Sarracenia

[Sarracenia0]

hey guys,
  Well last year I lost alot of temperate plants during the winter.  Im not sure if they died of the cold or because of the light.  I put the plants under very low light level for a few months after dormancy last year.  I am not sure if this is why or because the pots froze solid.  Well this time I don't want to lose any plants during the winter.  

So my question is............Is it okay for vfts,temperate drosera, and Sarracenia to be frozen solid for a day or two?  The plants are not from tissue culture and are pretty hardy or they have been out of TC for atleast a winter.  They have been grown outside for several years before I got them.  It gets down to the single digits here in GA.

Thanks
Mike

 

[homer]

Mike,
I recommend putting the pots into the ground, so they will be insulated better from the cold.  I live in Western Washington, where it gets down to the teens, on occasion.  I've never lost a sarracenia over the winter due to cold.  Yes, it is OK for them to be frozen for a day or so from my experience.  I cannot emphasis enough to place your pots into the ground, if you have a yard available.  Good luck!

-Homer

 

[Sarraceniaobsessed]

Mike,
I here in Atlanta and left all of my plants (VFT and sarracenia )outside all winter long. When we went to 19 and then 8, I put a heavy layer of pinestraw on the bog and covered that with a tarp. I lost nothing. Before that, the bog froze several times with no harm what so ever to the VFTs.

 

[alandallas]

I don't know about Sarrs growing in the cold temperate part of the country, but those growing in the southeastern US and along the Gulf Coast, keep pitchers all through the winter.
Early last spring, I had to bring in my Sarrs due to the patio being rebuilt, and the existing pitchers that looked pretty good went downhill fast for the three weeks that I had to keep them inside with little light. They all survived, but they were seriously set back. Some of them only grew a few pitchers and then nothing but phylodia after that.

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

My whole collection including the "picky" temperate ones were frozen solid to -20 F for 2 days out on my porch. Never lost a single plant but I assure you, I wouldn't reccomend doing that normally! S. purpurea spp. purpurea is the only one tolerant to basically any extreme temperature, there' no killing it even if your in the northern provinces of Canada!

 

[herenorthere]

I think Sarracenias have no trouble surviving temperatures well below 0F and are harmed instead by freeze-thaw cycles.  I put pots in the ground and cover them with at least 1 ft of loose oak leaves.  That eliminates the freeze-thaw problem and the pots stay frozen for quite a long time.  The only damage I've ever seen to plants in there has been when snow melted at the top of the leaves and refroze in the pile.  That forms a dense mass of leafy ice and can be deadly to a potted plant trapped inside.

 

[elgecko]

This is my 1st year with CP's. What I did for mine is I placed my plants into a 5 gallon tank outside. When the temp is going to drop to or below freezing I bring them in and put them in the garage for the night, or till it rises above freezing.