Question
QUESTION: Hi guys,
    I'm very interested in growing some of these fantastic pitcher plants. My problem is I live in western NY where the winter temps. are consistantly in the teens or lower for much of the time. Is it possible to keep them over the winter under these conditions?

ANSWER: Hi Curt,

You can definitely overwinter them in your area.  We have a good customer near Syracuse that has a nice bog garden that she has plants come back in each year.

If you have just a few plants, the easiest way to overwinter them is to bring them into a garage or somewhere similar that is cold, but not nearly as cold as outdoors.  Sarracenia can easily take temperatures in the teens for brief spells.

If you have more plants, they can be grouped together and buried under mulch for the winter.  We have basic winter care on our caresheets at http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets.  For more in-depth information on winterizing, take a look at our e-book.  Information is available at the bottom of caresheet pages.  We have an entire chapter on winterizing in colder climates with various options to best fit your situation.

Good Growing!

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



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: If I bring them into the garage for the winter,do they still need light or do I let all the leaves die back like a flower bulb and do they still need to be watered? Won't the water freeze?

Answer
Hi Curt,

Go to our videos page at http://www.cobraplant.com/videos  Watch the video slideshow Seasons.  There you'll see what our plants experience here.

It also helps to understand what is going on when plants are dormant, and the special hardships they can face as potted plants.  First, plants do little to no photosynthesis once they are dormant.  The exceptions would be conifer trees, but not herbaceous plants.  So, they don't need light once dormant.  In fact, many Sarracenia loose their leaves all together during the winter.

During the fall, temperate perennials, such as Sarracenia, begin building up sugars in their rhizomes to survive freezing weather.  They experience freezing weather regularly in nature.  We've found a very pervasive mythos that people believe Sarracenia and other carnivores are either all tropical, or just barely hardy tropicals such as some banana's or some gingers.  It's not the case.  You actually have one Sarracenia, a couple sundews, some bladderworts, and a butterwort all native to your area of the country.

That brings us to the special situation of potted plants.  Potted plants are in more danger during extreme cold than plants in the ground, or like our friend, a bog garden.  This applies to all plants, not just carnivorous.  In pots they experience much more rapid temperature changes and most importantly, dehydration.  Often perennials can handle the cold, but the dehydration is what will often kill them in pots.  The dehydration is what you need to prevent.

This brings me back to your question.  To prevent the deydration you can cut all of the leaves off.  You also need to cover the plants to minimize water loss during cold, dry conditions.  The water in trays will freeze, but if water can't escape from the top of the pot the rhizome doesn't loose as much water.  If you just have a few plants a simple set-up is to get a large tray of some kind that will hold 2-3 inches of water.  Concrete tubs found at hardware stores can work well.  Half fill those with water, put the plants in them and put a submersible aquarium heater in the water set at a low temperature.  You just want to keep the water thawed, not warm.  During the winter check to make sure the water level is constant.  Spray the tops of the plants with a sulfur based fungicide to prevent mold during the winter.  Once the temperatures outside are staying above freezing during the day, the plants can go back outside.


Good Growing!

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