Question
Hey guys,
First off I would like to say that because of your guy's ebook I have successfully gone through last winter and into the summer growing fly traps and pitchers without an issue. Great stuff guys. I am on my second winter and the winter we are having right now is very mild. We had one bad storm and then it warmed right up and has been steady in the high 30's and even in into the high 40's. I've check the upcoming weather for the next 10days and noticed it is suppose to be 40's and even touching 50. The lows would be high 20's going into the 30's. The problem I have is I have already winterized my plants under mulch but I feel like I should be taking them out to enjoy some sun light. If it gets to cold or I see a storm coming I can tarp them up and if it looks like winter finally arrives I will just throw them back under the mulch. Do you feel it is a good idea to take them out of the mulch with this type of weather? And if so, what weather temps should I be watching for to determined if I need to mulch them again? Thanks for your time!


Best Regards,
Ken

Answer
Hi Ken,

What I would do is uncover and check your plants.  Give them a fungicide spray, inspect for any mold, dead leaves etc...  Just do some general maintenance.  After that, mulch them back up with loose mulch and cover.  Be sure they out of the sun since it's been warmer.  I'm guessing in your area it's still quite capable of getting very cold up until mid-March, so you should leave them bundled up.  You don't want to get them thinking it's spring already, because if they break their dormancy, they will be killed with a hard freeze.  Once you're pretty confident that temperatures won't drop below 25, then you are fairly safe to uncover them.  At that point just watch for freak cold snaps.

Your temperatures right now are fairly similar to ours here in Oregon.  We don't get much sun, however until late spring, so plants are slow to come out of dormancy.

Good Growing!

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