Ditto what Nancy said. I will go into more detail for other newbies. When the ambient conditions are so variable it is a good thing to know the water is not reacting as quickly. Air loses heat a lot faster than water so the temps aren't quite as critical as it might seem. The critical temp seems to be 55oF. The fishies may begin to move around more above that temp but they don't need food until the temps stay above that 55oF for a long time. Until you are comfortable with winter pond conditions I would suggest a wireless thermometer that has a sensor that works under water. It is fairly common in most hardware and big box stores. There is a master control for inside that will give readings for several external units. The external units have a waterproof sensor at the end of a long wire so you can take a reading two feet or so under the surface. They usually have a trending function you might find helpful. It takes quite a while for the waterfall to freeze. It can usually go for several days after the pond surface freezes. The concern would be if the area directly under the falls freezes. That could cause the water from the falls to be diverted, possibly out of the pond. Not a likely happening in your zone but in extended freezes it is possible. There are several ways to support the net over the water. I use the top of a gazebo over my pond. It works very nicely and is even somewhat attractive. Wind motion can cause leaves to work their way through even bird nets. It is not likely the Albino Catfish will survive the winter outside. Take him inside if possible. There are several fish foods that are designed for autumn feeding. I use them with no problems. The fish do not have stomachs. Food is digested through the gut and if the fish has a lot of food in the gut as it goes dormant the food can rot, causing all sorts of health problems. Don't feed the fish. If they really need food they can graze on some algae. Winter power outages are not as critical as those in summer so long as a hole in the ice is maintained for gas exchange. Extended outages may cause problems as oxygen levels in the water decrease. Addition of Hydrogen Peroxide may help in an emergency. There are devices that tell you the oxygen levels. The water should be as clean and clear as possible. Parasites and their eggs thrive in dirty water and become active in spring temperatures before you realize it. Some ponders treat the water in the fall and again in the spring. If the water is good and the fish are healthy a fall treatment might be skipped but the spring treatment is important. A warning sign would be a fish with an extra heavy slime coating. You probably don't need a pond heater or deicer but you might want to make a DIY floating deicer with a light bulb as the heat source. Do a search on this forum for instructions. Happy ponding, Sandy

If it's in a fully enclosed porch, that helps. If it's warmer in there during the day, that helps. But it can also help if you get yourself some bubble wrap and wrap the pot a few times. It's kind of the easiest and fastest ways to get a little extra insulation on a pot in the porch if you can't do more serious stuff. If the pot is small enough to fit in a cooler, that works well too- think of the styrofoam caps folks sometimes use on rose bushes to overwinter. If you get box food delivery service that has insulation in the box, that insulation works well too. Yes, you should water. But not a lot. You don't want the dirt to go bone dry, but you don't want it wet either. The plants are dormant and so don't really need water themselves, but the dirt still should be a bit moist. And pots seem to want to stay damp longer when it's cold out so you might not need to water much at all depending.

I live in zone 5 as well. But have had ZERO luck in keeping any CP alive over the winter outside. Even "native" pitcher plants, Plants that regularly see zone 3 and 4 conditions in nature have been frozen out. I often have zone 5 flowers die over the winter. I've even lost a few zone 4 "hardy parenials". The difference between Fred and I, exposure. I have no way of sheltering my plants from the wind, and here in Eastern Iowa wind is a HUGE factor. My place sits in the middle of a state sized corn field with no trees to stop the wind. Serioulsy there is nothing to stop the wind for miles so it blows hard and often. My guess is that the wind drives the cold into the ground causing a much much deeper freeze that I would see if my plants were sheltered. So if you plan to grow your CPs outside in zone 5, plant them in a well sheltered south exposure for just a bit more warmth. Just my 2 pennies.

Yeah, I know the OP was confusing. Let me try to re-word it. For Hydra planted outdoors, those with buds that have emerged (green) or new growth from base (green), they are still green and are fine even in this cold weather. Hell, even the Noreaster with snow did not seem to faze the new growth at base level. The Hydra I grabbed from cold frame last week - lotsa leaves if not small, but set blossom on each end (counted at least 10 flower blossoms) - was removed from cold frame and placed indoors on a bay window. The ambient indoor temp is 70-72F. It's warm when there is sun during the day, but when either overcast or just@night, the ambient temp by the window is much colder - can't say how much, but it's definately colder by the windows. Maybe it's just environmental/thermal stress, but a majority of the leaves have gone from upright and ridgid, to soft and wilted. So the ? is are they leaves wilting due to not experiencing cold like we speak. --- GG We were typing at the same type. Hopefully these leaves unsoften themselves and perk back up. Or less continuation of leaves wilting...