Question
my poor s. rubras
Hi Guys; I am growing mostly Sarracenias outdoors in New Orleans. They are in 2.5 inch deep trays with RO water. They get 6 hours of direct sun and 4 to 6 hours bright light but not direct sun. The S. rubra's have started to develop brown tops that gradually works down to the rhizome when it then kills off the plant. I have sprayed with Bayer 3-in-1 and Safer fungicide to try to stop it but if anything it seems to make it go faster. What does it look like is going on with my plants? Thank you.
AnswerHi Arthur,
What this looks like is it's time to repot. Your peat moss is probably broken down, and becoming anoxic, causing roots to die. Unpot both plants, and transplant to larger pots. Use standard 50/50 peat moss/perlite mix. When you have them out cut off any dead rhizome material and pot up the living rhizome growth points. They may be fairly small, but they will recover. Spraying them with your 3 in 1 spray will be a good preventative to fungus also.
Once you have them transplanted try to keep the water level no more than 1/4 of the way up the pots. The soil being waterlogged during hot weather speeds the breakdown of peat moss and causes oxygen loss to roots. Doing lots of top watering during hot weather is also beneficial. See if you can position your pots so that the pots themselves are shaded but the leaves get full sun.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
