Question
will this kind of sphagnum moss brand grow back again? http://www.mosserlee.com/product/527_Long-FiberedSphagnumMoss.aspx

And how do you put a Venus fly trap and sarracenia in dormancy indoors?

I live in zone 8
it gets 4 hours of direct sunlight then 10 hours of artificial light and they both show coloring.

Answer
Hi Aaron,

Mosser Lee brand is very good, and that's the brand we use at our nursery.  However, don't expect the moss to grow into live moss.  This will only happen if there live spores present.  Because the moss is dried and sits on the shelves for a long time, spores will die off and won't be viable anymore.  A few growers have lucked out in getting a fresh package that contained recently dried moss with some green still in it.  They then managed to get the moss growing again.  However, this is the exception and no the rule.

As for triggering temperate plants to go dormant indoors, I'm afraid that you're making it much harder for yourself.  You see, these plants grow well outdoors, and the cold temperatures and shorter daylight hours are what triggers plants to go dormant.  At our nursery in zone 8, we grow all North American plants exclusively outdoors.  Right now, the night temperatures are in the 40s, so plants are naturally slowing down and prepping for winter dormancy.

In your situation, the most you can do is decrease the daylight hours, but you'll have difficulty getting the environment cool enough to trigger winter dormancy.  It's just too warm in the home to encourage temperate plant to do dormant.  This, along with lack of full sun, is why we never recommend growing North American plants indoors.  They grow well outdoors, even in zone 4, with the proper winter protection.

It's not too late to acclimate your plants to outdoor growing.  While the weather is cooling down, most zone 8 regions haven't experienced the first frost, so your plants will have time to acclimate to the cool weather.  After a series of frost, your plant will most likely be dormant, at which time you can continue keeping them outside.

For more information about winter care, read our care sheets for flytraps and Sarracenia:
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets

I also recommend watching our video podcasts:
http://www.cobraplant.com/videos

You also find more detailed information in our ebook and DVD:
http://www.cobraplant.com/ebook
http://www.cobraplant.com/DVD

Good growing!
Jacob Farin