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Growing without dormancy

As an experiment, I am growing all of my Sarracenia without dormancy.  I live in Honolulu, and I leave them outdoors throughout the year.  I’ve been growing for only about two years, so my results are not conclusive.

A few plants have died.  I don’t know whether to attribute that to lack of dormancy or being a bad grower.  However, more plants have survived than not.  All of those stopped growing during the winter months, when the temperature never went below 60 degrees F. on the coldest night.  However, they all kept at least some of their leaves.  Most of them are now beginning to send up small traps.  These are S. Dixie Lace, S. flava, S. psitticina, S. Scarlet Belle, and S. Dana’s Delight.  The S. minor is still alive, but it’s not doing anything.

I have a friend also living in Hawaii who used to put his Sarracenia in the refrigerator for dormancy.  He said that, inevitably, some would die.  I figure I can kill a few without going through all of that trouble.
 
Interesting. I'd like to know how your plants do over the next few years as I have a girlfriend who lives around Miami and she'd like to try a few plants but would like to forgo the refrigerator deal.
 
It's not ALL about the temps. The photoperiod has a lot to do with it also. I doubt that you will be very pleased with your results, but hey something could work. LOL keep us informed.
 
Your Sarracenias will die without dormancy. They literally grow themselves to death. It takes 2 to 3 years, depending on the individual plant. We grow Sarrs very successfully here in south Florida, several hundred miles south of their native habitat (excluding S. minor). Wesley is right about the temps. Cool temps is secondary to photoperiod. We find that letting them go dry during the winter does the trick, and highly recommend this technique to tropical growers. We do get nights down into the forties (F), but mostly see low fifties. As soon as things cool down-for us its usually late November- we cut back on the water, only giving enough for them to survive. (Not too dry-or you get what Michelle calls "permanent dormancy"). However, daylight hours are getting shorter too, and is definitely a contributing factor. We very rarely loose plants to this method of inducing dormancy. In spring, they will let you know when they want water again, usually with the initiation of flowers and new growth.
Hope this is helpful.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Trent @ Mar. 24 2005,11:16)]Your Sarracenias will die without dormancy. They literally grow themselves to death. It takes 2 to 3 years, depending on the individual plant. We grow Sarrs very successfully here in south Florida, several hundred miles south of their native habitat (excluding S. minor). Wesley is right about the temps. Cool temps is secondary to photoperiod. We find that letting them go dry during the winter does the trick, and highly recommend this technique to tropical growers. We do get nights down into the forties (F), but mostly see low fifties. As soon as things cool down-for us its usually late November- we cut back on the water, only giving enough for them to survive. (Not too dry-or you get what Michelle calls "permanent dormancy").  However, daylight hours are getting shorter too, and is definitely a contributing factor. We very rarely loose plants to this method of inducing dormancy. In spring, they will let you know when they want water again, usually with the initiation of flowers and new growth.
Hope this is helpful.
nice trick, permanent dormancy, lol
 
Trent, thanks for the tips, especially about letting the medium dry out during the winter to induce dormancy.  How do you deal with reducing the photoperiod for dormancy?  Is the photoperiod short enough during the winter in S. Florida?  Or does drying out the medium somehow substitute for a shorter photoperiod?
 
Excellent question and I wish I knew the answer. I think it's a sum-total of three factors, photoperiod, dryness, and reduced temps. The dryness factor may be the most important, because if we keep them wet thru winter some of the plants will go dormant...some will slow down...and others keep growing...eventually to death.
 
i did the same thing but with a VFT but not experimentally.

my first VFT lived for 3 YEARS AND 6 MONTHS, without ever going through dormancy. Then it collapsed on itself.
 
3.5 years sounds about right..

let them do their thing.
 
  • #10
They will find dormancy if they want it. I grew sarrs, and VFTs on my windowsill for a few years, and they went through dormancy. The ONLY thing that changed was the photoperiod, one never went in to dormancy, and it's still alive today.
 
  • #11
Dave,
You live in San Francisco. You are about as far north as Norfolk, Virginia. You have a winter, with a proper photoperiod. People growing Sarrs south of their native habitat have a different set of conditions to those living in temperate zones. They must force the plants into dormancy or they will loose them within a few years.
 
  • #12
I do n't want my vfts to die. Will you please tell me how long dormancy period could be for my vfts? Do I have to put them all in the refrigeretor?
 
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