Going away

[bradaddie]

I currently have some fly traps and a few sarracenia purpurea coming out of dormancy and some flytrap seedlings im going out of town for work for about a month any suggestions on whats the best method for watering. I dont have anybody available to come and water them. Should I water deep and make a humidity dome. What do you guys think

 

[Tanukimo]

I would recommend a humidity dome. It will help reduce loss of water from the soil. Sarracenia purpurea can handle a lot of water but I'm not sure if the Venus flytrap would be able to handle that that long without the rhizome rotting.

 

[mato]

Maybe devise some kind of flotation device that allows them to sit in a very large tub of water?

 

[Adelea]

When I have to go away I use a setup similar to a dog water bowl, a few water trays wit inverted 5-10L containers, as the water level drops below the lowest point of the bottle gravity pulls water out, also purpurea are happy to be flooded for a few days, so perhaps use a higher water table to buy more time, but just a month a 10L should be enough, it only takes me about 30min to make something up so its quick and easy.

 

[kataok]

I'm curious about what to do in this situation as well. I'm only going out of town for one week though..

Adelea, Do you mean a bottle inverted- stuck into the substrate? Then it would take in water when the substrate dried a bit??

 

[Tanukimo]

I'm leaving for nine days and I'd like to know what people do as well. Would a humidity dome be enough if it was largely airtight? And what should be done about plants that can't be standing in water for a long time?

 

[Not a Number]

The wick method would probably work with the Flytraps. Take some thick wool yarn or cotton cord or several strands of long fibre sphagnum and poke it through some of the drain holes of the pot. Place the cord into a cup of water and suspend the pot over but not in the water. Capillary action and evaporation will transport the water up the cord and keep the media moist. For flytraps coming still dormant/coming out of dormancy this will be sufficient. I find they don't like the rhizome/korm in standing water to begin with. One field study found flytraps seem to prefer to grow where the water level just reaches the roots.

Look up Pyro (Travis Wyman's) article and post on growing Utricularia for more on the wick method.

 

[mato]

Just to touch on what NaN said, bluemax has done a lot of experimenting with the wick method and has told me that not all wicks are created equal.. so make sure the ones you are using actually work before leaving them for an extended period. Also, make sure you spiral the the wick around the inside of the pot.

 

[Adelea]

Adelea, Do you mean a bottle inverted- stuck into the substrate? Then it would take in water when the substrate dried a bit??

No, the plants pots go into a water tray (I use a 5-10cm deep tray, then you can put individual plants at any depth) then at one end (or both if the tray is big enough) you place the inverted bottle, to help stand up I cut out a large pot that fits in the tray and place the bottle within it for stability.
As for a humid dome, stagnant air is no good and can cause rot if left for to long, and it will do very little in the way of stopping evaporation as if your using tray it is stillgoing to evaporate.

 

[bluemax]

I would also add that if it is to be for an extended period, say much more than a week, be sure you are using a synthetic material for the wick, unless you are using lfs. I like nylon clothesline cord. Cotton will start to rot and cause all sorts of mayhem after awhile. For a week this shouldn't be a problem.

 

[kataok]

I think I might just do tray method for all of my plants. Leave them with a full tray.. It seems like it will be easiest for a one week trip.

 

[Tanukimo]

I think that's what I will do too. My tray is only 2 inches high though.... Anyone know how much water is needed for it to last a week or so?

 

[theplantman]

1) Less light will cause less growth and transpiration. Take a bulb out of your fixture maybe, or switch to a north/east facing window, or place plants in the shade. My Drosera collection went 4 days completely without light in my basement when our temps dropped to 9 degrees and our power went out. No harm whatsoever and I imagine they could've easily popped back after a week of this.
2) Find some teenager or friend or someone you trust and hand them money. Money is magical.
3) For the person going away for a month--maybe there's someone on TF who you could ship your plants to, and who would then babysit them and ship them back in a month? Maybe send a few bucks for the effort, or some plantlets or leaf cuttings or something? I've never heard of anyone doing this but there are some ridiculously nice and awesome people on this forum and it always surprises me.