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Growing vfts in nj

I want to grow vfts but I live in the intense heat of NJ and also the frreezing coldness of NJ. I dont know how to grow them outdoors year round. Could someonbe tell me how to give them full sun without burning and provide a good dormancy? THANKS
 
Hello Carnivorous Freak.

I can't help you with dormancy, but I could help you with the summer heat problem. I live 30 miles inland from the Southern Califorina coast and constantly get temps in the 90's right now. I grow my entire VFT collection outdoors with full exposure so that means these guys are very capable of handling some intense heat. The key is to slowly acclimatizing them to the heat and UV levels. Try to place your plants outside on a cloudy day first. Put them in a bright shaded area. When they've been out for about 3-4 days like this, start giving them sun form sunrise to 9 am then move them to shade, then move them back to the sun so the plants could catch the cooler sunsets. Do this for a week. Then make the schedule yourself. Adjust. If you see burns when you increase light levels, stop increasing them. Ad on an hour of sun extra every week. Soon your plants will be soaking up full New Jersey sun.

Hope this helps,
Phong
 
And for dormancy, we have members how live north of you, in NY & Connecticut who leave their plants outside all year long by mulching them. WildBill is noted for that approach. Also, many people bring their plants indoors and either put them in cool garages or their refrigerators. I have done the refigerator approach successfully.
 
im a new york and i leave them outside all day in full sun and boy, htey love it!
its slowly turning completely red
smile.gif
 
I know all that but do can vtf's handle that heat and low humidity? Also, could I put them in a small screen windowed greenhouse with mulch on the top of the plant?
 
Yes you can... I live just west of you (by a bit, but west nonetheless, near Niagara Falls) and you can keep a LOT more stuff than you might realise outside....
I am going to let VFTs overwinter for the first time this year, and I let D.filiformis ssp filiformis and S,flava "coppertop" stay outside all last winter and they seemed to enjoy it quite well..
I think the hardiness of most things is vastly under-rated
 
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