Question

Jury rigged Sarracenia   Location: N GA (Jasper - lower mountains) - outside plants
Species: Sarracenia (general)
Lighting: Morning to mid-afternoon sun
Issue: A cat with a preference for distilled water

All of my CPs, except for the Sarracenia, are on a screened railing on the backporch - the Sarracenia are simply too large.  I have them sitting in a small container of distilled water on a step leading to the back porch.  (This location helps to give them the sun they need to thrive.)  I have a cat that will do just about anything to get to the water.  She will move the container around (that's why it's bungeed in the picture).  I've tried securing the accessible areas (I like to think this helps with evaporation as well), but she's super persistent and has started to paw at the soil in order to try to move the plants out of her way.  Recently, I've sprinkled some cayenne pepper on areas where the cat would paw.  Is this safe for the plant?  Is there a preferred method to deter cats (outside of shooting them - I actually do like the cat!)??  As I mentioned, she doesn't seem to care about the Sarracenias at all - just the water....Very strange!

Thanks in advance!
Susan

Answer
Hi Susan,

I've found this before.  Both cats and dogs seem to like the tray water of carnivorous plants, and I can only speculate that they like the tannin taste of the peat moss.

The best deterrent I've found for cats is peppermint.  They hate it.  Peppermint plants are good, but you can also buy peppermint oil, put it on cotton balls and place it around the pots.  You have to reapply daily since it evaporates quickly, but once the cat begins to associate the pots with peppermint they should be turned off.

Let me know how it goes.

Good Growing!

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