Question
Today at lowe's I bought a sarracenia purpurea and Venus flytrap for an amazing 75% off! "Tropical Plants" were on clearance! :P I want to know, is it too late to acclimate them for outdoor growing in SE Kentucky (zone 6)? I have the lids of the death cubes pulled back 1" to begin adapting them to lower humidity since I can't prop it up as you have suggested. They are about 4" below a 42w compact fluorescent light which I plan to have on about 12 hours a day. I'm worried that they might either die from the sudden swing in temperature when they go outside or not have enough starch stored on their rhizomes to survive the winter. The flytrap's traps are still blushed pink and the sarracenia has purple streaks, so they apparently hadn't been in the store for long. What would you advise for my situation? These plants are relatively nice, and I'd hate to lose them. Thank you very much!

Answer
Given your climate, I'd say it's too late to acclimate them to outdoor growing.  They need time to adjust to brighter sunlight and changing temperatures before they experience the first frost of the season.  In some locations, like our nursery in zone 8, we're expecting our first frost within the next week.

In your case, grow your plants indoors as you are now.  They'll be fine if they skip winter dormancy this year.  In spring, move your plants outdoors where they can grow throughout the year.

For more information about growing North American carnivorous plants, watch our DVD, Grow Carnivorous Plants Volume 1:
http://www.cobraplant.com/DVD

Good growing!
Jacob Farin