Question
north america carnivor
I have a unknown sarracenia ( could be dana delight or Judith hindle or just tell me if you can identify it it will be helpful!) and I whant to know how old is it (grown by seed or tisue culture), it has produce a 5 inch pitcher this year and I have a photo of it here
Then I bought a ge. daylight light bulb that use 23 wates eqivilant to 100 Wats and it has 1600 luminum do you think this type of light is ok and if it is how high sould I put the lamp (all my carnivore plants has color inculding the venus fly trap) and I receive no frost this past week and I don't think it will have a domancy period with out frost is it ok to put my north amerian carnivore in the refriderator I have some indoors and it looks like is still recovering its adapting to its lighting period. Is it ok to not put them in dormancy indoors then next year i will adapting to the outdoors
AnswerHi Aaron,
The plant is Judith Hindle, a common hybrid produced via tissue culture. I can't determine it's age, but I'll say it needs about 2-3 more years before it reaches flowering maturity, based on the size of the growing point.
This plant is native to North America, so it, along with the flytrap, should be grown outdoors in full sun. That's how we grow our plants at our nursery in Oregon, zone 8. You really make it more work for yourself trying to grow them indoors. The lighting might seem adequate, but you won't see the full potential of these plants under artificial lights alone. Keep in mind that Judith Hindle is a tall plant, so the parts closer to the lights will get much brighter intensity than the lower parts. Hence, you may end up with a plant with a weak stem.
These plants also go dormant when they experience cool temperatures. Frost helps, but the temperatures need to be at least in the 40s to trigger dormancy. Placing the plants in the refrigerator will only work if the plants had a chance to experience cool temperatures gradually in order to produce the necessary plant hormones and chemicals to sustain them throughout dormancy.
It's too late to acclimate your plants to outdoor growing. (I'm assuming you live in North America.) The plants will be OK indoors without a true dormancy period for a year. In spring, after the risk of frost, acclimate your plants to outdoor growing.
For more information about growing North American carnivorous plants, watch our DVD:
http://www.cobraplant.com/DVD
We cover all issues about about sunlight, water, soil and winter dormancy.
Good growing!
Jacob Farin
