to 8 hours of light a day from my florescent lights and it is doing the same as yours. It lets a few leaves die back, but also produces a few low lying leaves with short wide stems (petioles). It also grows a bit slower with the short photoperiod. Once the cold air hits it, it will slow even more and just about totally halt growth over winter. If your Flytrap is producing shorter petioles that lie close to the ground and is slowing in growth, it is preparing for dormancy.

Just keep up your watering routine with just barely moistening the soil and watch the weather to ensure it does not get an unseasonable warm spell or a drop below freezing for more than a few hours.

Keep up the good work,

Christopher