Hi Joyce,

I left my flytraps and sarracenia outside one winter and they all died (I'm in Long Island not far from you). If they were in the ground (i.e. a bog garden), they might have had a chance of weathering the cold temperatures. But in pots, they essentially get freeze dried from the cold winds.

However, flytraps and Sarracenia (North American pitcher plants) do need dormancy to keep growing well over several years. I move mine into my garage (lower light and especially protection from the cold winds) from roughly Halloween until about April. I keep them near a garage window to get a little bit of light, and I just keep a little bit of water in their trays during the Winter. When I bring them outside in the Spring, they really take off!

If you don't have a garage in NYC, you will either need to mulch them very significantly outside (bury them in leaves and pine needles to help them survive the Winter), or you could read up on providing them dormancy in a refrigerator over the Winter.

Jon

Another alternative is to move them to an attic, if you have that available to you, by a window, when the temps are going to dip below freezing. BTW, I was born the Bronx and raised in Huntington.

I think also a pot outdoor would freeze and the ice would squeeze the roots. Regarding the fridge alternative: dry or moist?
If I keep them in the pot.

stefano

Fairly dry. The moisture of a wrung out sponge. Dust with sulfur to keep mold at bay. If you keep the right moisture level mold wont even develop without the sulfur.

One thing I am contemplating doing is purchasing a second-hand, small fridge, like the ones that we had in our college dorm rooms, and using that for CP's. My wife might find that less objectionable to cluttering up the butter keeper and/or the crisper.

Seriously, I am farming my entire Sarracenia & VFT collection to nursery for the winter but I just made a solution of sulfur and water for he temperate sundews and young Sarracenias. I set up a bowl with clean water to rinse the plants of excess soil and dipped them in sulfur solution. Then I put them in platic bags, in the fridge.

Jim did you wrap them in damp LFS before bagging them?
If any part of them stays too wet it will mold and if any part dries out it will die. Either way will kill them.
I place a layer of damp wrung out LFS in a tupperware container, dust with sulfur, place rhizomes on LFS, dust again, then cover with damp wrung out LFS and put the cover on before placing in frige. I didn't have to add or pour out any water year before last doing this. Last year I let them dry out some in the pots before bagging and putting them in the frige in the pots. When we get our first real freeze I will be rinsing and placing them in tupperware again because I didn't repot this spring and the plants are outgrowing the pots. I'm sure they are rootbound and in need of division.

Jim/Taz,

I Winter my non-tropical perennial CPs in my garage. Are there advantages to the refrigerator approach over a cold attic or garage, or is it just a matter of not having the garage or attic space available to you?

Jon

According to a video demonstration I saw, I don't think any media was being used. So I didn't use anything. Whatever moisture that was left on the plant after the dip was all it got. The bags are sealed so there will be minimal moisture in there. If it's a death sentence, I'll take them out and wrap them in slightly moist LFS. Whaddya think?

Jon, in my case I don't have either so the frige is my only choice.

Jim I've never seen them done without some kind of media. Do you have a link to this video and is it done by an experienced grower?? With media the roots stay moist. Without they may get dry and break off but the sealed bag might keep them moist enough. I'm not sure if they are even necessary for survival during dormancy but I'm also not sure I'd be willing to take the chance with any plants not easily replaced. I may try that with 1 or 2 if I have enough divisions. As it is I lost several plants including all 30 of my VFTs from bad water bought from a grocery store. Just goes to show you should check the PPM of even distilled water. I've since got a 55 gallon drum for rain collection.

John

Last year I bare root stored mine in the fridge. The moisture left on the roots then into zip lock bags. The moisture stayed in the bag. No issues at all. Checked from time to time for fungus. Re-potted in the late winter/spring. This year I left them all in there pots and bagged them. They are now in my fridge for the winter.

Thanks for the input! Looks like I can go either way. I do have a bag's worth of LFS, so if more temperate sundews go dormant, I'll try it with the LFS. Right now, it's exactly as Tommy describes.

I'm not sure how to post this but it comes from Jacb Farin / Jeff Dallas. Google the title and it will get you there.

Sarracenia Northwest.

I do not even use the fridge sinc eI am now in montana and the kitchen when closed off can get down to 45-55F at night. I think the sun light or lack thereof is what really puts the plants into dormancy. I just let all the water drip from the pots before bagging mine and they have stayed moist for a few days- they still need water, just not to be sitting in it. Mine is wetter than a wrung out sponge, but drier than soaking wet by far. I would recommend using the fridge and bringing the light (artificial or natural) to about 8- 10 hrs in winter and then as spring comes back and the light hours lengthen, you start leaving them out overnight by a window.

Hi, thanks for all your replies. I live in Long Island also. the plants are all outside in the yard on the table, I have the pitcher plants and venus fly trap....but......my venus fly trap seems to not have any more traps, its as though they disappeared!! I hate to think its dead. maybe its dormant? where did everything go???????
HELP.
Also, I have no light in my garage, I wish someone in a gardening store knew about this.....is my venus flytrap dead or dormant? Its as though I only see soil when I looked at it today........oh no!

It is not a sure thing to say that it is dead, just because you don't see anything above the soil surface... but that doesn't bode well, either. I would dig up the area that its is supposed to be and investigate. If it is dormant, it won't know the difference.

Since many people put VFT's and the like in fridges for the winter, sucessfully, then by not having light in the garage isn't an absolute necessity. It is better to have them where it's cold (but not frigid), where it can experience light by day and dark by night, as it would in nature.

They normally look like "death warmed over" during the fall/winter.

Where on the Island, out of curiosity? I was born in the Bronx but grew up in Huntington.

Hi JoyceLinda,

At this point, you could just put your Sarracenia pitcher plants and Fly trap in your garage for the Winter with no light. Make sure you keep a little bit of water in their trays through the Winter. And in April or so, when you put the plants out, you'll either be pleased with the Fly Trap as it starts to put up leaves and traps, or you can buy a new fly trap in the Spring and have the benefit of experience.

If you live close to Stony Brook or close to Farmingdale, I may be able to look at your plants and give an opinion if you'd like.

I wouldn't keep any water in the tray. If the soil starts getting too dry(bone dry) then just mist the surface.