Question
hi, steve. I recently ordered a red dragon venus flytrap, a sarracenia judith hindle, and a colony of drosera spatulata frasier island form. i am unable to grow these plants outdoors, and i was wondering the best and safest way to help these plants into dormancy and for how long. thanks alot.

Answer
There are about as many ways to provide good or adequate conditions for carnivorous plant dormancy as there are growers of carnivorous plants. :-)

Different species' dormancy requirements vary. I can't speak regarding the Drosera spatulata (I'm not a Drosera expert), but the Venus Flytraps and Sarracenia will do fine with temperatures that are merely cool, not necessarily very cold, and being kept less wet, aiming for just moist most of the time, not saturated with water during dormancy.

For Venus Flytraps it is especially important not to overwater them during dormancy because being too wet and being cool at the same time can promote some very destructive (often lethal) fungal or bacterial rot that affects the roots and "bulb" and the growing crown of leaves.

The thing to aim for is a place where the plants will experience cool but above freezing temperatures for many or most of the hours of the day, but it doesn't have to be cool or cold all the time. It's OK for temperatures to rise during the daylight hours to normal room temperature for humans or even slightly warmer, just so long as most of the hours of the day are cooler.

In addition to the importance of being moist, not wet, and being cool for most of the day, it is important that the plants get a medium to high amount of light during dormancy, because while the plant is not very actively growing, it still produces food for itself through photosynthesis. Although Venus Flytraps (and perhaps Sarracenia) can survive dormancy inside a refrigerator with no light at all, it is far from ideal for dormancy.

There are many ways to achieve a cool but greater than freezing temperature and still allow the plant to receive sunlight (artificial fluorescent or LED growlights can substitute for sunlight). One way is to use a window ledge of an uninsulated window. Cool to cold air will fall from the inside surface of the glass and wash over and around the plant containers, cooling them and helping to keep them cool. A curtain or plastic sheet can be placed opposite the glass window, with the plant containers between, to intensify the cooling effect. An enclosed porch that doesn't freeze (because of its proximity to the thermal mass of the main portion of the home or because an opening is provided between the porch and house, or perhaps because a small heater is being used on the porch) can also provide good dormancy conditions. An attic or basement (with windows or with artificial light) can work.

For my Venus Flytraps, I use a greenhouse with a heater that is set to the low 40s Fahrenheit. Often during the day the temperatures will rise into the 60s and 70s because of the heat gain (the "greenhouse effect"), but that is OK so long as the majority of hours of the day are between the mid-30s to mid-50s Fahrenheit (2-13 degrees Celsius).

Finally, you will get a wealth of different opinions, comments and good advice by asking questions about dormancy at any of the online carnivorous plant forums, such as the CPUK Forum or FlytrapCare Forum--

http://cpukforum.com/
http://www.FlytrapCare.com/phpBB3/

Good luck and best wishes--