I'm not sure if Barry has experimented with this, but I did when I lived
in Tempe and Phoenix. While a graduate student, I was able to claim
some greenhouse space atop the zoology building at ASU. CP grew well
under glass, but my space was limted so I wound up pushing some of my
extras outside to see how they'd do. Most Drosera and pings did very
well! Taller-growing plants like D. capensis, D. binata, and Byblis
tended to get a bit fried in summer, but most of the temperate and
tropical rosette species thrived and produced intense coloration.
I eventually gained the confidence to try both pygmy and tuberous
Drosera outside, but surprisingly met difficulty with both types.
Perhaps a little more experimentation with soil mixes and pot sizes
would have helped. For the most part though, my outdoor growing
experiences were generally very successful for the low growing plants.
There were however, two very important catches. ASU, like most universities,
pipes distilled/deionized water into all their bio buildings. It is
available from a faucet right next to the tap-water faucet at all the
lab sinks. In the greenhouse we literally had RO on tap! All my outdoor
plants were in pots standing in kitty-litter boxes filled with water. I
had to refil these every other day with a hose. That's a lot of water.
Second, up on the rooftop of this 5-story building there was a good deal of
radiant cooling at night (here Barry can fill you in with all the dirty
details of thermodynamics!) High night temps seem to be the limiting
factor for heat-stress tolerance when cultivating in Arizona. After I
graduated and lost the greenhouse I tried growing these plants outdoors
near ground level on an open balcony. there I experienced the effect of
this heat-stress on CP firsthand. :-(
Michael Chamberland