Question
I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in an extreme northern climate.  We get almost a full 6 months of winter close to an entire month below freezing and sometimes as long as 2 weeks below zero deg. F.  I winterize my plants in my garage and I monitor the temperature.  Even in the garage, the temperature goes down into the 10 deg. F range for extended periods.

I usually keep my plants in the garage for 3 months - not the entire winter - and then I bring them in doors.

I do OK with Venus flytraps and, of course sarrencia purpae - which are native here.  The other sarrancia do not do well - last year I lost most.  

Also, even during the summer it stays cold enough that the plants stay in their early spring mode with stringy pitchers.  We had a hot spell a few weeks ago and my flytraps began to bloom!

Any suggestions on how to overcome these problems would be appreciated.

Answer
Hi Dan,

First, always make sure that you're growing your Sarracenia and flytraps in optimal growing conditions during the growing season.  This means growing them in full sun (six or more hours of direct sunlight).  Lack of proper sunlight weakens these plants and makes them incapable of lasting through a hard, long winter.  Plants rely on sugars to tolerate winter dormancy, and they create the sugars via photosynthesis.  If the lighting is low, your plants won't manufacture enough sugar.  So the first step to ensuring successful winter dormancy is to make sure your plants are healthy at the start of winter.  (Stringy pitchers are usually caused by low light rather than by temperature.)

Secondly, if you bring your plants indoors, make sure they still remain cool.  If the temperature is too warm, they'll come out of dormancy and will require intense lighting to remain healthy.  Another option is to store your plants in the refrigerator where the temperature is constantly 36?42癋.

While indoors, plants are also more prone to fungal infection, so you'll need to spray them heavily with a sulfur-based fungicide.  Avoid using copper-based fungicides.  

There are several overwintering techniques, all of which are too extensive to cover in this format.  We do discuss them in depth in our e-book.  For now, if you wish to continue with overwintering your plants in the garage, you'll need to make sure you cut off all leaves.  Trim the plants down to the base after the plants have experienced frost for at least a week.  Also make sure the plants are still sitting in water.  You don't need a lot.  Use just enough to prevent the soil from ever drying out.  When the temperature is consistently below freezing, pour water over the tops of the soil and plants.  This will form an ice layer and prevent moisture loss.

For more information about growing Sarracenia and flytraps, read our care sheets online:
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets

Good growing!
Jacob Farin