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Dormancy..

i dont have any VFT's yet, i would love some though! i just wanted to know, is there ANYWAY AT ALL to somehow avoid dormancy without killing the poor thing?
 
You could skip dormancy maybe once or twice but if they don't have a dormancy each season they will get weaker and weaker until they die
 
ugh..wonderful
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i live in new york city, do you think i can just leave them on my windowsill in the winter, i'll shut the wondows but it will still be pritty cold..
 
From what I've heard, the reduced photo period that winter brings contributes more to dormancy than temperature.  Assuming this is true, I would think the windowsill thing would work out okay as long as you give your VFT a lot less light during the dormancy period.

Anyone want to verify this?
 
I use the windowsill for my vfts and it works great
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I might do that too. I hate the fridge idea. It's too....unnatural.
 
Last year I was being urged to put my Darlingtonia asleep, even though I just bought it November. It was on a window sill the whole time. Though the photoperiod naturally decreased, the temperature only went from the 70's to the 50's. I got the strong impression that it needed to be colder, like 35-40 degrees. Not that I can truly put numbers on things, but dormancy seems to be 2/3 light and 1/3 temperature induced. Maybe it's more 60-40, but I think the just above freezing temp is also important in the dormancy equation.
 
  • #10
I'd say 50 degrees would be good enough a little lowers bet better though.
 
  • #11
Asking a dormancy requiring plant to skip it is like pulling an all-nighter for a few days straight and then taking the exam.
 
  • #12
the refrigrator is not any more "unnatural" than a windowsill!
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yes, VFTs dont live in refrigrators in the wild..but they dont live on windowsills either!

IMO, the fridge is much better than a windowsill..
because its the perfect temp, and its CONSTANT..
I know for a fact that when my plants are in the fridge for 3 months, they are deeply dormant, getting a good, proper rest..at 35 degrees.
on a windowsill, it might be really cold one day and 20 degrees warmer the next..and the plants wont be *truly* dormant..
I still say 50 or 60 degrees is far too warm..
at 50 degrees, a plant might "slow down" but it wont go truly dormant..
there is no such such thing as "slightly dormant"..
either a plant is truly dormant, or is still awake but just "growing slowly.."
if you have a truly cold windowsill, in an unheated room, it *can* work fine..
but you want the air around your plant to be in the high 30's or low 40's!!
thats hard to get in a room where humans live..
Scot
 
  • #13
I use the refrig dormancy. I stick them in around Mid-November and take them out around February. The part that kills the vft for me is transplanting. I use to kill vft's in dormancy because I would water to much after they are done. That would cause the vft to rot.
 
  • #14
I know growers how keep VFTs at temps in the 50's and 60's for dormancy in Southern California. I keep them from high 30's to the 60's and possibly 70's here in Southern California. A lessened photoperiod is just as crucial as a lowering in temps. Your cool windowsill, if is actually cooler than normal growing season temps should be fine for your VFTs.
 
  • #15
I have read that some uproot them and put them in the fridge like that, or even cut all the leaves off. But I was hoping it would be ok to just stick the pot in there as is. Would that be ok? Any advantages to cutting leaves off or doing it bareroot? Thanks
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- Joel
 
  • #16
Since November is rapidly approaching, and we are on the topic, a couple of questions...

Will putting the plants in the fridge for 3 months kill the aphids and lice-looking bugs?

How wet do you keep them when they are in their pots still and in the fridge?

If you take them out of their pots do they survive better than if you don't?

If they have essentially no light for 3 months (it's a garage fridge), will all the leaves die, leaving just a rhizome under the soil?

I have some little plants, where the whole plant is less than 1" across, with the leaves laying flat. Do I treat these the same way as my large plants?

Thanks,
Scott
 
  • #17
I leave my traps in the pots during dormancy. I have had no trouble with fungus. Sure some may appear but just scrap it off with a spoon or something. I also leave the leaves on so it is easier on the plant coming out of dormancy. As for watering I water once every two weeks with the pot not sitting in water. That helps avoid rot during and after dormancy.
 
  • #18
Do you have to acclimate them to the fridge too? Or can you just stick them in there when the time is right?
 
  • #19
Now is the time to prepare them for dormancy. The photoperiod is getting shorter and the temps are starting to head down. By the time mid-November arrives, if the plants are outside, they are getting sleepy. Then, if you are planning to do the fridge, you move them in. You don't take a window sill plant that has been at 70 degrees and put in the fridge. It needs to be acclimated there. Both photoperiod and temperature have to be gradually reduced to where the fridge won't come as a shock to the plant.
 
  • #20
So how do you acclimate a plant well to the fridge temperature? The window sill might be cooling down here a little bit soon, but that's still probably not enough to stick them in the fridge. Should I put them in there for 15 minutes or so and then gradually increase that time.........? What's the best way to do it? Thanks!
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- Joel
 
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