Question
First question is I'm wondering which Safer brand Fungicide to use on my plants.  I'm located in Eastern NC and recent purchsed two VFT's from you as well as a few from Lowes.  The plants from Lowes are in Terrariums and clearly not in a dormant state.  I'm curious to whether or not I should repot them immediately into a 50/50 mix of peat moss/perlite or slowly acclimate them out of their terrariums.  Currently I have them all sitting on my back porch in low light as I attempt to acclimate them and slowly take the lids off the terrarium.  The plants I purchased from you that weren't in the terrarium are slight damp with distilled water in my front yard which experiences direct sunlight.  It appears they are in the process of entering dormancy.  I'm overall curious as to how I should go upon ensure I have healthy/fungus free plants for the growing season.  Thanks

Answer
Hi Chris,

Use the one that says just fungicide without any insecticide in it.  Also look at the ingredients, and it should have sulfur as the active ingredient.

Because we are in mid-winter, and you have the possibility of getting some substantial cold weather yet this winter, try to keep your store plants cool, but don't let them freeze.  Go ahead and do the transplant, and keep them in window or wherever they'll be cool but not frozen for the rest of the winter.  If they are kept cool you may not need to acclimate them too much.  Just open the containers halfway for a few days, then take the covers off.  Right around April 1rst go ahead and put them outside with your other plants.  Feel free to cut of any poor looking foliage since they'll grow all new foliage in the spring and summer.  Spraying with your fungicide is a good preventative also.

With your plants outside, just keep them wet, cut off any dead foliage, and let them be.  Cover them if you get a hard cold spell where temperatures are not above freezing during the day.  After that just be sure to follow the directions on the caresheets that came with them.  Basically it's going to be lots of water and full sun during the growing season.  We have some additional information on our caresheet section on our website, and our e-book, Secrets to Growing Beautiful Carnivorous Plants, has a wealth of information.  Our new video will be available soon which gives you hands-on instruction.

Good Growing!

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