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By boarderlib
Posts:  1641
Joined:  Fri Dec 04, 2015 1:13 pm
#301695
What is Dormancy, you ask? Good question. Dormancy is a state in which a plant exhibits little or no growth and in which most, if not all, metabolic activity ceases for a period of time. There's two ways dormancy occurs in plants, predictive dormancy occurs when a plant enters a dormant phase before the onset of adverse conditions. For example,  photoperiod and decreasing temperature are used by many plants to predict the onset of winter.  There's also consequential dormancy which occurs after the onset of adverse conditions, such as winter. Our plants use predictive dormancy, but I wanted to make you at least aware of consequential dormancy and the difference between the two.

Now onto the two types of dormancy. First up is endo-dormancy. Shortening days and colder temperatures will cue the plant that its time to enter this phase or type of dormancy. As the plant enters this phase it will count chilling units. Chilling units are hours of time the plant spends above freezing. I know, sounds backwards right? The hours of chilling units will vary depending on the species of the plant, it can range from less than 500-1500 hrs. Warm weather will not "wake" the plant up until it has counted the appropriate number of chilling hours. Also, not all hours above chilling are equal either, between 40-50°F are ideal. If it goes above 60°F, that can actually have an negative effect on chilling hours. During this phase plants also become cold hardy, this hardiness will vary from species to species. As long as the plant is dormant and the temps stay below freezing the plant should be able to adapt.

Once the plant counts the appropriate chilling hours, it enters the second phase or type of dormancy eco-dormancy. This is where the plant gets ready to start growing, but environmentally something isn't right. Still to cold, not long enough daylight hours. Once everything is good and it's growing again it loses the ability to be cold hardy.

So will freezes kill your plant? No, not as long as the plant isn't freezing and thawing repeatedly. It will handle being frozen just fine if it is dormant and stays frozen. Would I recommend leaving your plant frozen for months on end? No, but I can safely say they can be frozen for a couple weeks with no ill affects.

Hopefully this helps clear up any issues you may have about what dormancy is.

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Last edited by hollyhock on Wed Aug 23, 2017 10:18 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: Important topic
boarderlib, boarderlib, boarderlib and 2 others liked this
By twitterglitter
Posts:  253
Joined:  Tue Feb 28, 2017 9:44 pm
#301700
Thank you for this. Fall is fast approaching and I'm looking for all the information I can get since this will be my first dormancy with cp's. I'm a bit nervous and want to be prepared.

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By uusa2000
Posts:  425
Joined:  Fri Feb 24, 2017 10:46 pm
#301701
Hey thanks, I was wondering if cold temps were necessary, I see it is. I was just going to shorten my light cycle.

Past winter, Our temps in st.louis don't stay the same during winter. Its always sunny and warm over 60°f and back freezing the next week. I'm trying to avoid the fridge method.

But as long as its had enough chilling hours the dormancy is complete?

Also: would you suggest Predictive or consequential occurrence for vft?

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By KategoricalKarnivore
Posts:  1769
Joined:  Wed Aug 24, 2016 5:00 pm
#301713
hollyhock wrote:Thanks for the great explanation.. can you please make this post a sticky so it stays at the top of the category?
Only a moderator can do that. Know any?
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By boarderlib
Posts:  1641
Joined:  Fri Dec 04, 2015 1:13 pm
#301716
twitterglitter wrote:Thank you for this. Fall is fast approaching and I'm looking for all the information I can get since this will be my first dormancy with cp's. I'm a bit nervous and want to be prepared.

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There's nothing to be worried about. You got this, and if you get to worried you know how to reach me for an encouraging word.
uusa2000 wrote:Hey thanks, I was wondering if cold temps were necessary, I see it is. I was just going to shorten my light cycle.

Past winter, Our temps in st.louis don't stay the same during winter. Its always sunny and warm over 60°f and back freezing the next week. I'm trying to avoid the fridge method.

But as long as its had enough chilling hours the dormancy is complete?

Also: would you suggest Predictive or consequential occurrence for vft?

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Actually light is an effective way to induce dormancy. That's one of the two contributing factors to initiate endo-dormancy. As long as your daylight hours get shorter over the winter period it should trigger dormancy without a hitch. You'll be able to tell because your plants will start growing low ground hugging leaves, instead of upright traps.

Yes and no, that depends on the weather you keep your plants in. If the weather is still to cold or the days aren't long enough once the chilling hours are reached your plant will go into eco-dormancy. This is basically when your plant is in a hovering pattern until conditions become favorable for it to start growing.

These plants use predictive dormancy. They sense ahead of time that winter is coming by the temperatures starting to drop, and the daylight hours getting shorter. Consequential is when the plant goes dormant after the bad weather hits.

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By boarderlib
Posts:  1641
Joined:  Fri Dec 04, 2015 1:13 pm
#301717
hollyhock wrote:Thanks for the great explanation.. can you please make this post a sticky so it stays at the top of the category?
I'm glad I could help, hopefully this gives everyone a good understanding, so they can better prepare for the onset of dormancy.

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By Hungry Plants
Posts:  1134
Joined:  Mon Nov 28, 2016 2:41 am
#301781
This will be my first winter as well. I have some very small seedlings and a couple larger traps. Can I skip domintsy for the seedling to grow them out over the winter? For the larger ones I was thinking of keeping the in my basement over the winter it's quite cool down there. I would just have to set a light up on a timer for a few hours right?
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By boarderlib
Posts:  1641
Joined:  Fri Dec 04, 2015 1:13 pm
#301789
Hungry Plants wrote:This will be my first winter as well. I have some very small seedlings and a couple larger traps. Can I skip domintsy for the seedling to grow them out over the winter? For the larger ones I was thinking of keeping the in my basement over the winter it's quite cool down there. I would just have to set a light up on a timer for a few hours right?
The larger ones would be fine in the basement under a light. I would recommend an astronomical timer though. They can be found at the big box (Home Depot, Lowes) stores for like 15 bucks. It'll just make your life easier. It automatically adapts to the time changes, and sunrise/sunset times as well.

Unfortunately I haven't had much success with growing VFT's from seed yet. I do know most growers will skip their first dormancy to get their plants as big as possible as quick as possible.

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By boarderlib
Posts:  1641
Joined:  Fri Dec 04, 2015 1:13 pm
#301790
hollyhock wrote:I created my first sticky.. :D
And second I seeImage

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By Nightwing42540
Posts:  125
Joined:  Sun Mar 12, 2017 4:47 pm
#301794
Will endo-dormancy keep the plant happy and healthy throughout the years?

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By boarderlib
Posts:  1641
Joined:  Fri Dec 04, 2015 1:13 pm
#301824
Nightwing42540 wrote:Will endo-dormancy keep the plant happy and healthy throughout the years?

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Most definitely, endo-dormancy is the truest form of dormancy. That's the hibernation version while eco-dormancy is like a cat nap version.

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By Mpdambra
Posts:  2
Joined:  Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:29 pm
#302889
Quick question,

We are approaching my first dormancy period with carnivorous plants.
It is starting to feel like autumn weather here in the Hudson Valley, NY and I am wondering when exactly I should move my plants to my garage or basement. Currently, they sit on the deck and appear to still be growing. However, the weather suddenly changed in the last week and the summer has been quite mild.
should I bring them indoors during autumn? or wait for the onset of winter? When night temperatures drop below 40 consistently? Or perhaps there is a different guideline entirely?

I have two sarracenias, two VFTs and one sundew.

And how much light would they need during this period? My instinct tells me 4-6 hours should suffice.
My instinct also tells me that following the pattern of sunrise/sunset would be ideal.

I also have some sphagnum moss, I am wondering if that would need similar conditions
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By boarderlib
Posts:  1641
Joined:  Fri Dec 04, 2015 1:13 pm
#302937
Mpdambra wrote: should I bring them indoors during autumn? or wait for the onset of winter? When night temperatures drop below 40 consistently? Or perhaps there is a different guideline entirely?
Your climate is a little colder than mine, not much though. In my experience I leave mine outside until the we start getting below freezing at night on a consistent basis. I'll bring them in over night if it's going to get below 30°F. Then back out for the warm days.
Mpdambra wrote:And how much light would they need during this period? My instinct tells me 4-6 hours should suffice.
My instinct also tells me that following the pattern of sunrise/sunset would be ideal.
A truly dormant plant needs no light during dormancy. I had mine in a refrigerator last winter. There's another write-up I did about that if you are interested. http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=36505
Ideally they should be in full sun all winter, but that's just not feasible for all of us. Also a 6-8 hour a day light cycle should be fine. It really depends on what works best for you.
Mpdambra wrote:I also have some sphagnum moss, I am wondering if that would need similar conditions
There's different types of moss that I'm sure will tolerate different winter conditions. I just left mine in the garage, and it respored when spring came around this year. I'm by no means a moss expert though.

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