I did try the refrigerator for seed stratification but kept getting fungal attacks, so I moved the seeds and the dormant plants to an ice chest last winter and they did much better. Opening the chest airs the plants and gives them some light to kill off fungus and the closed chest causes condensation which cuts back on drying in cold temperatures, so less watering needed. It takes more work, but works better for me.. also keeps the fridge free for butter and cheese rather than Flytraps and Sarracenias. In addition, the ice chest open by day and closed by night produces changes in temperature that simulates nature more closely than a fridge. I will keep them in for 2-2 1/2 months and then slowly warm them up over several days to room temperature, then give them progressively more light. Hopefully by then I will have a better apartment with nice windows and porches to place my N. American plants in good sun.

Congrats Carnivorousplants, I would use just a couple at first and use a thermometer to keep tabs on the temperature. Add or take away bottles and adjust the distance the bottles are from the plant as needed to get the temperature in the range you want. When the temp is down to about the level the plant likes at night then keep using the number of bottles and distance you got the best results with. 2 bottles a few inches from the plant should get the ambient temperature down about 5-10 degrees or so from the room temp the setup is in for several hours. I have to use about 8 bottles touching my 5 inch pots in an ice chest to bring the temp down to about 40 degrees for the night. The water generally melts in about 24 hours or so. You could also just invest in a small window unit air conditioner and set it very low at night for a few hours, placing the plant right in front of the air conditioner, but with a cover to keep it from drying in the cold air. I keep having to remember to replace ice water bottles every 12-24 hours for my plants and it can be a pain until you get in the habit.

OK - I have to put my two cents in here - for whatever it is worth. I have been camping with Dry Ice for a couple of years now - we do an 8 to 10 day annual trip and it takes some work to keep your stuff cold. There are no stores close enough to run down and get ice. This is what I do - I have two Xtreme coolers (they are great) - I take a cheap styrofoam cooler and cut it down and place my dry ice in it and then put it in the center of the cooler. Then I pack the frozen zip-loc bags on the floor of the cooler and up the sides. The Dry Ice has to be insulated really good - wrap it in news paper then place it in the styrofoam. You can also put newspaper around the inside of the cooler for extra insulation. After every thing is packed in the cooler (the tighter the better) then cover it all with newspaper and place more fozen bags across the top. I have had the perfect refridgerator for 5 days doing this. When the dry ice is gone I get a block of ice to take it's place and it will generally get me through the trip. Words of wisdom??? - don't wrap dry ice in a platic bag - the gas makes it explode, pop the water drain on your cooler - the gas need to escape and will pop the lid on your cooler and last but not least - don't place dry ice directly on the floor of your cooler - it will crack it - I left living proof at the last campground we visited!

Scientific proof!!!! I filled my L+L bread keeper with cans of soup and submerged it in water in my kitchen sink. I had to go shopping so I ran the test for only 10 minutes, but there was no water found inside the container. BTW, it really tried to float. I had to put a heavy jug of liquid laundry soap on top of the bread keeper in order to force it under water. While I was shopping I found L+L containers at Wegmans. I bought three different sizes and they weren't expensive. I like being able to buy only the sizes and shapes I want and not have to buy a set with sizes I may never use. I still have to find the Ziplock big bags. Nancy