fnglazz Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Hi all, I cant help but notice one or two of my local garden centre's are already selling venus flytraps. The thing is, they all appear to be full sized and healthy etc, looking like they are in the middle of growing season. I have about 200 VFT's and they are only just showing the first signs of coming out of dormancy. Does this mean that I am doing something wrong? Or does it mean that the place that sells them to the stores avoids/minimises a natural dormancy in order to get as many sales as possible? (As opposed to doing what some online retailers do which is simply wait till about April time until the plants are in a suitable condition to be sold). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimitar Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Does this mean that I am doing something wrong? No Or does it mean that the place that sells them to the stores avoids/minimises a natural dormancy in order to get as many sales as possible? Yes and no. Many nurseries just have different plants in different stage of development. Very often many of their plants get dormancy in the summer and are in fully growth in the winter. The others get dormancy in autumn and are full growth in spring and so on, so they always have year round ready to be sold plants... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ada Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 They also give them extra heat and light,something which most backgarden growers don't do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel H-C Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Well the so called 'garden centres' buy plants in from Holland where plants are mass produced, soft grown, and hence are looking great all year round. Translate this in to the conditions which we grow our plants as hobbyists and indeed in the UK as nurserymen as we're not subsidised as they are in Holland, and you find the reality somwhat different. How many times have I read on this forum that somebody has bought some huge plant for next to nothing and got such a bargain, only for it to collapse and die a few weeks later? Ever stopped to wonder why? Nigel HC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ada Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Well said Nigel.If you are going to grow plants in the u.k I think you need clones that have been grown here or plants that have been grown from seed in our conditions. You might pay a bit more,but as in everything else you get what you pay for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StickyLeaves Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 Funny that this topic came up at this time: I "rescued" two VFT from Homebase yesterday. One was a bargain basement 75p job that whilst it looks poorly, I'm sure that given some TLC it might revive in the Summer. The other was obviously newly imported and soft, but won't see the greenhouse for a while until the British Summer eventually arrives. At this time of year I hope that I won't lose this one as it's heading into the main growing season, but who knows? I certainly won't expect it to be as tough as a UK overwintered/grown VFT - But as these are the first VFT plants that I've had for a good few years I was willing to take a chance. Needless to say I'll be filling my greenhouse with UK grown plants soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnivine Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 I purchased a sarracenia from ikea on 8th January this year, put it in the greenhoiuse wih all my other sarracenias, and it really doesnt look very well at all. Is this because its been brought in from overseas and therefore not acclimatised to our cold conditions, and if so, is it likely to recover? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexa Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 It should recover. Given time when the sun begins to shine I would expect it to perk up. Alex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie0117 Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 I purchased a sarracenia from ikea on 8th January this year, put it in the greenhoiuse wih all my other sarracenias, and it really doesnt look very well at all. Is this because its been brought in from overseas and therefore not acclimatised to our cold conditions, and if so, is it likely to recover? Its feeling much like you would if you got moved from the warm into the green house in January, pretty shocked!! 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.