Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 12:02:13 PST From: "Trent Meeks" <flaneps@hotmail.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg394$foo@default> Subject: Re: Sarracenia dormancy
Bruce,
Thanks for the input. I live about 350 miles south of the Sarracenia Zone,
so winter dormancy is critical if I want to continue growing these beautiful
plants.
>Hi All,
>I've been reading the comments about Sarracenia
>sprouting flowers and new growth. In the milder
>climates such as Florida I'm not surprised that these
>plants are blooming about 2-4 weeks before the time
>when these plants will bloom up in my part of the
>country (NC).
So far, only one plant of S. rubra gulfensis and S. readii are blooming in
my collection, everything else is just beginning to show signs of coming out
of dormancy.
> Mid and lower FLorida is below most of
>these species normal growing range (with the exception
>of S. minor which may no longer grow that far
>south....)
The southern-most stand of S. minor was on the north side of Lake
Okeechobee. It is now a watermellon field.
Since the temps here don't remain in the
>30's-40's for as many nights during a long enough
>period to make a good dormancy period you may
>experience a sudden growth every year. I hear people
>talk about new growth this early every year! There is
>a little more talk this year than in the past. To
>keep your plants from sprouting this early you may
>want to try a deep pine straw mulch, leave the plants
>drier, in a shaded part of the yard, in a fairly windy
>area to keep circulation up. I've grown these plants
>for nearly 20 years this way. They love it. They
>tend to take mild winters (not this one! We were
>covered in snow this time around) better when
>protected from the sun and occasional warm temps.
My Sarracenias are in deep shade in the winter until about noon. My plants
are in true dormancy starting about the third week of December through the
end of February. This is not a very long dormancy period, but seems to be
enough. It's worked for about four years now. I force my Sarracenias to go
dormant starting on Thanksgiving day. I water them with R.O. water chilled
to 35 degrees F. It's all they get other than rain. By Dec. I throw buckets
of R.O. ice cubes into the trays, and "water" once a week by placing the ice
in the pots at night. By the first week of Dec., the leucos put up one last
batch of pitchers, and everything else slows down dramatically. The S. rubra
grow underdeveloped, twisted looking traps, flava, catesbaei, leuco send up
phyllodia, etc.; growing comes to a grinding halt.
>Remember, some pitcher plants do begin breaking
>dormancy at the end of February and the first week of
>March in their most southern ranges anyway. Not to
>worry! They'll survive.... they have for a long time
>already. You may lose some flowers to a frost, but
>the plants will do fine.
Nice thing about south Florida-never gets cold enough to blast flowers, and
pitchers from last fall hold up well- may get a little wind battered.
I know I've only been doing this "icing down my Sarracenias" for four years,
but with each spring my plants seem to be more robust and generally in
better health.
Until later,
Trent Meeks
Pompano Beach, Florida
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