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From my search on the Net and through books, it seems that
little information has been provided to aid growers in the hot
tropics when it comes to growing temperate CPs. I'll just add
my 2c's worth here ... Everything about growing CPs in
general still hold, regardless of your climate. However, the
real trouble sets in when dormancy arrives. Many plants, such
as Sarracenia, some Drosera and Dionaea require an annual
dormancy period, in which growth slows down and eventually
stops. This is often triggered by low temperatures and
decreased photoperiods. These 2 factors are both absent in the
tropics - we get consistently high temperatures of 25C and
above, and relatively constant photoperiods throughout the
entire year. So how to you determine when to place your plants
into dormancy? A good rule of thumb would be to mimic the
seasonal periods where the plants come from - for Sarracenia,
the plants show drastically decreased growth near November and
December, even in the tropics. The moment you realise that
your plants are growing less vigorously than before, shift
them in daily towards shade - this being an effort to simulate
a decrease in photoperiod. Once growth has slowed down
considerably, it's time to dump them into the refrigerator. To
do this, gently uproot the entire plant, trim off any excess
roots and tease off most of the soil from the roots. For
Sarracenia, I cut away all of the roots and leaves and leave
only the rhizome. For Drosera, many species like D.filiformis
will form a tight cluster of modified leaves called
hiberniculae. In this case, I trim off any normal-looking
leaves but leave the roots intact. For Dionaea, all leaves are
removed to leave a bulb with some roots. These
"processed" plants are then placed in ziplock bags
and padded with live sphagnum moss. Some growers would give
the bulbs or rhizomes a mist with diluted fungicide, but
personally I do not do this, and have had no problems with
fungus. The key is to keep the plant material slightly damp
only - any wetter than that will inevitably invite rot and
fungi! The bags are placed in the vegetable
compartment in the refrigerator (NOT the freezer!!) for 2-3
months. Thereafter, reverse the sequences above - leave the
bags to equalise with normal temperatures, then pot them up,
increase watering and slowly increase the lighting period and
intensity. That should do the trick!
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