Post by sherkas on Oct 27, 2008 1:52:22 GMT -5
I am fairly new to CP, and this is my first year doing dormancy or planning to. The last few times they always died by this time but I successfully kept 4 alive this year.
So im going to writeup a yearly history on each of my babies since I do know each of them very well and I wanted to see which ones I should force to go dormant.
Off hand I think I should only be putting 2 into dormancy, maybe 3 but im also here to verify all my guesses. I will probably be following your guys judgments on most of this since so far ive only made bad choices but I have learned ALOT!
So I bought 4 CP that looked the best from a local store, unpotted them replanted into a huge pot that all of them fit into. They suffered from lack of light for most of the summer as this year was actually not ideal for a inexperienced grower and as a result these flytraps didn't have that good of a summer. they stayed really long leafed and stringy and recently when I became more educated I finally tried to get them outside more. I had them on a table inside and they received MAX 4 hours of direct window sunlight for the bulk of the summer.
During this time I had a few accidents.... I had just replanted them halfway through the summer as my medium before was sub par (initial peat + sphagnum medium and then I had regular dirt around them to fill out the container). They took the replant fine (into a peat+perlite mix... a proper mix!) except 2 days later I left them outside and it frosted outside. Ya.... july something and we got frost and the next morning those flytraps were ice cubes... literally. Most leaves were clear and dark green transparent. By the end of the next day almost 95% of all the foliage was dead and dying. I think my "best" plant had 2 maybe 3 leaves that survived (and a small offshoot on this plant lived). The other plants pretty much lost all their leaves but did regrow semi fine. The offshoot actually was not touched and has been ok.
I had then taken the offshoot and transplanted him into a separate pot (I should have left him attached a little longer... he was SMALL when I did this... like pin sized). HOWEVER I stayed persistent in caring for him despite me knowing it was wrong like a few days later... after a month or so it finally began to regrow. It had almost completely died off uptop, but then one day a small leaf came out and I was overjoyed! It is now growing steadily and im sure it wont be close to dying ever again.
Since the repot+frost incident the plants have barely been ... show pieces. One plant that had the offshoot has done REALLY well... its a super plant. The rest do show signs of a HARD summer on them.
So I ended up with 5 vfts and heres a quick summary on each.
VFT1: This will be the good one. I assume a dormancy is best. It grow the most during the lack of light early in the summer and had a flower that I let flower. It survived the frost with about 2-3 leaves and had a offshoot. Right now its very healthy. Not too big but definitely healthy. It has tried to send up 2 flower stalks since which I have cut. I hope to get this guy dormant so next year I can treat him well. He has leaves currently that fit into winter type. They are very short but very wide and its still growing better then the rest.
VFT2: This one had good leaves during the low light summer start but didn't ever show alot of growth. This one also flowered. It now has a few good leaves after the frost+repot but still never shows much growth. Looks solid but its just slothful kinda. It did try to send up 1 flower stalk since the frost but I did cut it. I assume dormancy should be fine for this guy too. It has longer summer leaves. They actually look ideal for length+width. They look like mid summer leaves to me.
VFT3: This one had REALLY long leaves that were "retarded" most of the time at the end of the summer low light period. After the frost+repot it has constantly produced twisted and unformed traps. It has yet to look healthy. I am unsure about dormancy on this one. Its leaves are mostly long like it has always been. They are also twisted severely so all I can judge is their length.
VFT4: This one had very little growth, close to none during the low light. It was healthy and had a leaf or two but was never big on growth. It tried to flower but it was the first attempt on all of them and I did cut the stalk. After the frost+repot it has 2 full leaves with usable traps and 1 half that is SLOWLY growing. It does look like it might be healthy but it lacks in growth severely. I dont plan to force this plant going dormant. These leaves look ideal to mid summer however they are short in length. It looks like they are half in the dirt except they do look like proper leaves.
VFT5: (the offshoot) Since it started after the frost+repot and now is still the size of a quarter I assume I can keep it growing nonstop till next winter and then make it go dormant like it should.
For the last month or so (maybe month and a half) we did have really good sun and thats where they were outside almost all day catching bugs and getting proper light. Most recovered well and a got healthier despite the previous treatment. The last week or two have been close to no sun and as a result most are going a little lighter in green and haven't had any real growth. I finally went out and bought some artificial light (2 t12 bulbs) and threw that up. After 2 days they are already responding REALLY well. the VFT1 has started to grow noticibly again and the rest are just perking up so far. I plan to get some drosera and keep a aritifical light grow spot for them and anytime our weather decides to take a dump and give no light. I dont want to let my babies suffer from lack of light again so I might even make my space bigger if needed but I hear 2 t12 bulbs are good enough. So I plan to grow any vft + future cp with this setup on a solid light period. I have also since been educated on soil mixes and wont do the "dirt" media again lol. I also plan to grow some moss to help in controlling moisture and getting better media's for my plants. And I also read a few forum sites daily now and I am much much more educated on my vfts and other cps that I feel very confident in growing them now. (Unlike before I just treated them like a normal plant). And yes I do use rainwater. I have a huge bucket that is covered and collects rain water only when it rains.
So thats the mini history on my babies, and tomorrow I can post full before summer + after frost pics of how they are now if needed. (I will anyways in the picture forum). But I just wanted to get some reassurance here before I make another first time guess on which ones I feel are ready for dormancy.
So im going to writeup a yearly history on each of my babies since I do know each of them very well and I wanted to see which ones I should force to go dormant.
Off hand I think I should only be putting 2 into dormancy, maybe 3 but im also here to verify all my guesses. I will probably be following your guys judgments on most of this since so far ive only made bad choices but I have learned ALOT!
So I bought 4 CP that looked the best from a local store, unpotted them replanted into a huge pot that all of them fit into. They suffered from lack of light for most of the summer as this year was actually not ideal for a inexperienced grower and as a result these flytraps didn't have that good of a summer. they stayed really long leafed and stringy and recently when I became more educated I finally tried to get them outside more. I had them on a table inside and they received MAX 4 hours of direct window sunlight for the bulk of the summer.
During this time I had a few accidents.... I had just replanted them halfway through the summer as my medium before was sub par (initial peat + sphagnum medium and then I had regular dirt around them to fill out the container). They took the replant fine (into a peat+perlite mix... a proper mix!) except 2 days later I left them outside and it frosted outside. Ya.... july something and we got frost and the next morning those flytraps were ice cubes... literally. Most leaves were clear and dark green transparent. By the end of the next day almost 95% of all the foliage was dead and dying. I think my "best" plant had 2 maybe 3 leaves that survived (and a small offshoot on this plant lived). The other plants pretty much lost all their leaves but did regrow semi fine. The offshoot actually was not touched and has been ok.
I had then taken the offshoot and transplanted him into a separate pot (I should have left him attached a little longer... he was SMALL when I did this... like pin sized). HOWEVER I stayed persistent in caring for him despite me knowing it was wrong like a few days later... after a month or so it finally began to regrow. It had almost completely died off uptop, but then one day a small leaf came out and I was overjoyed! It is now growing steadily and im sure it wont be close to dying ever again.
Since the repot+frost incident the plants have barely been ... show pieces. One plant that had the offshoot has done REALLY well... its a super plant. The rest do show signs of a HARD summer on them.
So I ended up with 5 vfts and heres a quick summary on each.
VFT1: This will be the good one. I assume a dormancy is best. It grow the most during the lack of light early in the summer and had a flower that I let flower. It survived the frost with about 2-3 leaves and had a offshoot. Right now its very healthy. Not too big but definitely healthy. It has tried to send up 2 flower stalks since which I have cut. I hope to get this guy dormant so next year I can treat him well. He has leaves currently that fit into winter type. They are very short but very wide and its still growing better then the rest.
VFT2: This one had good leaves during the low light summer start but didn't ever show alot of growth. This one also flowered. It now has a few good leaves after the frost+repot but still never shows much growth. Looks solid but its just slothful kinda. It did try to send up 1 flower stalk since the frost but I did cut it. I assume dormancy should be fine for this guy too. It has longer summer leaves. They actually look ideal for length+width. They look like mid summer leaves to me.
VFT3: This one had REALLY long leaves that were "retarded" most of the time at the end of the summer low light period. After the frost+repot it has constantly produced twisted and unformed traps. It has yet to look healthy. I am unsure about dormancy on this one. Its leaves are mostly long like it has always been. They are also twisted severely so all I can judge is their length.
VFT4: This one had very little growth, close to none during the low light. It was healthy and had a leaf or two but was never big on growth. It tried to flower but it was the first attempt on all of them and I did cut the stalk. After the frost+repot it has 2 full leaves with usable traps and 1 half that is SLOWLY growing. It does look like it might be healthy but it lacks in growth severely. I dont plan to force this plant going dormant. These leaves look ideal to mid summer however they are short in length. It looks like they are half in the dirt except they do look like proper leaves.
VFT5: (the offshoot) Since it started after the frost+repot and now is still the size of a quarter I assume I can keep it growing nonstop till next winter and then make it go dormant like it should.
For the last month or so (maybe month and a half) we did have really good sun and thats where they were outside almost all day catching bugs and getting proper light. Most recovered well and a got healthier despite the previous treatment. The last week or two have been close to no sun and as a result most are going a little lighter in green and haven't had any real growth. I finally went out and bought some artificial light (2 t12 bulbs) and threw that up. After 2 days they are already responding REALLY well. the VFT1 has started to grow noticibly again and the rest are just perking up so far. I plan to get some drosera and keep a aritifical light grow spot for them and anytime our weather decides to take a dump and give no light. I dont want to let my babies suffer from lack of light again so I might even make my space bigger if needed but I hear 2 t12 bulbs are good enough. So I plan to grow any vft + future cp with this setup on a solid light period. I have also since been educated on soil mixes and wont do the "dirt" media again lol. I also plan to grow some moss to help in controlling moisture and getting better media's for my plants. And I also read a few forum sites daily now and I am much much more educated on my vfts and other cps that I feel very confident in growing them now. (Unlike before I just treated them like a normal plant). And yes I do use rainwater. I have a huge bucket that is covered and collects rain water only when it rains.
So thats the mini history on my babies, and tomorrow I can post full before summer + after frost pics of how they are now if needed. (I will anyways in the picture forum). But I just wanted to get some reassurance here before I make another first time guess on which ones I feel are ready for dormancy.
