I think people under estimate how much sunlight big catts can handle. I have some in my screened in patio in baskets, and I know the screening material only shades about 30 percent. That means 70 percent of direct sun in South Florida. That is pretty bright and actually brighter than my vanda shadehouse which had 50 pct shade cloth. I would suggest that you let the plant tell you when it is receiving maximum sunlight that it can process without stress. Look for a light to medium green color on your NEW growth. If you get yellow growths, than it's too bright and need to shade some more. Remember that the more light a plant receives, the stronger it will bloom. Think of the sun as a battery charger. If you increment gradually, you should be able to eventually figure out how much it can take. If you get some red pigmentation, use epsom salts at 1 TBSP per gallon and it will green up quickly from that point on. I try to use it every couple of months.

My Mom was gave a pink one in 1973 - it bloomed non-stop for 32 years! It had atleast 2 blooms on it all year round and about Dec. or Jan. would really put on a show. My Mom passed away 3 years ago and I took the plant - it was huge! I treated it the same as she did: Full Sun, water once a week and Job Spikes. Well.... the dang thing was just acting just like yours, Hobbes! I did everything I could think of, along with everything the local flower people and a few off of here said - nope she just wasn't happy :( Last week I gave her to my oldest sister to see if she could make it happier than I did.... But! Late December I puchased a Double Pink one that was in terrible shape from lack of water! She is doing AWSOME! Bloom, Bloom, Bloom and putting on new leaves everywhere! IMO sometimes it doesn't matter what you do - plants are like spoiled children - they don't like change no matter how nice you are to them LOL Marie

Hello carlkillermiller, It sounds like the plants needed to be adjusted to full sun for a few days before placing them outside. In any event, this will not kill the plants, so as long as they are getting plenty of mineral free water, they will regrow new leaves adapted to higher light levels. Sundews grow much faster than Sarracenias, so just wait and see if the Sarracenia starts growing more leaves. Drosera graminifolia prefer temperatures in the 70s with high levels of light. Sundew tentacles and leaves often turn red in high intensity light and the Sarracenia should produce more colorful leaves as well in bright sun. The Sarracenia is a temperate that could be left out all year, the Sundews are both tropicals that will need to be brought in before winter hits so they can grow year round (I actually keep my D. capensis and graminifolia under 12000 lumen florescent light indoors).

Kitchen scraps are going in milk jugs and then set on top of the compost pile out back. This way they should go through several freeze/thaw cycles before being finally added to the bin. Late December in northern-Illinois and you don't know what you'll get - today was the first real snowfall of the season but tomorrow is supposed to be back to low 40s F. I thought about the reusable grocery bags but gave up on them after a while. I am thinking one would work well if I need to store VC before we thaw out for next season. For the most part the bags are made of non-woven polypropylene. UV from the sun will eat that stuff up before a season is over in the garden. As for a bin it would be a good test. It will have a high surface area to volume ratio though. Expect to water it a lot is what I think. Would a small bag like this make more of a batch process compost cycle than a traditional bin?