Afternoon all
Just as a little aside to the thread, I think that some people worry about the root temperature a little too much and go overboard with the ice cube watering methods,
This plant is grown in a greenhouse (in the UK ) all year round with no special watering techniques, and the temperature in a greenhouse must be high for a large proportion of the summer.
Link
http://icps.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=darlingtonia&action=display&thread=2894
I had my best success with Darlingtonia californica while I was living in La Mesa, California (a suburb of San Diego). I kept it in a large terra cotta pot, sitting in a deep saucer of water, where I kept its pot sitting in about two inches of water. It sat on top of a short, block wall and in full sun. The media was LFS and perlite. I did not know the provenance of the plant, but it grew quite well in my conditions, producing many offsets by rhizome runners and it bloomed each year.
The cooling effect of the terra cotta is mostly due to evaporation from the sides of the terra cotta. Are your white pots porous to permit cooling by evaporation? The white may reflect enough light to keep the pots cooler than darker surfaces, but if they're not porous, I would be concerned that they might not be cooler than the surrounding air. Evaporative cooling is quite powerful. Perhaps there is a white coating that can be applied to terra cotta that is also porous.
I mentioned it before and I'll repeat: Dr. Leo Song (one of the founders of the ICPS) found that the maximum root temperature this species will tolerate is 81F (27C). Exceeding this maximum is fatal to the plants.
I germinated some Darlingtonia seeds over a heating pad set to ~81F - accuracy of the thermostat is probably +/- 10% - and some at room temperature in the same room. Guess what? The seedlings on the heating pad died.
If you're worried about light, could you possibly paint an adjoining wall white to reflect the afternoon sun? Not sure exactly what your accommodations are like, but indirect light is better than nothing. If it makes you feel any better, I think that my plants have actually suffered this past year for lack of a substantial shady period during the day.
~Joe
Yes it does that is COOL! I wish i had one! How much did all that cost estimate?
Hopefully they will take off! Looks like a good set up.
Had to cut down a tree didn't you?