Question
I have and still have all three, each in a 2-1/2" pot for about 1 year and have never gone dormant.  I am located in south central Texas and have them all under a light with my mothers African violets.  I usually catch rainwater out in an open area away from any trees or obstacles to keep the water clean as possible.  I am too scared to look at the soil but looks like peat moss and not sure what else.  I catch and feed them many flies and they are a deep green color.  My question is should I repot them and put them in a bigger pot since the leaves on one is hanging over the side about halfway down or wait until spring and let them go dormant and just move them to a north cool window sill.  I am so scared I will lose them once dormant but I guess I will lose them anyway, whether dormant or not.  This is the longest I have kept them.  I hope you can help me because I haven't found any like this on your question site.  One out of the three is covering the top of the pot but not over the edge and the traps are all so small but so many on the plant.  I did just get finished yesterday watching your 1st volume DVD and really enjoyed it and answered many questions except for this one.

Right now I am thinking about moving them to a 5 inch pot and move them outside on the porch then after they go dormant move to the sun so that way it will be ready for spring.  I won't have any burned leaves that way.  Thank You for making the great dvds.

Answer
Hi David,

I can almost guarantee the soil the flytraps are is peat moss or they would be dead.  It's fine to transplant them now.  5" pots are a good size, and taller pots are good if you can find them.  Just be real gentle with the roots.  Use the peat/perlite mix we recommend on the DVD, or buy a bag from us or another cp dealer online.  Keep in mind that if you make your own you do need to buy a bale of peat moss, not just a small bag.  Most of the small bags have fertilizer in them and will kill your plants.

This is a great time to move them outdoors.  You may still experience leaf burn, but don't worry about it.  Just cut those off if it happens.  In the spring nice new traps with red interiors (the way they are supposed to look) well adapted to full sun will grow.  You didn't mention what part of Texas you live in, so if a hard freeze is expected, bring your plants into a garage or shed until temperatures moderate.  A hard freeze in a zone 8 climate like yours and ours is temperatures in the teens.  They will handle overnight frosts in the 20's with no problem.  Try to find a spot where the plants can be out in the rain too.  It helps prevent mold problems.  Be cautious of thunderstorms, but getting rained on is good.

If your plants were on a constant light cycle indoors over the last year, and you didn't see any signs of the plant going dormant such as decrease in leaf size in winter, then you do need to let it go dormant this year.  Many people will do fine with a flytrap having no dormancy being forced under lights or if they live in a tropical area like Hawaii for a year, only to watch the slow decline and death from the plant exhausting itself going into the second winter.

Glad you liked the DVD.


Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com