Dormancy help

[kgrudz]

Im transporting all my plants from my terrarium into seperate pots now. im wondering what needs to go into dormancy. i live in zone 5 so im assuming to just place them into the garage. also im wondering if you need to cut back the plants.

i have 2 darlingtonias
2 purple sarracenia
1 red sarracenia
5 VFT
Nep ventricosa
and 2 drosera adelae

so if anyone can help me through getting them into dormancy i would appreciate it.
~kgrudz

 

[scottychaos]

Its really too late to worry about dormancy for this winter..
because your plants are not dormant now..so you cant just stick them immediately into a cold spot..it will be a big shock and will likely kill the plants!

Plants need to go dormant s-l-o-w-l-y..it takes several months to go dormant properly..

Plants outdoors begin the dormancy process in the summer, as daylight begins to lessen after the Summer Solstice in late June..then as temps and photoperiods really begin to fall through all of September and October, the plants complete the dormancy process, and are fully dormant by November..

This is why VFTs and Sarracenia should never be grown in terrariums..because its far too difficult to replicate that gradual July-November "slowly going dormant" process in a terrarium!
but its very EASY if the plants are grown outdoors!
because Nature does all that work for you..

Its not ideal, but unfortunately all you can do now is pot up the plants and stick them in a windowsill..prefebaly a South facing windowsill if you have one, for maximum light..

theymight go "semi-dormant" for the rest of the winter, but its hard to say..
dont expect them to do much..if they stay green but *dont* grow, thats a good sign!

Put them outdoors in April..(only bring them back indoors to protect from frost or freezing..its its above 35 degrees, even at night, they stay outside!)

then grow the plants outdoors all next spring-summer-fall..
then by November you will need to devise a method for dormancy for November - March..
we can talk about that later!
you have almost a year to learn about that..

right now, you cant, and shouldnt, put your plants into a cold garage or the fridge..
its too late for that now..

your plants will have to take their chances without a dormancy this winter..
since they are likely tissue-culture plants anyway, this is probably not a big deal for them..
they have no idea what season it is anyway..they are very confused..
by next autumn, after spending a full growing season oudoors, their internal clocks will be set, and they will be ready for a proper dormancy next winter..which will then ensure their long-term survival..

Scot

 

[kgrudz]

thanks im planning on invidually potting them now. i also just bought a 18w t8 plant light. so im wondering if i could just use that along with keeping them by the window and only have the light on for as long as the sun is out. im using the light because i have trees that block a lot of the sun that comes through the windows.

 

[swords]

The Nep ventricosa can probably stay in your terrarium since Nepenthes don't go dormant but it actually might do better by being cooler on the windowsill. I was never able to grow ventricosa in a warm terrarium but it did fine in a cool windy Highland chamber.

If your windows are dim (like mine) and still want to use them I'd use supplemental lighting. Not sure 18W is really going to add much usable light though. For cheap and easy I'd go for a twin tube shoplight 2x 40 daylight tubes The whole setup at HD/Lowes would be about $20 for fixture and two bulbs.

 

[kgrudz]

do you have an idea of what i should do with the darlingtonias?

 

[amphirion]

treat them the same way you would with the sarrs.

good luck with the Darlingtonias btw. they hate being uprooted and have a hard time re-establishing themselves---except if you were to repot them while they were in dormancy.