Question
Hello!

I have several carnivorous plants like sarracenia, dionaea and others staying outside the whole winter.
This night was very cold, water has frozen, ground of the plants is rock hard!!! The plant look "normal", but i am afraid they will be harmed somehow by the cold.

What should i do? Keep watering right?  

Thank you.

David

Answer
Hi David,

The time to ask this question is before your plants are frozen solid. :)

Here's the short answer.  Do keep them hydrated.  If your temperatures are going to be below freezing for several days you can do a couple different things to protect them.

First, if you only have a small collection, moving them into a garage, shed or out-building may be all you need to do.  Protecting them from winds that accelerate dehydration is key, and that kind of shelter does that.  Temperatures should be no higher than 40's F inside the shelter so that plants don't come out of dormancy.  If it's freezing in the shelter, make sure the plants are on the ground and not up on tables, benches, etc...  Once temperatures are staying above freezing during the day, they can go back outside.  They can be overwintered in a location like a garage, but they need to be monitored weekly to check for signs of fungus.  They should be sprayed with a sulfur based fungicide as a preventative if they are not outside.

The other option if temperatures are going to be below freezing for a week or less is to cover them.  Group the plants together on the ground (again, not up on tables or benches), close to a building if possible, then cover them well with black plastic or agricultural row cover fabric such as Remay.  Remove the covering once temperatures are back above freezing during the day.  If you are going to have a long cold spell, plants need more substantial protection.  We go into detail on how to do that in our volume #1 DVD, http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com/Grow-Carnivorous-Plants-DVD-1-p/01111.htm

Good Growing!

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