37 replies to this topic

[Marcia]

I'm starting to wonder wether to leave my plants outside over winter instead of putting them in the shed. I've looked at cold frames but it seems that some of you have good results without these and just using a mulch to help protect them from frost?

[jimscott]

Do you have access to pine needles and / or peat? There are some hobbyists that do nothing more than that. One called WildBill, in Connecticut, has an entire thread devoted to his approach to mulching.

[Richard Bunn]

It seems to be the better idea I think Marcia.  When my greenhouse is up I shall be putting them in there of course but that really won't be much different than cold frame temps.  I shall only mulch if we have an arctic snap though.

[Richard Bunn]

I've never heard of using peat before Jim. how does that work?

[Marcia]

I've looked at building my own cold frame. Has anyone on here made one?

I'm pretty sure i could get loads of pine needles in a woodland near me.

[Richard Bunn]

Just an idea Marcia. Seeing as you're in Swansea and I grew up in Cornwall and had easy access. Can you get hold of a fish box? Probably one of the lower green ones.  Shouldn't be too hard.  Stick a pane of glass on top and Bob's your uncle.

[Marcia]

I actually had to google what a fish box was lol.

I could try and get my hands one. I do have an old glass reptile tank, don't know if that would help

[mantrid]

Marcia, on 29 July 2012 - 19:12 PM, said:

I actually had to google what a fish box was lol.

I could try and get my hands one. I do have an old glass reptile tank, don't know if that would help

Should do as its effectively a mini greenhouse. Just put some ventilation in it.
Place it against the house wall for some residual warmth and preferably in a location that wont remain frosted over for weeks ie where it will receive some winter sun

Edited by mantrid, 29 July 2012 - 20:13 PM.

[jimscott]

I'll have to research the use of peat but for now, here's a copy and paste of what WildBill did:


A Method of Providing Dormancy (Connecticutt) by Wild Bill

The following is the technique used by Wild Bill to protect his plants during the winters of Connecticutt. *Perhaps some of you can benefit from his tips:

I'm in Connecticut where we get lots of snow and freezing temps in the winter. *Here's what I did last October and it worked very well; only lost 2 of 100 or so plants.

1. *I built an 8-foot by 4-foot raised garden bed.
2. *Started collecting lots of pine needles. A garbage bag or two full.
3. *Then I filled the raised bed with FREE compost from our local recycling center.
3. *A day or two before dormancy I sprayed down all the plants with a fungicide (powder you mix with water) using a 2 gallon pump-style garden sprayer.
4. *I scooped out little holes and placed all the plants (pots and all) in the raised bed, packing the soil around the pots. *I tried to put the tenderest plants in the center.
5. *Sprayed all plants with fungicide, again.
6. *Strew pine needles over all the plants, about an inch thick layer.
7. *Placed a large sheet of burlap (over the whole bed) on top of the pine needle layer.
8. *Shoveled on a 1 foot deep layer of wood chips on top of the burlap the first week (again = FREE from our recycling center ).
9. *The following week added another foot of wood chips.
When spring rolled around, I would remove a few inches of the wood chips as the weather warmed up. *One suggestion John Phillip (NECPS Prez) suggested was to use pine boughs instead of wood chips because you just don't know what's in the stuff from your *recycling center - stuff that could cause disease or otherwise damage your plants.
I hope this helps everone.

WildBill

[Richard Bunn]

Jim the words 'FREE compost from recycling centre' are instilling much fear in me. LOL

[jimscott]

You get what you pay for?

[Starchy]

The best location I have for my VFTs is in an enclosed addition to the house I live in. The room has heat, but is rarely turned on. The entire north side of the room is window to window with a small counter, which would be perfect to put my VFTs for dormancy except the fact that it is north-facing. All my south-facing windows are in heated locations of the house. In this addition, there is a small east-facing window, but I am unsure if my 2 VFTs will fit on the smaller windowsill.

My question is: what is the minimum photoperiod for a VFT in dormancy? flytrapcare says 8-10 hours is ideal, which I do not think would be possible on my north-facing window counter  

[mantrid]

This should be fine for dormancy as they are mostly inactive. The light will just give some energy on the warmer days when their cells may be metabolising.
If the temp is around 4c or lower then they probably dont require the light anyway. Some people in the tropics put their VFTs in the fridge over winter. This would be around 4c and no light and they survive fine.
I think the most important thing in your case ie a cool lit sheltered location would be ensuring they are not too wet as they will develop rot. I would let them dry out until the soil is just damp.

Edited by mantrid, 29 August 2012 - 18:40 PM.

[johns]

Starchy, on 29 August 2012 - 16:03 PM, said:

My question is: what is the minimum photoperiod for a VFT in dormancy? flytrapcare says 8-10 hours is ideal, which I do not think would be possible on my north-facing window counter  

I've successfully overwintered venus flytraps and Sarracenias on a south-facing windowsill where the temperature is kept between 4 to 10 degrees celsius. The windowsill receives a little sunlight at the height of the day but is otherwise dim, and the day length here is just below six hours around winter solstice.

[Gaz]

Hi Marcia and all, I hope it's OK to tag a related question on the end of this thread...

Like many of you I've also been contemplating this issue. I'm lucky enough to have a mini-greenhouse where I'll move all my North American plants to as I'll be keeping my main greenhouse a bit warmer.

But what I'm unsure about is exactly when should I start preparing for dormancy by reducing water etc. I'm in Derbyshire (UK - North Midlands) and it's already dropping below 10C at night in my main greenhouse, so is it time already? Photoperiod is down to about 12 hours-ish now.

What do you guys think?
Thanks in advance.
Gaz

[billynomates666]

Hi Gaz

I wouldnt worry about preparing for dormancy till frosts are forecast, especially as they are in a greenhouse already. The plants will start to go dormant themselves as the temperature and photoperiods drop, as for the watering just carry on your normal regime till you see growth has stopped. Then when that happens pop them into your mini greenhouse and keep just moist over winter.

Cheers
Steve

[cookie0117]

I have a few old Velux windows that I use as a cold frame.  I binned the glass from 1 and stack them up.  I have never used them for my CPs but am going to this year.  Should be nice for them double glazed an all!!

[treefella83]

just finished building a cold frame for my sarras  very tight on space so i built one to fit the available space .
my small back yard is a nasty frost pocket so i used 10 mm twin wall polycarb instead of glass and im a bit worried about the low light level now . in summer its bleached by the sun but winter its dark cold and nasty   thinking of adding artificial lighting.