They do need dormancy, just by lowering the photoperiod & placing it in a cool place.

If you are growing it outside, that will come naturally. I place my sarraccenias & VFTs in the fridge for the winter. Never lost one yet.

Fail to give them dormancy, they will become week & eventually die.

They'll be fine outside where you are I think, how cold does the winter nights get?

These grow naturally in the northeast up to Canada.

Hm, does that also include S. leucophylla and Sarracenia hybrids? Should I plan to have them inside the fridge with the VFTs this winter?

About what time of the year should they head towards the fridge? We had a cold snap this weekend (a high of like 35 and lows in the low 20s), but I had the VFT in the windowsill for the time being. Now that we're back to the mid-50s and 60s I might put him back outside to re-acclimate to outside temperatures.

Yes, those need dormancy too. ALL American pitcher plants need it. When outside night air gets in the 40's I leave them out until it gets near frost then in the fridge they go! Just put mine in.

Woooo boy. We've been hitting the mid to low 20s at night lately, but we're in a bit of a cold spell. Guess when I get home it's time for the fridge!

The VFT has been hiding in my windowsill the past few days as I was terrified of losing him (he's my first CP), but, I figure I'll put him outside tomorrow morning and put him in the fridge on Sunday after he gets used to slightly colder weather. He's been hiding in my windowsill for the past few days, but I doubt he's acclimated to the mid-60s/70s I keep the apartment in.

Pity I can't just leave him out all winter. I hope to put the 5 Pitcher Plants and 2 VFTs I have in a big (and thus, hopefully, easier to survive zone 5/6 winters in) 12" mini-bog soon, but that'll have to happen next spring, apparently. :)

Yeah, im having a similar problem. PLZ checkout my post called "Vft and sarracenia dormancy". Of course, I need help.

Hey folks, dormancy is a requirement, but it should mimic the conditions the plants experience in the wild, as best as possible. Hiding in the fridge, in complete darkness, is a last resort IMO. Unless you expect plants to experience nuclear winter every year, this is not what they normally go thru. Give them cooler conditions, lower light, and all is smooth. The fridge is a last resort, where biology is basically put into hibernation until spring, but for all but the northern variety of the purple pitcher plant, this is not what they experience in the wild, so is not the best option.

For the northern variety of Sarrencia purpurea, yes they do normally go dormant for up to 5 months at temperatures around freezing (and in rather dark conditions under a deep snowpack), but that's the only one in this thread that benefits from really prolonged and low-light dormancy.

-Don

Do you have to water pitcher plants while in dormancy? I am in CT so we have longish and cold winters.

My plants are damp once put in the fridge. Since they are in zip lock bags they don't lose moisture. I check them once a month for fungus. If needed I hit them with a sulfur based fungicide.

I put mine on the fridge because more then once there would be a couple of warm days in the winter that will trigger them to start growing. Then when it gets cold again, they stop growing with half developed pitchers. Like this year, it has been a warm winter and some of of my plants just barely went into dormancy. That is bad for my plants.

I have to put them in the fridge.

I leave mine in the bog year around and they increase in number every year - I don't baby them in any way.

Hi Kay,
You're in Fla so you're good to go with outdoor dormancy. I envy you!

I bought my Purple pitcher plant at a garden nursery but the instructions say keep it in a place above 40F. That's not true right? It's still Sarrencia purpurea so I don't know if there are more than one kind or if the instructions are wrong. Can someone help me out here? Thanks!

It IS true. Since yours is in a pot winter dormancy should remain around 35-40 degrees F. Once spring comes and nights get warmer it can take any heat thrown at it.

So basically, there's not much I need to do? Just keep it by a window? Will that be enough? I have a hallway that can go down to 25F in the winter and so I think that is too cold.

25 is too cold so maybe next to the window is good. Mine are in my fridge.

If I choose to use the fridge, how long should I keep it in there?

3-4 months. Mine usually are taken out the end of Feb.,/early March and put into South and west facing windows until after the last frost.