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Growing VFT with no sun

I live in a two bedroom town house where the only windows face north. I have a little bit of a yard in front that is further shaded by a Maple tree. I would like to put the VFT outside as well as the North American Pitcher plants. I grow an orchid there for the summer and I was wondering if I might use a hanging pot with the three plants inside. I will leave each in its own pot with but will probably pur a larger bowl in for the three of them to have the extra water they need. My question is: Is there more benefit for the plants being outside with a little sun than inside with flourescent lights? I really want to put them outside so that maybe I can see some of the beautiful colors that only come out in sunny conditions but I also want to keep them healthy too. thanks to everyone who answere this, in advance.???
 
A little sun won't be enough for VFTs

They will do better inside with 2 CFLs on them
 
awesome which i have almost the same situation as u i also have a maple tree infront of the house and also north facing window LOL i kno people say south windown is the best!! but north is also nice. i grow some of my vft there in a terrarium which i put in a north facing window the vft grow just fine, infact the have produce those wide leaf in cool shaded north window. i kno that mean they need more sunlight or something when they produce wide leaf but wide leaf looks awesome lol, and if u want to put ur vft outside,potted, in my option best do in under treee shade and on grass or wet ground. which will reduce the intense heat from the sunlight during the summer noon time. and which is where i m about to built my bog garden under the tree shade, =] . but u should be really be careful with the heat cuz even in shaded i still experienced some trap won't form outside i think its leak of humidity or something or teh trap already cooked before the trap even get the chance to shine, the trap just won't open, so hope this helps
 
just so you know its entirely doable to grow healthy and colorful vft's inside, I grow both inside and outside and its not anywhere near impossible one way or the other, and to be honest bad light outside is not as good as good artificial inside, but again best way to tell is to put em outside and see how they do and if it doesnt work move em inside. just dont let the thought that you wouldnt get bright colors inside deter you becuase thats not true.
 
Noon heat??!!!.......since when is that a problem to a vft?
....anyway, try outside first in the brightest place you have and see how it goes!
 
Noon heat??!!!.......since when is that a problem to a vft?
....anyway, try outside first in the brightest place you have and see how it goes!
well its not a problem to vft cuz it won't kill a vft in shaded but the heat during the hour of 12 ~ 3 pm its quite intense some of my vft trap only open like 20 degree angle with yellowish teeth and some don't even form a trap this happens to me
 
I tried growing some VFTs on my back porch. Similar situation to yours: northern side of the house, and shaded by a huge oak tree. They did very poorly there. No color in the new leaves, slow growth, stunted and deformed leaves... the works.

Other people may have better luck, but I wouldn't recommend trying to grow VFTs under a big shady tree. Especially not on the north side of your home (assuming you live in the nothern hemisphere). These plants crave bright light.

In contrast, the ones on my front porch, which get about 8 hours of direct sunlight every day in the summer, are growing quite nicely. I moved the ones from the back porch up to the front with them, and they're recovering.
 
I bet your problem was not the sun intensity, Empyrean! Mines grow in the very hot SoCal sun and they get the worst of it....from 11am to 7pm and it realy gets hot in my balcony!!! The temps are between 90 and 100 evey day! I have pics in My Albums on my signature bar....look and see they are still alive and doing well. If you grow them in full sun they get stronger and resist easyer to infections and parasites.
 
I bet your problem was not the sun intensity, Empyrean! Mines grow in the very hot SoCal sun and they get the worst of it....from 11am to 7pm and it realy gets hot in my balcony!!! The temps are between 90 and 100 evey day! I have pics in My Albums on my signature bar....look and see they are still alive and doing well. If you grow them in full sun they get stronger and resist easyer to infections and parasites.

dam so that mean my plants have pests or something or leak of direct sunlight? =/ crap what should i do? but someof them doing just fine tho this is weird, what should i do what should i do?

under direct sunlight for that long? but i have tested it with 2 vfts, 2 of them start to rotten from the rhizome its like cooked rhiome =/ can u teach me how u plant urs please
 
  • #10
As people say it is possible to grow VFTs indoors, just use a few nice CFLs or the best and cheapest option is a couple of shoplight fixtures with tube fluorescents (daylight and soft/cool white spectrum bulbs) no further than about 6" from the plants, put the pot in a tray of water and your set. Remember that VFTs and Sarracenia(north american pitcher plant) require a winter dormancy from about october/november - march/april where the temps drop into the 40s and 30s, the plants die back a little and go into a "suspended animation" until spring when they come back, this time you want to keep plants damp and not soaking as to prevent root rot and mildew issues, durring dormancy outside would be perfect in the shade of that tree. when it comes to the spring and summer to late fall you want the soil to be wet but not soaking and dont let the plant dry out. keep it in good lighting, and youll be good.
as for the Sarracenia, grow them in a pot on your front lawn in the brightest part available, they should be fine.
 
  • #12
dam so that mean my plants have pests or something or leak of direct sunlight? =/ crap what should i do? but someof them doing just fine tho this is weird, what should i do what should i do?

under direct sunlight for that long? but i have tested it with 2 vfts, 2 of them start to rotten from the rhizome its like cooked rhiome =/ can u teach me how u plant urs please

No, that doesn't mean your plants have pests...unless you see some
Yes, on insufficient light
If they are fine ...them they are fine! If you want them to do better than fine, improuve your conditions...or light.
If they rotten then you might have a watering problem. i usualy let the water evaporate completly from the tray befor adding more.
Try to put them in full sun but do this transition gradually not to burn them.
You also can search the forum for info since there are alot of threads covering vft care!
 
  • #13
you're saying 2CFLs are brighter than the sun?

yes upper, too little sunlight can kill a vft. if you put them under proper indoor lighting you can grow healthy vft's.

of course its not brighter. but for the plants health it may work better.
I've grown a vft or 2 under just 1 cfl with only a couple inches away from the light
and they grew and produced deep red traps... its doable.
try that outside in the shade all day and you may end up with a pale dead plant.

not always. but in some circumstances it may be better.
 
  • #14
yes upper, too little sunlight can kill a vft. if you put them under proper indoor lighting you can grow healthy vft's.

of course its not brighter. but for the plants health it may work better.
I've grown a vft or 2 under just 1 cfl with only a couple inches away from the light
and they grew and produced deep red traps... its doable.
try that outside in the shade all day and you may end up with a pale dead plant.

not always. but in some circumstances it may be better.

and water doesnt evaporate that fast under CFL.... 1 gallon/week for me. 25cent per gallon.
 
  • #15
I have the Sarracenia under bright florescent lights. I just moved it from lesser light so I'll see if anything changes. I have repotted all of my Carnivores into a mix i ordered from cobraplant. They are all looking better all ready. My VFT is still on the sill but the sun appears to be changing direction. I'm getting orchids to spike that haven't spiked before even though they've put up new growths, and I've got one orange tinted trap. When I repotted the VFT, I found that there are three plants instead of one. Should I leave them together or pot them separately? Thanks everyone for the replies.
 
  • #16
Nancy,
you should be aware that the majority of experienced CP growers would consider some of the advice you have received so far in this thread to be quite bad and incorrect advice..
especially the bit about how its just fine growing VFTs in a north facing window, and putting a CP bog in shade..

very bad ideas..

VFTs need a LOT of light..a lot of DIRECT light..
a VFT growing in a north-window might squeak by for a few months, but it will be dead within a year..

and artificial light also has a host of problems..namely winter dormancy.

If you want to grow VFTs as "annuals"..enjoying them for one season, then not caring if they die in a year or so, then I guess they can be grown in windowsills..

If you would like grow them long-term however, you need to grow them outdoors, in direct light, and they to experience four seasons outdoors so they can have a proper winter dormancy..(they can live indefinitely..I have VFTs that are now 15 years old)

once again, I will use my quote..its so much easier than typing it all out! ;)

In my opinion, VFT's and Sarracenia should never be grown indoors or especially in terrariums..
the climate inside a terrarium is just all-wrong for them..
the climate is fine for a few months...but VFTs and Sarrs need very different climates at different times of year..

Keeping VFTs and Sarrs in a terrarum is the same as trying to grow maple tree bonsai in a terrarium..
you can replicate June - August ok in a terrarium..sunny and warm..but what about the other 9 months of the year?

Maple trees need a gradually warming spring to come out of dormancy, a gradually warmer and sunnier summer, a gradually cooler and darker autumn, then a cold and dark winter to be fully dormant.

...cycle repeats...

so do VFTs and Sarracenia.
its not an option..its a necessity.

If you grow a maple tree indoors it will die within a year...the non-changing environment of a terrarium will also eventually kill a VFT.

VFTs need it warm and REALLY sunny in the summer..DIRECT sunlight..
where can you find that? outdoors in the summer!
Nature provides the perfect light for free..
then you need gradually decreasing photoperiod and gradually decreasing temps from summer into autumn..
where can you find that? outdoors..again nature does all the work for us.

The only tricky season for those of us in the Northern states is the winter..Spring, Summer and Autumn are a breeze..just keep the plants outdoors April - October.
but the plants need a COOL winter..the winter of South Carolina..
but winters in the northern states are too severe and will kill them if the plants are left outdoors..

If you have a cool basement or attic, or a garage that stays in the 40's (4-10C) all winter, thats fine
for dormancy..or ideally, if you live in the southern US where winters are mild, just leave your plants outside 24/7/365! but right now I lack any of those conditions..hence, they are going in the fridge!

from:
http://gold.mylargescale.com/scottychaos/cp/

Scot
 
  • #17
I can put my plants in the fridge? That would be perfect. How do you prepare them for wintering in the fridge?
 
  • #18
I can put my plants in the fridge? That would be perfect. How do you prepare them for wintering in the fridge?

Nancy,
you prepare them by growing them outdoors April-October.
its not too late to start the dormancy process now (mid-July)..
if you get them outside right away, they will still have the rest of summer and into autumn to slowly go dormant by October-November..

you cant take a plant that has been grown indoors, or in a terrarium, and just stick it in the fridge in November..because the plant wont be dormant, it will be a big sudden shock and the plant will die..thats why growing VFTs and Sarracenia indoors is bad..the plants need gradually decreasing photoperiod and temps for months to properly enter dormancy..

then..after they have been outside all season, they are naturally dormant by late october and can be safely put in the fridge..the thing to remember is that the fridge does not cause or create the dormancy, it only maintains the dormancy that was already begun naturally by being outdoors all season..the "dormancy process" really begins at the summer solstice in June..thats when the photoperiod begins to gradually decrease..then the process continues as temps also decrease through Aug-Sept-Oct..

you need both..decreasing temps and decreasing photoperiod..gradually for months..
its very easy if they are just grown outdoors! ;)
nature takes care of the whole thing..

check here:
http://gold.mylargescale.com/Scottychaos/CP/page2.html
for more on the fridge process.

Scot
 
  • #19
How sensitive are they to light that is low but on all night if they are outside? My space to put them is kind of limited and my husband keeps the porchlight on all night. Will this small bit of light mess up the photoperiod? They will be going outsiide as soon as I get home from work. Thanks for the education. I grow Cattleya orchids inside and I know how sensitive they are to daylengths. I just had no idea that the CP's have this characteristic as well.
 
  • #20
Nancy,
I doubt the porch light will be a problem at all..I wouldnt worry about it.
because the porch light is SOOOOOOOO much dimmer than the sun, the plants probably dont even notice it!
to them, there isnt much difference between the porch light and pitch darkness! ;)

our eyes adjust to low light..our pupils open up wide under the porch light at night, to let in the maximum amount of light.
and our pupils dial way down in direct sunlight, letting in much less light.

Which makes the porch light appear, to us, much brighter than it really is,
and the sun light much less bright than it really is..

plants dont adjust in this way..they "see" light as it really is..
and in reality, to the plants, the sun's light is hundreds of times more intense than the porch light...you would have to have the porch light 1 inch away from the plants for them to notice it at all...to the plants, the porch light is pretty much solid darkness.

just out of curiosity, how far away will they be from the porch light?

Scot
 
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