Dear all,
I have been growing VFTs in Singapore (tropical climate, temperates consistently about 28-30 C a year) for about two years now. I have not given my VFTs any dormancy for the two years that I've had them. Although they still look vibrant and alive, I feel that I need to address the dormancy problem when they are still thriving, and not leave it until they are almost dead because of the lack of dormancy.
At the same time, I do not want to risk every VFT I have with dormancy since that also carries with it a certain element of risk. As such, my plan is to have an 'experimental dormancy' with just one of my VFTs right now. I will put one pot of VFT into dormancy, have it stay in the fridge for 3 months and see if it's still alive. I figure that since temperatures here are constant, that would be problem with the time of the year these plants are put into dormancy -- especially since this is their first dormancy in 2 years.
I have had the benefit of reading Scot's very useful pictorial journal of his CPs' dormancy process. I would like to follow the same steps, except that in my tropical climate, it is not possible to rely on decreasing temperatures outside to bring the VFTs into dormancy naturally.
I keep my VFTs outside in the open. Humidity here is about 98% all the time. Temps, as written, range from 28 to 32 degrees C. I have the plants in a peat/sand mix topped with LFS (some live). They are watered using the 'tray method' with tapwater -- the pH of the tapwater here is sufficiently neutral to support the plants.
I have some questions:
1. How should I bring the VFT into dormancy? I can conceivably reduce the photoperiod by bringing it into the shade before sunset, but the problem would be the temperature. How can I adjust this to bring it into dormancy?
2. After the VFT is sufficiently dormant, can I just follow Scot's fridge method directly?
Thanks in advance for any views.
I have been growing VFTs in Singapore (tropical climate, temperates consistently about 28-30 C a year) for about two years now. I have not given my VFTs any dormancy for the two years that I've had them. Although they still look vibrant and alive, I feel that I need to address the dormancy problem when they are still thriving, and not leave it until they are almost dead because of the lack of dormancy.
At the same time, I do not want to risk every VFT I have with dormancy since that also carries with it a certain element of risk. As such, my plan is to have an 'experimental dormancy' with just one of my VFTs right now. I will put one pot of VFT into dormancy, have it stay in the fridge for 3 months and see if it's still alive. I figure that since temperatures here are constant, that would be problem with the time of the year these plants are put into dormancy -- especially since this is their first dormancy in 2 years.
I have had the benefit of reading Scot's very useful pictorial journal of his CPs' dormancy process. I would like to follow the same steps, except that in my tropical climate, it is not possible to rely on decreasing temperatures outside to bring the VFTs into dormancy naturally.
I keep my VFTs outside in the open. Humidity here is about 98% all the time. Temps, as written, range from 28 to 32 degrees C. I have the plants in a peat/sand mix topped with LFS (some live). They are watered using the 'tray method' with tapwater -- the pH of the tapwater here is sufficiently neutral to support the plants.
I have some questions:
1. How should I bring the VFT into dormancy? I can conceivably reduce the photoperiod by bringing it into the shade before sunset, but the problem would be the temperature. How can I adjust this to bring it into dormancy?
2. After the VFT is sufficiently dormant, can I just follow Scot's fridge method directly?
Thanks in advance for any views.