I ordered some live VFT's but...

[Botanicadenta]

It's almost winter :/

I did read that you could skip dormancy in younger plants, and I know it's bad, but it would be so sad to get them in only to refrigerate a rhizome two months later ;_;

Should I look the other way and keep him warm and well lit? or do the responsible thing and bemoan my terrible purchase timing?

Of course, I learned about the dormancy AFTER ordering during my voracious info-seeking. I knew some things about VFT's, but it seems the information pool has grown since my last attempt at growing them a few years ago.

 

[SirKristoff]

Its really up to you, i personally think you should give em the Dormancy.

 

[scottychaos]

It really depends on how and where the plants have been growing all of this year *before* you bought them..

if they have been growing outdoors at a CP nursery, then they are already well into the "dormancy process" and should probably continue that process after you get them..and go dormant this winter.

but if they have been indoors, in constant unchanging "greenhouse conditions", then its probably better to keep them growing indoors this year, then put them out in the spring and let them go dormant naturally *next* winter..

although..your location says "west texas"..you dont get serious winters out there do you?
(although you could be in the mountains I supose)
any snow or freezing temps? if no, just put the plants outside when you get them, and just leave them there! the plants will take care of their own dormancy that way..

let us know what your winters are like in West Texas..what is your "USDA zone"?
if its cold (too cold to keep the plants outdoors in the winter) you will need to contact the place you bought them from and see how they have been growing all year up to now..

Scot

 

[HyDxSiJiu]

nah dude let those poor baby vft have dormancy,

 

[upper]

you dont have to put em in fridge, if your winter's not too rough, put em outside.

 

[Botanicadenta]

We have very harsh winters and it stays very dry till about late summer. Right now we're in the rainy season with intermittent 60 degree days. And yes, I'm in the mountains a little over a mile up in the thin air and freezing winds -.-.

I know my 'hardiness zone' if that's what you mean. 8a. Most of the info I read says it's a toss-up on whether to fridge em or not. Supposedly, we're supposed to be deep freeze'd for most of this winter so I think I'll prolly have to give my little guy his sphagum blanket and put him in the corner of my mini-fridge. Damn you new knowledge about plant dormancy! always ruining my fun...

 

[Grey Moss]

Get a tropical plant to replace your venus flytrap during the winter.

 

[scottychaos]

I know my 'hardiness zone' if that's what you mean. 8a.

Zone 8a?? wow..thats WARM!
your plants should be able to overwinter fine in that zone..
taking a look at my zone map:

http://gold.mylargescale.com/scottychaos/CP/page2.html

all of west Texas appears to be in the safe zone for overwintering VFTs and Sarracenia outdoors..except for extreme North West Texas which gets into zone 6..
if you are really zone 8, your plants should fine outdoors 24/7/365..

The native range of VFTs in South Carolina is...zone 8!

Where exactly in Texas are you? (just a town or city is fine..)
we can look up more historic climate data for your area..
see what an average winter looks like..

Have you lived there a long time? or are you new to the area?
you said "Supposedly, we're supposed to be deep freeze'd" which makes me think you might be new to west Texas...
"deep freeze" is very subjective!
locals might think 50 degrees is "freezing cold"..

Florida natives think Virginia is freezing in the winter..to me, Virginia winters are practically tropical..

all that matters to your plants are REAL temperatures..they dont care if people think its cold or not! if your winter night-time lows are generally above 35 degrees or warmer, you are golden..

Scot

 

[Botanicadenta]

it's true, i may have to shake my life-long teachings about VFT's being sensitive to non-jungle zones but i do mean deep freeze. I live at high altitude, so the wind chill drops below 20 @ 50-80mph frequently getting into December and frosts are relatively frequent through late February. I figured a mini bog would probably work the rest of the year but those extremely cold days would be an issue. Not to mention the occasional 3-5 inch snowfall.

Sigh... It would be a lot easier if I lived on the coast of east Texas again. hot and humid all year long. Of course, that's where I had my last VFT in a dark room with a little 40 watt incandescent on it all day and regularly knocked over for being so foolishly close to my arm's reach. I'm at least better than that now.