Over wintering Sars & VFTs

[Rocketcaver]

Has anyone tried using their crawlspace under the house for over wintering CP?
I tried the garage in the past and all plants died.
I'm in the US in zone 6 (southern Illinois), and our winters are freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw. It can be -10F one week then a few weeks later 60F, then back down to 0F back and forth all winter. Let me tell you the repeated freeze-thaw cycle does not agree with CP.
I have too many for the fridge method. I am looking for someone with a basement so I can borrow some space. Don't have room to dig a big hole to mulch them down in.
I do have a good crawlspace area. Just wondered if anyone had tried that.

 

[Nickrober]

If you have a vented crawlspace, which most people do (there will be small vents near grown level on the walls) there's a good chance that there will be mold down there, sometimes a lot of it.

Although, you could wrap them up real tight with plastic trash bags. I'd probably put at least 2 bags on each pot or group of pots.

Can't give you any experience with plants in the crawlspace as I've never done it.

 

[swords]

I'm in zone 3 - 4 in central MN which since the 1990s has been doing pretty much the same as your winter, 60*F on Jan 2nd and -10*F on Jan 7th... Sktizoid weather.

I once tried uprooting my VFT bulbs and dusting them with fungicide and wrapping in a towel and putting that in the fridge but they just got all covered in grey mold so I'm gonna try sticking the whole pot in there. I'm going to put the whole planter into a freezer bag in my fridge and seeing how that goes. I don't know what I'll do next year if I end up with a 1/2 wiskey barrel size mini bog full of sarrs which I just didn't get round to doing this year. I don't think that'll fit in the fridge!

However I leave my asiatic lilies out in the wiskey barrel and they come back every year.

 

[jimscott]

Do you have an attic? That worked for me, WNY.

 

[back2eight]

have you actually tried leaving them outside? Or are you just basing your info on what people have said? You may be surprised to find that they will do alright. Mulch them heavily (pile pine straw around them) and perhaps cover them with a plastic bag during the worst of the weather if you feel you need to. I think the uprooting and sticking in places that don't see light for months at a time is really bad for them.

 

[blokeman]

depending on how many plants you have, with the technique i picked up off of some people here (chop it all off down to the rhisome and store in ziplock bags... which is a little brutal but works) mine all fit in one plastic grocery bag in the back of the fridge...
my 2 cents

 

[Kayota]

I put mine in the garage, personally, but that's just me. I don't know why they would have died in the garage unless they were weak to begin with - my plants are all pretty vigorous and robust.

 

[F R e N c H 3 z]

I think the uprooting and sticking in places that don't see light for months at a time is really bad for them.

Why is that?

 

[Kayota]

^I think I might agree, because disturbing the roots I've heard is bad for the plant when going into dormancy... if I have to transplant anything towards the end of the season i leave the clump of dirt the roots are in on it and just stick that in the new pot.

 

[F R e N c H 3 z]

Where did you hear that? The only thing I have read about root disturbance was in Don Schnell's book when he talks about S. flava var. rubricorpora. He mentions that SOME plants may take a few seasons to establish the full red color even in full sun if they are disturbed.

My rubricorpora has been repotted midseason with no ill-effects. I use the fridge dormancy method and have yet to see any ill-effects that I can decisively pinpoint is due to root disturbance. I know several other growers do so as well and I have not heard of damage due to root disturbance.

 

[Kayota]

thanks for the info - i feel better about re-potting my VFT so late in the season now.

 

[F R e N c H 3 z]

I was referring to Sarracenia so I cannot say about Dionaea, maybe some other growers with more VFT experience can help out. In my experience they've grown fine after being repotted during the growing season. I dont know about the end of the growing season though.

 

[Kayota]

Oh... hm. Well the deed is done so it doesn't matter.