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Carnivorous Plants

accidental freezing of vft!

18 years ago

i've been leaving my vft on the porch beside the house to let it feel the chillier climate and hint to it that it is supposed to get to sleep soon and we experienced a cold snap. i got home a little later than expected and soon found my otherwise vibrant vft strangely motionless. with a recoil in abject horror i touched one of the leaves and realized it was mostly frozen stiff. i quickly brought it inside and gave it some water, keeping it chilled so not to shock it, but also with loads of cool light on it, hoping this would give it a slightly needed boost.

now, most of the outer leaves and heads, which thankfully were older and in the beginning states of death, have turned an unattractive liveless olive and slumped right over. the main 3 to 5 stalks are healthy, strong and firm and still growing up, but a slight sag to them. i've also noticed a smaller plant that seems completely unaffected, probably a product of a rosette budding. it has tiny, tiny stems and heads roughly as large as a pencil lead. should i move it to safety or force it into dormancy as well?

and the most important thing, i did not mean for this to happen. this was my first CP and i've had it for over a good year and a half now. i'd hate to think i've killed it. could anyone tell me what they'd do to keep it alive, assuming its possible at this point.

thanks all.

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Comments (8)

clay_in_iowa
18 years ago
I don't think you have anything to worry about. I've lightly frozen mine every year I've had them (well over 6 years now). I've had them freeze hard enough that the top 3/4 to one inch of soil around the bulb was rock solid and I've never had a problem with them coming back stron and healthy in the spring.

You did the right thing to keep it cool after the freeze. I'd be much more inclined to worry if you had tried to warm it quickly.

Now the key is to let it go completely dormant. Don't try to keep it growing. The plant thinks it's finally time to sleep and will now be dormant. If it's like my plants all the leaves will eventually turn black and die. At that time I cut them off at ground level to prrevent mold formation. I keep mine in an unheated mud room that stays just above freezing most of the winter. I also don't cover them and have had no mold problems as many molds thrive in stagnant conditions. Keep just a bit of air moving around them and no mold. I only bring them in when the temps plummet of the winds force really cold air into the mudroom. Keep it moist but not wet as you would during the growing season and let your baby sleep.
necro1234
18 years ago
ye i dont thnk u need to worry much, i believe they can tolerate -20 F for brief periods easily.
these plants do well with a first frost as well.

cheers

sheldon
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kakozord
18 years ago
My VFTs and Pitchers recently got frozen at about -5C for a couple of nights. It's still subzero here so I put them in my greenhouse

Being in very small tight pots - What temp do you rekon they could stand without any additional protection?

Cheers

Kyle
necro1234
18 years ago
mmm not sure on that one, you want to protect the bulbs, if the pots are small a solution to give extra protection would be to bury the pots and give the surface a good mulshing.

cheers

sheldon
kakozord
18 years ago
Yea good idea but unfortunately, it wouldn't work for me.

Nowhere in my garden is safe from my two huge dogs. They'd just flatten any little plants at ground level.

I'll just keep them in the greenhouse for the Winter I think. It's still very cold in there. In fact the soil was frozen hard in all the pots this morning.

Once I repot them next year, they should be protected enough to leave out.

Thanks

Kyle
necro1234
18 years ago
the green house may just be perfect.
since tropical regions like port elizabeth where i come from can let the vft and pitchers get a good enough dormency with temps that drop lowest at around 3 F in winter.

even if they dont get a full dormency they should at the very least get a light one, some rest is better than none :)

good luck

Sheldon
kakozord
18 years ago
Cheers sheldon. I'd be suprised if they didn't fall completely dormant because the temp drops below zero during cold spells. It's about 6 celcius in there now which seems great.

Did you mean to say 3 'C' btw? 3F would be like -16C.

I'll bring them outside on warm dry days anyway, this should help to discourage fungus.

Kyle
necro1234
18 years ago
My bad my bad

Getting to confused coming from a place that uses Metric to here, yes 3 Celcius is what I meant :), Ive read that they can survive up to -20 F (-28.88 C)

Cheers

Sheldon

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