Question
I have 2 questions, First one, my VFT seeds havent germinated yet, how warm does it have to be before they will germinate outside (all my other temperate seeds have sprouted).  My second question is about D intermedia, I grew these plants outdoors last year, they flowered and went dormant (after I collected all the seed from it of course).  None are out of dormancy yet while others appear to be dead (the hibernaculas).  As always i've closely read and followed your care sheets which have always proved to be fool proof.  Is it possible Intermdia is a bit more fussy than other temperate CPs?

Answer
Hi Tim,

Venus flytrap seeds will germinate when the temperature is consistently above 65癋  If it's cooler than that, then it'll be a while before they germinate.  With the right temperatures, you should see germination within 3 weeks.  Otherwise, it can take up to 6-8 weeks to see anything.

When dormant, any of the temperate sundews are prone to fungus.  For this reason, we always keep our dormant sundews strictly outdoors where they can get rained on and exposed to UV light.  Rain and UV helps reduce fungal spores.  In our early years of the nursery, we used to store our dormant sundews in a greenhouse because we thought they were more prone to ice damage, but we lost more in the greenhouse because of fungus.

Finally, while we don't have hard evidence, we strongly suspect that D. intermedia is a biannual rather than a true perennial.  We've been suspecting this for many years because we too have noticed that our display plants will appear smaller the next year.  We've been suspecting that what we're witnessing is the main plants dying off after they flower and set seeds.  The following spring what emerges are the germinated seedlings that don't flower that year, but flowers the following year.  The cycle then repeats itself.  

We've just been too busy to test determine if D. intermedia is truly a biannual plant.  But with your description, I'd say that it's most likely true.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin