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Help Me W/ My VFT

Please Help Me! I live in Southern California where it is beginning to get hotter and hotter! Where should I grow my new VFT? I've had one before and put it outdoors only to find it baked in 2 days. I also have a terrarium set up inside for my other plants. What should I do?
 
Leo Song at Cal State Fullerton grew his VFTs in a lath house. They did quite well.
 
Okay. But could I also grow it in a terrarium directly underneath a flourescent light
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
Where should I grow my new VFT? I've had one before and put it outdoors only to find it baked in 2 days.

Helldragon, what do you mean, "baked"? Do you mean that the soil (planting medium) dried out completely and the VFT dried up and died? Or do you mean that the sun heated the pot so much that the soil temperature cooked the roots of the VFT causing it to die. Or something else?

Here are some things you can try:

1) Don't shock the plant. Let it slowly get used to direct sunlight and the outdoors. It needs time to adapt. So start with not much time outside, and increase the outside-time a little each time.

2) When it is outside, place the pot in a tray or deep saucer of water (rainwater or distilled or reverse osmosis water, of course, not tap water) so it can suck up more water to replenish what is lost in the heat and breeze and keep its leaves nice and moist.

3) Put the VFT's planting container inside another larger container with perlite in between, to shade and insulate the sides of the VFT's pot from the direct sunlight and keep the roots from baking.

Just some ideas-- Here in New Mexico, US, the sun is blazing and intense at this altitude (4050 ft. above sea level). The wind is strong, and very hot and dry. So I have to take special precautions with my VFTs, just like I suggested above. They grow very well here if I don't keep them outside all day, and if I protect them from the wind as much as possible. In addition, after trying all sorts of planting containers, I now plant all my VFTs in the new, ultra-light and insulating polyurethane foam planters. VFTs (at least mine) love these planters.
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Best wishes--
 
There should be no problem with growing them outside. I grow all my VFT's outside, year round, in Texas. It easily gets 100+ outside and my plants have no problems with it.

You must have done something else to kill your plants. But if you really want to, you can grow them in a terrarium for a few years without a dormancy under at least 60W of light.
 
Gotta agree with FC. I grow em outside year round here in Southen California. I live in an inland valley so temps get really hot in the Summer. Humidity is lower here than on the coastal plain (which does extend further inland than most people think). Your VFT's will thrive outside. I grow mine outside in FULL exposure. They get as much sun, wind, rain, and heat waves as any other commercial plant planted in a middle of an urban boulevard.
 
CopcarFC, uglypho --> Do you both grow your VFTs in colonies, in larger containers, or in containers or beds sunk into the ground or as a raised-bed bog?

If so, the larger planting area and planting-media quantity act as a buffer and moderates the heating effects of the sun on the soil and root zone, right?

I would love to try to grow Venus Flytraps outside. But here in New Mexico at 4000 ft., if I were to place an individual Venus Flytrap in a small conventional planting container outside for more than a few hours when the sky has few or no clouds, the sun would heat the container so hot that the roots and bulb of a Venus Flytrap would very likely bake and the plant would die. Unfortunately, this information comes from my own experience. Even if I were to plant in a large container or sunken artificial bog, there are other problems where I live, including high winds that are very dry and hot, periodic sandstorms caused by those winds and the lack of trees and topographical windbreaks, and extremely low humidity.

I have no idea how Helldragon4356's VFT is potted--the container size and planting mix, for example--and I have no idea whether my own comments are helpful to him or not, although I hope some of them are. But fortunately he has received a number of varied viewpoints and advice and hopefully some of it along with his own observations and best judgment will help him make some good decisions regarding the plant.

Good luck with your VFT, Helldragon4356.
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  • #10
So far all my VFT's have survived wether they were left in the tiny Lowes cube, repotted into a bigger pot, or planted in my bog. I've had no problems growing any VFT in high temps/low humidity. I've never had to sink my pots into the ground. I just make sure the pots have at least an inch of water in the tray, havent lost a VFT yet.
 
  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
So far all my VFT's have survived wether they were left in the tiny Lowes cube, repotted into a bigger pot, or planted in my bog. I've had no problems growing any VFT in high temps/low humidity.

Wow! Great-- I wonder if the higher altitude where I live, and the corresponding lower amount of atmospheric buffer for sunlight, has anything to do with the problems I have.

Even if I were to set planters in water trays outside (which I have done), the sides of the containers just get too hot, even if they are not dark colored (why commercial nursery containers are often black or dark green I just can't understand!), and I have lost some plants and others have had "near-death experiences."
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  • #12
New Mexico is alot different from Southern California. Mainly it's hotter and a whole lot drier in the summer than the worst parts of Southern California. Helldragon4356, if you could tell me what city you live in, I could give you a very definitive answer on whether or not VFT's can thrive outdoors in your area. You just have to remember to slowly acclimatize your VFTs. Go for morning sun first. Or partly cloudy days. Increase exposure by half an hour every 2 days. Leo Song's VFTs could grow perfectly fine outdoors without a lath house, unless he's growing plants recently out of TC. In the entire LA basin and the vast San Diego coastal plain, VFT's will excel outdoors. The basin and coastal plain extends for 20 miles inland in some areas and up to 8-10 miles inland in the steeper areas. I don't live in either the nice basin nor the Diego coastal plain (I live about 30 miles inland), and my VFTs do well outside year round, loving the hot sunny summers. This site has detailed info and archive on my temps, humidity, and dewpoint for the past 8 years.Temecula weather/climate archives
 
  • #13
[b said:
Quote[/b] (xscd @ April 29 2006,8:26)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]
So far all my VFT's have survived wether they were left in the tiny Lowes cube, repotted into a bigger pot, or planted in my bog. I've had no problems growing any VFT in high temps/low humidity.

Wow! Great-- I wonder if the higher altitude where I live, and the corresponding lower amount of atmospheric buffer for sunlight, has anything to do with the problems I have.

Even if I were to set planters in water trays outside (which I have done), the sides of the containers just get too hot, even if they are not dark colored (why commercial nursery containers are often black or dark green I just can't understand!), and I have lost some plants and others have had "near-death experiences."
smile.gif
Hmm, you could be right. Last year I had 2 Cobra Lilys out there with my VFT's in a glased/undrained ceramic pot sitting in full sun. They both survived and are back out there now (I brought them indoors just to have a very cool looking windowsill plant) and you know how CL's hate hot roots.

So maybe you altitude has a lot to do with it.
 
  • #14
Hey Everybody! Thanks for all the different view points! I have one more question! Do I have to worry about rain? Should i bring them inside when it rains or just leave them out?
 
  • #15
Leave em out! VFTs love the rain. For my plants, rain washes away dust accumulation. So what part of Sou Cali do are you located? You got an exiciting time ahead of you.
 
  • #17
I think VFTs should be able to live in Riverside all right. Make sure to introduce the plants slowly. Half an hour every 2 days. Start with morning sun. If you notice any burns, don't increase daylight. When the plants are comfortable again, increase it slowly. VFTs have plenty of potential, but it takes prudent acclimatising to maximise its potential.
 
  • #18
How can you tell if a VFT starts to burn? Does it change color? Some of my leaves have a reddish color
 
  • #19
No, it sounds like your VFT is healthy. If your VFT is a typical or any other variety with red, it's usually a sign that its getting enough sun.
 
  • #20
No, it sounds like your VFT is healthy. If your VFT is a typical or any other variety with red, it's usually a sign that its getting enough sun.
 
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