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  • #21
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Travis @ Oct. 01 2003,11:35)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Every other year would be 3 months in the frig (sounds like a sentence. Three months in the slammer). I have no cold room and outside in Michigan is to cold.

Travis[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
you have a PERFECT "cold room"
its called a refrigrator!
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I wouldnt try every-other year..too risky.
think about why you want skip a year and do every other year..is it for you, or the plants?
gotta do what the plants need!
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(talking to the world in general now, not Travis specifically..)

asking "Do VFTs really need dormancy?" is like asking "do humans really need sleep?"
We sleep once a day because we must to survive,
VFTS need to sleep once a year, because they must to survive..
its really not optional..

Scot
 
  • #22
I guess I will toss them into the frig for about 3 months or so...They just look so healthy and happy. Thanks for the advice.

Travis
 
  • #23
Well Pyro, the plants I'm growing that need dormancy are: a bout 5 young vfts, (not seedlings), a typical vft, 2 sar. Judith Hindles, and a young sarr. thats probably a rubra.
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  • #24
So as long as I put my VFTs in a cold window, that will do for its dormacy? And they still need light during this period.....they don't just get stuck in the fridge and forgoten for 3 months....you still have to take them out every day so they get some light......?!?

My plant might already be going dormant....the traps are much smaller, not very responsive........
 
  • #25
If you have a window or any other place that you can put your VFTs that stays roughly between 55°F and 35°F, they should be fine.  The warmer the spot is the more important the availability of light becomes.  Below about 43°F, photosynthesis begins to slow down.  When you get down to the temps most people keep their refridgerator at (approx. 35°F to 40°F, I believe), photosynthesis has slowed way down if not stopped.  That is why plants in the refrigerator don't require light.  So no, they don't have to be taken out everyday for some light.  They should be checked at least on a weekly basis for mold and to make sure they don't need more water or excess water poured out (condensation mostly).

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edit @ 2:25, 10-5-03
If you want to take your plants outside on warmer days, say when the temps are in the 40°F to 50°F range, so that they can get some light, I can't think of any reason you shouldn't. Just keep in mind that they have been in a dark refrigerator for a while and won't be used to bright direct sunlight.
 
  • #26
Thanks so much for the clarifacation.....
 
  • #27
Okay here are the plants that I'm growing, that will need dormancy:

S. Flava
S. Pupurea ssp venosa
S. leucophyllia 'tarnok'
S. rubra
S. 'Judith Hindle'
S. wriglyanna
S. catsbei

VFT
Red Dragon
Green Dragon
Dente
Common.

My typical winter temps usuall range from the single digits to the high 30's in Farenheit. The temps usually warm up a few degrees in the day. If I were to burry them pot and all in the ground, would that be sufficiant? Also, we haven't gone a winter in history without snow(I think). It usuall falls, melts off, then waits a few days to a few weeks before doing it again. I is usually one inch to one foot deep with the occasional two footer.
 
  • #28
Dude,

Your plants can probably go outside for the winter and be okay. YOu might want to check with other local growers to be sure on that though.

Wes,

Odds are your plants will be okay outside. You might want to find a sheltered plance to put them on the nights where it gets really cold (below 15) or a heavy snow is expected. Garden sheds work great as do garages for just a couple days.
 
  • #29
Since I am putting my plants to sleep, I am wondering in if would be a good winter to change the soil? The common vft has been in the same soil since I have had it (2 years) should I change it or could a stan another year in the same soil? The other is from pft and that is a dente which I bought this year. Will the dente have to have its soil changed or can I wait?

Thanks
Travis
 
  • #30
Travis,

Are you doing fridge dormancy? If so then you can just repot using new media next spring. If not then I would still recommend waiting till next spring or you can just mix up some peat tea to water it with next year.
 
  • #31
Thanks Pyro. I am using the refrig meathod and will wait till Spring time to transplant.

Travis
 
  • #32
I was wondering about fungicide application. In past years I have taken the whole root ball out of the pot and dunked it in fungicide before dormancy.

I wanted to see what you guys thought about this idea, I have never heard anybody talk about it.

Okay, first you dry your plants out a little bit, and then mix the fungicide as you normally would, and then just use the fungicide as if it were just water, watering your plants (tray watering method). I am not sure if the plant will soak up all or enough of the fungicide. I just thought this would be a lot easier than pulling out a whole bunch of root balls and soaking them.

Let me know if you think this would work, thanks
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  • #33
Instead of pouring the fungicide mix in the tray I would let the media dry out a bit and then top water with the fungicide solution, that way you ensure that it gets all through the pot. Capillary action can only do so much and so you might not get enought up from the tray
 
  • #34
Okay, This is what I was thinking about trying.

1. Inside plants - I was going to take a small aquarium and place in the basement, on a high shelf, at an outside window. I was going to put an insulation blanket over it and the window, keeping any warmth from the house away from it and the cold from outside with it. The window will allow for light, but it will be more a diffused winter light. The room it will be in is a store room. It does get chilly in the room so I think with placing the tank by the window and insulating it, that it should remain cold enough. Being in Nebraska I will probably have to remove the insulation at times.

2.Outside Bog- My bog is surrounded by a low lying wall. over this wall I am going to place an old door frame. There is plexi on the frame right now, but I am debating on whether or not to change it to screen (but I think not). Mulch will go over and around the frame. The frame will ease the spring clean up. My question would be, too much air space? The air space is beneficial for hardier plants (ie. use of covers) but I know not if it will help with a bog. It will make somewhat of a cold frame.

With my garden experience, which is also many years of (but not very long with CPs), what matters is if the freeze is steady. Covers are used on roses to keep them frozen and in dormancy through the entire dormant season. It is the freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw that kills roses and many other hardier plants.

Okay, what do you think. I can also sink the potted indoor plants into the bog, but I am worried about the outside plants. Winter is bitter and long here without enough insulating snow. I would like to keep back up plants safe.
 
  • #35
dude,

soCal winters are okay for my sarrs outside, just be aware of those few random days/weeks where it gets really warm. Just stick 'em in the shade or in the house until it gets cooler again.
 
  • #36
I have just recently put some of my plants in colder temperatures for dormancy. I noticed that my S. 'Judith Hindle' is going limp, I was wondering if this was normal, is this what happens when it starts to go dormant? Thanks
 
  • #37
I'm in VA (Richmond, but the plants would probably be put into dormancy in Roanoke). I'm strongly considering leaving the plants outside, but all the indicators are pointing to a very hard winter this year. However, since I'm at college (with a very small fridge) I have to leave the plants in the care of my less-than-observant parents (my mother has an infamous black thumb, moslty the result of plant impulse buys) so I'm leery of leaving them in charge of my fridge-dormant plants. Which route would you condsider? Also take into account that I'm not going to be able to take either route until december, since I'm visiting family in NH for thanksgiving, and I won't be able to get anywhere near home until about a week before christmas. Is this too late?
The plants have already had their photoperiod reduced to 7 hours a day, with the sill plants (2 purps and a D. Binata) getting less than 4 hours and reduced temps (they turned the AC off, so the window is open a lot for temp. regulation in the room).  Also, would a neem oil based fungicide be okay to use? So far it's worked wonders keeping my plants safe from the botrytis siege. Thanks in advance.

Plants to be put into dormancy include:
3 Leucos
4 VFTS
3 purps
1 D. Rotundifolia
 
  • #38
from most peoples suggestions and my experiance , i'm gussing that in southern california is ok for cps for dormancy . i live in the san fernando valley which gets the coldest weather in LA and i kept all my plants outdoors last eyar and they don't seem to have any defects and were growing well this year but i'm still gonna try the refrigerator method since i want to be on the safe side .
 
  • #39
Well, I live in Beverly Hills, so it's not exactly cold during the winter.  I keep my VFT on a windowsill.  I'm sorta afraid of dormancy because I'm probably going to do something wrong, and I don't think the plant will get too much light in the refigerator.  ...how should it get its light?
 
  • #40
IHaveAName,
First off, in spite of all the hype to the contrary, VFTs aren't that hard to grow if you give them the basics:  Pure water, sphagnum peat moss soil, lots of light during their growing season.  If you can give them these three requirements the rest is a piece of cake.  For dormancy in the warmer parts of the US where the temp doesn't drop much below 70°f, the refridgerator is usually the best bet.  The cold (not freezing) temp in the refridgerator causes a deep dormancy in which the plant can do little or no photosynthesis.  So light is not needed.

Many people have observed their plants growth slowing in the winter as well as the production of the smaller winter leaves, even though the temps are in the 60°f to 70°f range.  Their plants did fine and showed no adverse effects from not getting a colder dormancy.  If you have a cool room in your house or the garage (just remember to check them for watering) that receives at least some light, this will work.  The warmer the room, the more light it should recieve to keep your VFT healthy.

The only time I have lost plants during dormancy is when there was an extended freeze (3 to 5 days) and the plants weren't protected well enough against the cold.

smile.gif

BCK
 
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