Question

wilted sarraccenia  

wilted venus fly trap   Hi!  I am a newbie at CP and purchased two Dionaea Muscipula and two Sarraccenia from a nursery.  I am in Scottsdale, AZ.  They were in those dome pot things, so I repotted them in a terra-cotta pot with a mixture of coarse sand and "green moss" and watered with RO water.  I placed them in the late afternoon sun for about an hour and they are very "wilty", especially the Sarraccenia.  Should I be doing anything else and will they be all right?  Thank you!

Answer
Hi Petra,

After plants have been packed in those little cubes, the leaves are very weak from excess humidity and lack of light.  The best thing you can do is cut them off.  In time the plant will start to grow more from the rhizome, and the new leaves will be adapted to the lower humidity and normal sun conditions.  Your Venus flytrap looks ok, but also cut off any leaves that start wilting.  What this does is cut off transpiration so the plants can recover.  Make sure the pots are always sitting in a small amount of water.  Most carnivorous plants are bog plants.

The soil media should be a half and half mix of peat moss and sand or peat moss and perlite.  Avoid the green moss you have on them.  Carnivorous plants grow in or among sphagnum bog mosses which are very different from the decorative green moss which is from the sides of trees.

Here's a link to our page on care of these plants:  http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com/Articles.asp?ID=256  Both of your plants are in the cold-hardy category.  After looking at these consider taking a look at our volume #1 DVD.  It is a full course on growing North American carnivorous plants and can help you avoid the pitfalls so common to new growers.  In the DVD we don't just tell you, we show you how to do what you need to grow these plants.  http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com/Grow-Carnivorous-Plants-DVD-1-p/01111.htm

Good Growing!

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