Others do it. Just provide deep pots and stay on top of watering. I would mix sand and peat and add lots of LFS on top.

Hi Fishermanblues,

Welcome to the forum. I to live in Az, in Phoenix (land of the oven). I am fairly new to growing cps, started a year ago. This will be my first summer with plants outside, so I may not be much help, but . . .here goes.

Last fall I placed 2 VFTs and 1 Sarr outside when the temperatures were equal with indoor temps. They over-wintered going through the dormancy period. We are lucky to be able to have our plants outside for natural dormancy without worry or mulching, etc. Those 2 VFTS and Sarr are still outside now and growing like weeds. They get direct sun until about 11:30 am when the UVs reach "very high". I have a heavy, at least 75%, sunscreen that protects them for the rest of the day. However, I am not getting all the color on them that they had when purchased. The green is a healthy vibrant color but I am still working towards getting them to really color up for me.

I acquired a few more VFTs and another Sarr over the winter. After being acclimated and repotted into larger pots I placed them outside in the same setup as the other plants have. The VFTs struggled some with adjusting to the sunlight but are now growing new vibrant traps. I am guessing that the plants we purchase from stores, (Home Depot, Lowes, 99 cent store, etc) are not use to the sun or strong UV rays. I'm not sure how the large nurseries that ship to these stores grow, I would like to know. There is a thread here in the forum discussing the reaction of some VFTs to being moved outside. It's called "Have you ever heard of this before?" posted by cpenthusiast on Mar 22, 08.

As for growing in the hot AZ sun here are my ideas and plans. One of the problems of growing plants in our heat seems to be the temperatures of the media, that is why large pots are suggested. Seems the soil heats up quickly and can kill the plants. Right now my plants are in 6 inch pots, obviously that is not large enough. On one 85 degree day about 2 weeks ago I checked the temperature of the media in each pot. Some were still under the sunscreen, some not. The ones not under the sunscreen during the middle of the day had a media temp of 94 to 98, a bit hot I think, and the ones under the sunscreen were about 80 degrees. That's when I decided to put the sunscreen up permanently for all the plants and adjust it for when the UV rays are the highest. Aside from using sunscreen and large pots I have also heard that top watering twice a day or putting ice cubes on the media and in the water tray helps during 110 and + degree days.

I am just "feeling" my way along here. The Sarrs seem to like the heat much better than the VFTs do, they are taking some time to adjust. I'm not sure if I will leave them out all summer or bring some or all in during the hottest part of the summer. I'll wait and ask the plants when the temps go higher.

If anyone has any ideas or information I to am open for suggestions and help.

Enjoy your plants,
Nycti