LauraZ5 Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 Last night I received an order I placed to Triffid Park. Quite a few Sarracenia and several VFT. Their seasons are the exact reverse of ours. This is a problem given it is spring here in the US whilst it was fall over there and the plants shipped to me were all entering dormancy. They are bare rooted and in my refrigerator right now. I don't quite know what else to do with them other than to wrap their roots in damp LFS and let them stay there for 6-8 weeks. I normally have no problems over wintering plants but this is just an odd ball situation. Suggestions? Any recommendations based on personal experiences please? Should I sprinkle some sulfur on their roots before wrapping them in LFS? Should I cut down the pitchers to around 8"? Is 6 weeks long enough to keep them in the frig or should I go a full 8 weeks? I truly would be interested in how others have handled this situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uglypho Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 If your weather is warm, let the plants break dormancy early. Shouldn't be a problem with the VFT's since I did that before. Cook's sent me a dormant "Big Mouth" plant from Australia and I let it break dormancy. Turned out fine. Hey did you get a "Dingley Giant" by any chance? What VFT's did you get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nepenthes Nut Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 To get tyhem aclimatised you will have to let them have a long or short growing season (if woken up now it will be longer than if you give it the refrigerated dormancy). In the short term they will not look as good as they will once they settle into the norther hemisphere's seasons but it wil have to be done.If you do decide to give it a dormancy I would put them in longer than 8 weeks as they would just be going into dormancy in australia which would last for a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraZ5 Posted April 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 I knew there were only two choices- an extremely long growing season or dormancy. In consideration of the fact they were just entering dormancy, I'm going to go with the refrigerator. I have this little voice that tells me it would be too disruptive to pull them out of dormancy now to let them grow on for the whole season here. Add to this that they were in a box for a week and I truly believe a dormancy is in their best interests. The length of the dormancy was a question I had. I think for the VFTs, I will hold at around 8 weeks. A longer dormancy makes sense for the Sarrs. I'll go with 10 weeks. The question I now have is how to properly store them in the refrigerator. It had been my intent to hydrate some NZ LFS and ring it out until it was just barely damp. I was either going to dust the roots with sulfur or spritz with Safer's Garden Fungicide and the active ingredient in that is sulfur. them with Bonide Fung-onil. The active ingredient in Fung-onil is Chlorothalonil. The other possibility would be to spritz them with Physan 20. Active ingredients in that are dimethylethylbenzyl ammonium chlorides and I'm about as comfortable with those as I am with using Captan. Suggestions on which fungicide to use for the next 10 weeks? Interestingly enough, I read somewhere that there were growers who were floating their VFTs in water for the duration. I do not recall where I read that. To the best of my recollection, the VFTs were literally left to float in a pan of water in the refrigerator for 6-8 weeks and the water was changed every 10 days or so. Has anyone any experience with this? Does anyone recall any specifics on this? Hey uglypho, Dean Cook is out west somewhere. I presume he would have acclimated them himself prior to selling them so why would the VFTs you bought from him have needed a dormancy? Did he literally take them out of a shipping crate from Australia and sell them off? You're kidding aren't you? I don't believe I ordered a 'Dingley's Giant'. I only ordered a few and 'Clayton's Red Sunset' was one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uglypho Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Yes, Dean Cook's "Big Mouth"s are all acclimatised now. But you see I bought the "Big Mouth" when it first appeared on his site about over 3 years ago. I got the plant that was straight from Australia dormant. (It was mentioned on the site). Today all his plants are cuttings from that original stock or some other stock. I really don't think the dormancy matters for VFTs as they are really resilient growers. I don't have experience with Sar dormancy but I'm assuming you can skip one year and be OK. Best to break your plant's habit as soon as possible because eventually you'll have to do it. Or I guess you could give it a breif resting period in the fridge for about a month or so then resume growth In late May. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimscott Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 A lot of people use fungicides. I haven't. Two years ago I put my VFT's, as was, in the butter keeper. (Surprised that Lynn let me get away with it!) I added water to just keep the media damp. I had no problems with mold, since they were exposed to the air. This past winter, before we moved to western NY, I had the Sarrs & VFT's, that were in buckets of minibogs in the unused fridge next door and then when we moved, I put them in the cold attic, by a south facing window sill, for the duration of winter. When the photoperiod got longer, the plants broke dormancy on their own (although my 2 lne VFT's died this time). This may not be of help for the moment, but an idea for next year. Cold and sunlight and exposed to the air works well. Personally, I would err on the side of an extended dormancy, but I have no experience with trying counter "down under" seasonality. Laura... a piece of good new... I finally have a Mexican ping that is sending up a flower stalk. Will wonders never cease! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraZ5 Posted April 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Hey Jim. I overwinter potted Sarrs right in their pots in the garage in front of windows. The temps stay above freezing in the garage and the plants do quite well. I have several shelving units in front of windows in the garage and they can handle hundreds of pots so I'm good to go there. Plants out in the bogs do quite well however they need polar fleece or a layer of mulch to reduce the effects of the freeze/thaw cycles around here. These plants are going to have to stay in the frig. We're into spring right now and the attic will start hitting temps of 100+ even with vents and fans so that's not an option for the next 8-10 weeks. How is your new home? Are you settled in? Congrats on a Ping bloom! Is it one of the plants I sent you? Did you ever get your U. sandersonii 'Blue' to bloom/ Just curuious. I still think your problem was your windows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimscott Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 We applied the same concept to dormancy - coldish and by the light to break dormancy, with the same results. Cool! I'll have to do a search, but WildBill, in Connecticut, provided an excellent narrationand pictoral of how he mulches his year-round bog. We still have a lot of settling in to do, but we are functional. Thanks for asking. This ping came from BigCarnivourKid. Many theories have been proposed... I'm glad to have one Mexican ping to flower. Perhaps others will follow suit. The best I could get out of the sandersonii blue were two stalks with tiny teardrop buds on top. But I never actually saw any flowers. Perhaps I missed them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Spence Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 As a matter of interest, what was the quality of the plants like? Keep a lookout for the spores of liverwort as the last time I was there it was rampant among the Sarracenia species. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraZ5 Posted April 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Hey Jim, I've got my own system of mulching. I've used white pine needles sandwiched in between oak leaves sandwiched in between more white pine needles and in the spring it can be peeled off quite easily. This year I used a polar fleece product and it worked just as well. It's the heaving from the freeze thaw cycles that causes big trouble. Hey Seandew- Regarding Lungwort spores, how would you suggest I address the presence of same? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraZ5 Posted April 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 I'd love to place another overseas order next year. We know about Peter Paul. We've all watched in amazement as Dean Cook bid on Nepenthes plants from overseas where the seller basically all but stated he was going out and collecting them- http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12857 Lemme see here, who else? I am clean, I applied for all the permits and was granted same. I have a credit card that will automatically convert currency. Which nurseries outside of the US will be able to get phytos and CITES that accept credit card payments so I can place an order next year? I don't want to deal with any nurseries that field collect or purchase their parent stock from people who do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraZ5 Posted April 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 I'd still like to know the answer to how to deal with lungwort spores question. I'd also still like to know anything anyone may know about this- I read somewhere that there were growers who were floating their VFTs in water for the duration. I do not recall where I read that. To the best of my recollection, the VFTs were literally left to float in a pan of water in the refrigerator for 6-8 weeks and the water was changed every 10 days or so. Has anyone any experience with this? Does anyone recall any specifics on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraZ5 Posted April 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 Well, now I truly have some conflicting comments on the Sarracenia. A friend of mine checked with a few people at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens who have been growing Sarracenia far longer than me. Both claimed the plants should be kept growing through the summer and believed "shoving them in a refrigerator would kill them". Are there actually any members who have imported plants from Australia who had to address these issues because of the flip flop seasons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraZ5 Posted April 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 I'm thinking that perhaps it might be a good idea for me to ask to move this thread out of Dormancy and over into Pitcher Plants where it might attract the attention of people who import/export Sarracenia. Would it be possible to move this thread over to Pitcher Plants if that wouldn't be too much trouble for someone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Spence Posted April 22, 2006 Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 Topic moved :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted April 22, 2006 Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 I would be tempted to keep them growing and let them enter dormancy when they are ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraZ5 Posted April 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 Thank you Seandew. Hello Gardenofeden, the plants were already slowing down when I received them. They have been in the frig now since I received them. I was tempted to let them grow on myself and now I am questioning if that isn't what I should have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Annette Posted April 26, 2006 Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 Laura, I'd just pot them up and let them go dormant when they're ready. Even though these are plants from Au, they are plants from North America, at their core. They are gorgeous, though. Annette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraZ5 Posted April 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 Hello Annette, at this point they have been in the refrigerator since I received them. I guess if I had it to do all over again, I'd probably leave some out and some in. I based my actions, in part, on representations made by the nursery that sold me the plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Annette Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 You did the right thing, then. Sometimes I get frustrated with the pickiness of these plants, and my attitude is "Just throw 'em out there!" I've been growing plants my whole life, all different kinds, and these little darlings are quite the most demanding so far! Annette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.