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Making the move outside

Here's the deal. After my VFT came out of dormancy, I had set it outside (it had been in the garage). It was doing ok for a bit, but quickly turned terrible (don't ask, I think it got watered with tap water or something). I brought it inside and ended up putting it in a makeshift terrarium. It has been doing much better in the terrarium, it has a lot of new growth, and I am moving it outside.

I put it in a window planter that will house a few other VFTs (currently in the mail), but I'm worried about my plant accumulating.

I planted it in a 50/50 mixture of peat moss/perlite, and watered it pretty good. Then I took a gallon plastic bag and put it over the plant to increase humidity. The bag is pretty well sealed around the part of the planter with the plant in it, but its going to be a huge leap from terrarium conditions to my setup now.

Also, I've had it under an Intelligent Plant Light up until now, but its going to be getting a LOT more sun. Should I shade it to prevent it from burning? Remember its almost all new growth.

Could anyone provide me some tips on making this easier on the plant?
 
Hi,
Yes by all means make the transition slow and gentle.
We do that with all plants... as especially to go from low or artificial lighting to
full sunlight, will sun burn and cook your plant and surely kill it!

A week in semi shade and another in partial sun (morning or late day sun) will help to
acclimate the plant. More time is up to you, but I would do no less than a week myself.

Do keep in mind that in addition to the UV/IR rays of the sun, the plant is also trying to
deal with different temps, humidity and watering....
Therefore any condition change you can control and make less dramatic (like the amount of sun and the time of day it gets it, as midday sun is a scorcher!) will help the plant.
Remember, now is the time it needs you and your attention the most!

Good luck!
 
You probably already know this, but don't leave it in the bag once you put it outside. That will surely cook the plant. You may even consider slowly taking it out of the bag while its still under the grow lights to help acclimate it to lower humidity.
 
Sounds like you are doing things right..

a few thoughts..
personally I see no need whatsoever for the perlite..I dont even understand why anyone would use it at all for VFTs or Sarrs..all it does is displace the peat, leaving less peat in the mix, which equals less water retention, which IMO is a bad thing..can anyone give me a logical reason/benefit for using perlite?

the perlite probably doesnt hurt..its fine leaving it there..(I wouldnt repot the plant again! ;)
I just see no benefit to it..and it could possibly be a detriment..

full sunlight, will sun burn
yes it will..

and cook your plant
no it wont..

and surely kill it!
it surely will not kill it..

IMO, the sunburn is unavoiadble, no matter how slowly you acclimate the plant..
IMO, its better to just stick the plant right out in the full sun..
new leaves, as they emerge, will be acclimated to full sun and will not burn..
the old leaves, that grew indoors or in a terrarium, will burn..but there is nothing that can be done about that..the burn is a small price to pay for the far greater benefit of getting the plant in the full sun where it belongs..

I guess there is nothing wrong with "acclimating slowly"..especially for a plant that is known to be weak to begin with..but IMO I see no real benefit to it either..The leaves will burn anyway..so what difference does it make if they burn today or a week from now? if you put the plant in full sun immediately, it can begin getting the "proper medicine" (full sunlight) immediately..which is what it needs..
the full sun is a GOOD thing..not something to be afraid of or avoided..

check out the "burn demo" for more info:
http://gold.mylargescale.com/scottychaos/CP/page5a.html

Scot
 
I agree with Scotty, just throw the thing outside, it´ll acclimate. VFTs are very hardy. When I got my Wal-Mart VFT, I just put it outside. It got a little burned, but the leaves it made afterwards were perfectly healthy.
 
It's not a bad idea to acclimate your plant to lower humidity and strong light levels. I would recommend doing it. Drastic changes in humidity and light levels can kill your plant. However, as many have stated, VFTs are pretty hardy and this isn't very likely.

personally I see no need whatsoever for the perlite..I dont even understand why anyone would use it at all for VFTs or Sarrs..all it does is displace the peat, leaving less peat in the mix, which equals less water retention, which IMO is a bad thing..can anyone give me a logical reason/benefit for using perlite?
A quote from Steve Doonan, a very experienced Dionaea grower: "Sand and perlite help to aerate the soil and keep it from becoming so waterlogged that rot is encouraged."

Also, I have read reports of people plants dying from rot that were planted in pure peat moss. However, this hasn't been my experience. I use peat/perlite mixture that is heavy on the peat and it works well for me. Perhaps if you live in a wetter climate (I live in arid Boulder, CO) then rot would be more of an issue for you.
 
Mine are thrown through "botanical boot camp" upon their arrival. I don't worry about any transitioning and anticipate that there will be some initial leaf-burning. Invariably, the newer growth will be unaffected and the plant will be far more robust and pest resistant.

There are far greater concerns with problems associated with lowered light levels than the effects of full sun . . .

In terms of composts, I have always preferred sphagnum peat and sand mixes over perlite (I just hate the stuff); but each to his own . . .
 
A quote from Steve Doonan, a very experienced Dionaea grower: "Sand and perlite help to aerate the soil and keep it from becoming so waterlogged that rot is encouraged."

Also, I have read reports of people plants dying from rot that were planted in pure peat moss. However, this hasn't been my experience. I use peat/perlite mixture that is heavy on the peat and it works well for me. Perhaps if you live in a wetter climate (I live in arid Boulder, CO) then rot would be more of an issue for you.

hmmm..maybe.
but "CP pots" in general are usually very waterlogged anyway..
I keep the water level of my minibogs only 3" below the surface..
so if ithe media is 100% saturated anyway, I dont see the composition of the media making any difference..

Perlite is probably beneficial for many plants, like general houseplants and Nepenthes, that *dont* constantly sit in water..in those cases, having a more open, airy mix is a benefit..
but for bog plants.."open and airy" just doesnt apply..
and actually, "open and airy' could in theory hurt..making the media too dry..

lets say, just for the sake of the arguement, that you have two choices of media for your VFT..pure fine-grained sand, very dense, or orchid bark, very very "open and airy"..
which would you choose?
yes, of course the sand..
even though the sand might be *too* dense, its still far better than the orchid bark..
IMO, adding perlite to peat to make it more "open and airy" moves it ever so slightly toward the orchid bark end of the scale..and we dont want to go in that direction.

I agree adding perlite makes the media more open and airy..
my only point is..why do we want that for VFTs and Sarrs?
IMO, we dont want or need that..

many of my CPs have been in pure peat for 16 years now..no root rot yet! ;)

Im guessing (just my opinion!) that the use of perlite in the CP world is simply something that has carried over from the "regular houseplant" world..

well..to each their own I suppose..if someone wants to use perlite in a VFT or Sarr mix, it probably wont hurt anything..but I think we also have a lot of evidence that its simply not necessary..

ok..enough about perlite! ;)

Scot
 
Perlite drives me nuts! I can attribute its airy qualities the main reason why my Drosphyllum and D. gramifolia plants dried up and withered. All was fine when I left for work... and then they died when I came home.

Personally, I like to mix sand and peat and have a layer of LFS on top, for VFT's, Sarracenias, and most other plants. That's a good approximation of what bog plants live in, naturally.
 
  • #10
I agree with Bella - I do little to no acclimatizing with most plants. The one exception I make is for plants with very (extraordinarily) thin leaves, such as Utricularia, in which case I'll use a layer of shade cloth for a while. (I've seen them go from green and vibrant to white and translucent in a few hours under full sun after putting them outside for the first time.) But, I only do one intermediate transition; I use just enough shade cloth to make sure the plants don't die immediately. A healthy plant from a species that tolerates full sun should be able to make the switch without any babying; in the wild, plants don't have much choice over whether they're shaded or not.
~Joe
 
  • #11
I also put VFTs straight into the scorching sun. And I'm talking about noon to 6 PM Texas sun. Oh yea they totally burn alright, get reddish on their stems and traps and sometimes die....but, whatever comes up after are super strong, resilient to wind, changes in humidity, and the sun. As long as the roots are fine, I think you'll be rewarded with stronger plants. I think of it as akin to the periodical forest fires they endure in the wild only to come back stronger.

In fact, I also grow my Ping. primuliflora (Lowes) in the same conditions. They started off as small plants living between the shaded Sars and now have matured to big sprawlers that grow right out in the open. Just gotta keep them consistently wet and you'll be surprised with how much they can tolerate.
 
  • #12
I agree with Scotty, just throw the thing outside, it´ll acclimate. VFTs are very hardy. When I got my Wal-Mart VFT, I just put it outside. It got a little burned, but the leaves it made afterwards were perfectly healthy.

Yea, the new growth was probably 'hardened' to the outdoor temperatures, the old growth will always burn off some.
 
  • #13
What I did for mine in a similar situation is, I left it inside for a week to adjust to the humidity, then I took it outside and put it under a shade cloth for another week or two (you can use an old t-shirt as a makeshift shade cloth) then It was ready for full sun, and put out new leaves fast after the transition.
 
  • #14
I agree with Scotty, just throw the thing outside, it´ll acclimate. VFTs are very hardy. When I got my Wal-Mart VFT, I just put it outside. It got a little burned, but the leaves it made afterwards were perfectly healthy.

Chalk up another dude for agreeing with Scotty. I don't have the patience to wait for plants to acclimate. I punt them straight into my conditions.

Jason
 
  • #15
..can anyone give me a logical reason/benefit for using perlite?

Not expert but as I understand it ... No perlite = less oxygen in the soil. Less oxygen = more anerobic activity. Anerobic activity = decay, rot, bacterial infections, fungal infections, death.
 
  • #16
If you just throw it outside it can take quite a while for it to recover. I did that with a S. purpurea once that came from the hardware store and it turned bright red, then crispy, and finally started to grow about 6 months later.
 
  • #17
Just a few more thoughts..
we have been talking a lot lately about this..(acclimation)
the following is all my opinion, but based on years of experience.

(im writing this not necessarily for "twigs", but just for general reference for anyone who comes across it..especially first-time CP growers)

Here's the deal. After my VFT came out of dormancy, I had set it outside (it had been in the garage).

Good so far..


It was doing ok for a bit, but quickly turned terrible (don't ask, I think it got watered with tap water or something).

One or two waterings with tap water will do no harm..it takes *long term* use of tap water to harm CPs..many months stright..
you cant use tap as your "main" water supply..but one or two watering with tap wont harm the plant..
if it "turned terrible" it probably wasnt the water...did it maybe get too dry?
are you using trays?


I brought it inside

Bad move..should have left it alone, left it outside.


and ended up putting it in a makeshift terrarium.

Very bad move..the plant is much better off outside.


It has been doing much better in the terrarium, it has a lot of new growth,

well ok..but it might have also done that outdoors.

and I am moving it outside.

good..


I put it in a window planter that will house a few other VFTs (currently in the mail), but I'm worried about my plant accumulating.

sounds fine..how much sunlight does it get?


I planted it in a 50/50 mixture of peat moss/perlite, and watered it pretty good.

perlite was discussed above..not good, not bad, its probably neutral.
personally, I tried it once, will never try it again..I see no need or benefit.
some people like perlite..thats fine..

Then I took a gallon plastic bag and put it over the plant to increase humidity.

VERY BAD idea!
never use plastic bags..never worry about humidity for VFTs or Sarrs..
its really a non-issue for 95% of growers..
(unless you literally live in a desert or something..otherwise, its a non-issue..dont use bags or covers of any kind..)


Also, I've had it under an Intelligent Plant Light up until now, but its going to be getting a LOT more sun.

bad idea..sunlight is MUCH better..


Should I shade it to prevent it from burning?

No..it needs the sun.

Could anyone provide me some tips on making this easier on the plant?

Yes..

After your VFT comes out of dormancy, set it outside.
the end.

the plant will probably be fine..
all that indoor stuff you did shouldnt set it back too much..
it might have screwed it up some, because its had 4 or 5 different radical climate changes in in the span of a few weeks, (outdoors, indoors, low light, bag/humidity, back outdoors)
when it should have instead been acclimating to just ONE ideal climate..full sun outdoors.
all that extra stuff was just all totally unnecessary..
and likely did more harm than good..

Twigs,
its now been over a month since you put the VFT outside..
how is it doing now?
is it looking better?


Scot
 
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