Question
I am growing my venus flytraps and sarracenia at my house in Pennsylvania.
Normally they are set outside in watertrays on my porch. However, about a
week ago, i noticed on the news a winter advisory of night temps in the 30's,
which ment frost. I remembered reading that frost is not good for these
plants. So, i set them in my garage. The problem is, they arent in dormancy
yet, and my garage doesnt get alot of light. Day temps still hit the 60's, so im
worried they wont go dormant for a while. Im afraid that if i leave them
outside, the frost may have bad effects, but if i leave them in the garage im
worried the low light will kill them. Im a very busy freshman in highschool,
and with school being early and athletics and hw ending late at night, i cant
keep lugging the pots out before school starts and in at night. Please help.

Thanks alot for your advice!
Dyaln Ludwick

Answer
Hi Dylan,

Frost not good for flytraps?  Take a look at our care sheet on Venus flytraps:
http://www.cobraplant.com/venus-flytrap.html

Flytraps are native to North Carolina where it can snow.  At our nursery, we grow flytraps and US pitcher plants exclusively outdoors.  We've already had several nights with temperatures of 28癋.  You can also see photos of our nursery at:
http://www.cobrplant.com/gallery/

Frost is essential to trigger dormancy in your plant.  Plants often die not because of the frost, but because growers baby them too much.  By moving it back and forth, outside to your garage, you prevent the plant from acclimating to cooler temperatures and going dormant.

If you want your plant to go dormant, leave it alone outside.  Just as trees drop their leaves in fall, so will your flytrap.  That's exactly what they experience in the wild in North Carolina.

I know it can be very confusing about how to care for these plants.  I've been where you are right now.  I killed many flytraps until I figured out that they were native to the US.  So I started growing them like other plants in the US.  I grew them outdoors, even during the winter.  Much to my surprise and delight, they all survived a week-long freeze of 19癋!

So grow your flytrap like you would a Sarracenia.  You and your plant will be much happier!

Good growing!
Jacob Farin