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FlytrapGurl

apple rings.. what more can i say?
Okay, like I've said before, I've had very bad CP luck for a VERY long time now. Except for a couple months this year that they've done pretty good, my current stock has been looking quite bad for as long as I've had them. I currently have one Dente VFT, several unidentified VFTs, one Judith Hindle, one Rubra, one Purpurea ssp. Venosa, one or more Minors (same pot) and one Adelae. For about two years, all the plants that I've had have started out looking okay, but then they go downhill. Currently, after a few weeks of being in the garage (fo the hurricanes.. their back out in the sun now), everything is just like before, but worse. The VFTs are growing even slower and dying off even more, the Rubra is even leggier and even more sparse in growth, the Judith Hindle has even more black crap on it and is growing even worse, the Venosa is still growing, but still small and slow, the adelae is withering away even faster and has no dew (as opposed to very little dew a month ago), and the minors are getting even skinnier and leggier and awkward and even more unable to support themselves. I've sprayed the Judith Hindle with Pyrethrin (all-natural stuff that doesn't harm them that I used to rid my minors of the scale, which still isn't completely gone, after all this time) for the black crap and everything else as well, since recently a couple things were getting eaten (I found the caterpillar the next day). The spraying occurred a few weeks ago, before they went into the garage for a while. I've flushed out all pots numerous times, but nothing seems to help. I've never had such enormously bad luck with CPs before. Everything is just plain crappy. Am I losing my touch?

But to get down to the point of this post, should I even bother with dormancy this year? I've got another couple of months before Thanksgiving, which is when I usually would put them into dormancy, but I don't know if they're strong enough for dormancy, or if it's even worth it. What do y'all think?
 
I owudl say put them and let them experience light frosts.
lights frosts shoudl kill off the fungus(the blac crap) and the mealie bugs.
 
They might not be dieing. They might be going dormant!
smile.gif


cant help you on the adelae though
 
i use usually a mix of rubbing achohol, fungicide, and water and that got rid of alot of sprintails (pests) for me
 
It took me some time to figure D. adelae out. I'm not sure I've got it totally figured out yet, time will tell. They seem to be very picky plants when it comes to light and heat. Here's what I wrote on my website about them:
I had it in an area which it received all but the intense afternoon sun. The plant had a meltdown. I then found out they prefer shaded locations. I pulled the plant out of the pot and left the pot outside. The plant started to grow in the fall from the roots in the pot. It was then moved into the terrarium because of the cold weather. Before that happened, I purchased another D. adelae. I tried this one in an area that received early morning and late evening sun. This plant did not do good either. I'm guessing maybe this plant does not like heat and moved it inside in a fish bowl. It seemed to somewhat recover, but still not doing good. I then decided to set up a 10 gallon terrarium with a Tropical Aire humidifying system. Since I've done this both D. adelae have been growing great with lots of dew on their leaves during the fall and winter. Now that summer has arrived my D. adelae stop producing dew on there leaves and new leaves brown and die after a few days. The temp in the terrarium reach mid 80's during the day. I believe this plant dislikes mid 80°F temperatures, because I moved one of my plants out of the terrarium to a windowsill and it is producing leaves that stay green and have dew on them. The room rarely exceeds 75°F. I took my second D. adelae to work and placed it on a windowsill. It is growing much better there then in the terrarium.
 
I purchased a D. adelae from Lowes in November and placed it on a window sill at the lab. It survived a few repots over the next few months and produced green, dewy leaf after green, dewy leaf. Then, during the summer, it went down hill. Green became brown and nothing I did revived it (Superthrive, more humidity, more light, less light) AS Tamlin alluded to by examinaing the roots for surprises, I checked it out. I didn't recognize anything. The roots were still there. No mush. I waited and waited for the plant to come around - but it didn't. So I tossed it.

The baby plants have been outside all summer. At first I shielded them with plastic covers but eventually removed them. They are south-facing and exposed. Incredibly, they are doing well.

I now regret my decision of tossing the parent plant. I believe it was just doing its notorious "diebacks" and I just wasn't patient enough. After all, its roots were still intact.

I know about the heat and light issues and ended up doing eveything wrong - but have had good results. By the same token, the "right" approaches were only successful until summer. There must be more than what met my eye.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Spectabilis73 @ Sep. 18 2004,12:12)]They might not be dieing. They might be going dormant!
smile.gif
Ah, so they've been going dormant for two years straight. I see.
 
I`m sorry to hear you`re plants aren`t doing well Tonya:(
 
Sorry to hear about your plants FTG. Last year I had a problem with slugs on my S. purpurea so I'd go out at night with a flashlight & bottle of ammonia water.

Also, I wonder if they are not getting enough light?

Some of my plants seem stunted this year since it's been a cold summer for us. I lost several flytraps this year when it was rainy and cold for several days. Anyway, if it was me I would do the dormancy thing on most, maybe keep a few indoors for the winter.

As for the D. adelae, I have one that's just going gangbusters. Originally one of those plants in a "Bug-Biting" acrylic cube on sale. It's NOT in a tank ( lack of room), but on a shelf under lights, in a 6 inch pot of LFS sitting in an inch of rainwater. It's about 6 inches from the light bulbs to the top of the pot, some of the leaves are within an inch of the lights that are on 18 hours a day. Ever since I started neglecting it, it went wild - a cluster of about 20 plants.

I hope this helps.
 
  • #10
Pond boy, thanks.. BTW, it's "Tanya".

Well, I've been giving them as much sunlight as I can this year, except for now, because my grandmother made me put them on the screened-in back porch when they came out of the garage after the last hurricane, because they'll need to go back in there again for this next one tonight.. *sigh*
 
  • #11
Sounds like it might be a combination of issues, light being one (leggy Sarracenia). Usually, when plants start out well and then decline, there are issues with the mix: possible mineral contamination, or the presence of insects attacking the roots.

If your plants are outside, then temperate dormancy will happen and is probably advisable. I would transplant everything into new fresh mix and hope for the best for next season, but if the Sarracenia are etiolating nothing short of increasing the sunlight is going to change anything in that regard.

If you know of anyone with Orthene, I would suggest that you use this systemic which will take care of many common sucking insect pests on your plants. It works very well, and has no detrimental effects to anything I have used it on, and I grow a lot of different plants.
 
  • #12
Thanks, Tamlin.. I don't think it's mineral contamintaion, though, because I plant them all in Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss and they get watered and misted with distilled water and sometimes clean rain water if I run out of distilled.

I'll work on the lighting thing and repotting thing.. I guess this next growing season I'll make sure my grandmother gets them out into the sun before I get up (9 AM).. she gets up at, like, 7.. and I'll leave them out as long as they get light.. see if that helps..

BTW, I put the adelae back farther on the shelf where it gets shadier conditions.. it's.. no worse.
 
  • #13
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]that got rid of alot of sprintails (pests) for me
they're pests?
confused.gif
I have a bunch of them but they don't do any harm.
I hate spraying pesticides/fungicides just because I think the're bad.
anyway, Sphagnum is also used for orchids and stuff so could it be that they added fertilizer to it? I haven't bought sphagnum form a store (that wasn't in a CP pot) so I wouldn't know if they did that but I guess they would.
If I were you I wouldn't put them into dormancy. I'd give them bright light w/ some sun. I have mine in a south...west? facing window... but they don't get any sun. I usually get mine and they get all ugly for a couple of months and then get normal but green.... aldough my S. rubra has some purple veins!!! which really shocked me
smile.gif
 
  • #14
springtails aint pests
 
  • #15
No, the peat I use is pure, since I've always used it.. seems like everything would be dead by now. And it's the only CP-useful dirt WalMart sells, so...

And I really have no choice for dormancy, since I don't have any place to put a 5x3 greenhouse inside.. and no way to light them well. I can't keep them outside in the winter, because, contrary to popular belief, Florida is no perfect tropical paradise with no seasons. It DOES get cold in the winter, and we get frosts and freezes alot at night in the winter. We even got snowflakes last January.
 
  • #16
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]It DOES get cold in the winter, and we get frosts and freezes alot at night in the winter. We even got snowflakes last January.
oh wow...
you CAN put them outside. In NC we get worse weather and VFT's are from NC (I've seen them in the wild)... aldough it's wamer at the coast.
and some of your sarrs are native to florida.

maybe the problem is the pure peat? They like mixes of sand or LFS along with peat... not just pure peat.
which reminds me... I've got to buy something to mix in w/ my peat... I don't have any plants in pure peat right now (or at least I don't think I do) but when I get more plants I could only put them in pure peat... anyway I need to buy some other stuff.
 
  • #17
Hey, I use everything I can get, and there is no place that sells good sand or anything other than pure peat within miles of here. I don't trust most of the products you DO find.

You think I can leave everything outside this winter and expect them NOT to go into dormancy? I know I can leave them out, because I've done it every winter I've had CPs, but I know I can't leave them out unless I want them to go into dormancy. I know the adelae will need to stay inside somehow.. I learned last year they don't need dormancy.. my current one is actually a stronger offsprout of one of the two adelaes that died last winter, despite my all-out efforts to keep them healthy, humidified and growing in my room, which is the only place I can keep constant watch on them.. I spend alot of time in there.. anyhoo, I had them under half of a 2-liter soda bottle and sprayed the inside of that alot and took it off during the heights of the day and let them have some sun from the windowsill every day, and yet, they still died. The only thing I CAN do with the adelae is the same thing I did last year, unless I actually go all out and make a mini terrarium inside for it... But then I.. would.. need a tank... *sigh* And there goes the exhilaration of a new idea.
 
  • #18
oh... I thought you meant that you wouldn't be able to put them in dormancy
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]And I really have no choice for dormancy
 
  • #19
Update.. they're doing better now that they're getting more sun, and the minor is finally sending out a new pitcher.. the rubra has more pitchers and they are more buff-looking and less leggy, and the VFTs are growing a little better. The adelae is sucky, though.. dying out.. probably the cooling weather.. gotta move it to my room tomorrow. I'm also devising a plan for a screen dome-like cover thingydoo for it for all year so it filters out some of the sunlight, so it doesn't get too much.. it's gonna be a sorta cylinder of heavy-duty wire screen, stapled at the ends, with a top (maybe dome-shaped, depending on how the process goes) of more flexible, light window screen, stapled on.. OR.. a flat top of the same heavy-duty wire screen, bent down around the edge, stapled to the cylinder of screen. Either way, it will be placed over the adelae to filter out a little of the sun, since that seems to be the only way to not oversun it. I may modify the newfangled screen thingydoo from this current plan a little, depending on how the making of it goes, but wish me luck!
 
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