Question

Purpurea Oddities   QUESTION: Hi! I have a question regarding my Purpurea. I have been growing it for about 8 weeks and I have noticed that, apart from the normal big, tubby pitchers, it has been developing some small, slender pitchers for the entire time I have had it. The plant has been growing fine, but it continues to develop these small pitchers. I have looked all over the internet for pictures of Purpurea, but so far all the pictures I have seen don't have these oddities. So, my question is, are these pitchers normal? Do I have anything to worry about? Thanks!

ANSWER: Hello Kevin,

Please send me a follow-up with some questions answered so that I can determine what is occuring with your plant.

1. Light level and hours per day.

2. Soil type.

3. Water cleanliness, type of water.

4. Dormancy requirments met?

From the photo, I can see that the plant has a little coloration, however; since S. purpurea are full sun plants, it looks like it needs a lot more light. When the pitchers develop deep purple coloration, hence the name, it will be getting enough light. I have one growing indoors (a big no-no.) It is growing under 36,000 lumens of florescent shop light tubes (that would be 12 tubes of the 40 watt cool white variety) for 16 hours a day and develops very deep, dark purple pitchers. It is barely between its third and fourth year and is already flowering. That should provide some indication of the light level and hours a S. purpurea needs if indoors. It would need to be grown all day long in direct sun if outdoors. In inadequate light, S. purpurea develops green pitchers and they eventually begin to grow smaller and twisted and even with no opening for insect capture.

This may or may not be the case with your plant. If it has just adequate light it may be developing a plantlet from its rhizome, a common occurrance.

Ramp up the light as much as you can and the plant's color will develop.

Please send that follow-up so I can find out more about what is happening to your plant.

Christopher

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: First of all, thank you so much for getting back to me so fast! I really appreciate it! Ok, when I saved the plant from the store, it was completely green. As soon as it got home I put it in full sun. Now, I'm not so sure how long the light hours are in Southern California but it should be about 13-14 hours a day. I'm not sure what the soil mixture is but it came in one of those plastic terrariums that you would find at The Home Depot or Walmart.  The plant is sitting in standing water. I use distilled water ONLY and I make sure that the sprinkler water doesn't get mixed with the distilled water. I do flush the water once every 2 to 3 days (or everyday now that it's getting into the 100 degree F sun).  I don't know if the dormancy requirement had been met because I have only had it for a short time. (6-8 weeks) In your response, you said that it might be a plantlet from the rhizome. I thought that Venus flytraps and sundews were the only carnivorous plants that split from the rhizome. Do all carnivorous plants divide from the rhizomes as well as produce flowers? By the way, I am planning on making a small Canivorous Plant bog garden and I'd appreciate it if you would give me some tips. Can Venus flytraps grow alongside pitcher plants? Thank you very much!

Answer
Hello Kevin,

Good job! I can see by the coloration on some of the pitchers that you probably did save it from slow light starvation. It will continue developing even more coloration as the plant recovers.

Venus Flytraps, many species of Sundews, Butterworts, Ultricularias, and Sarracenias of all kinds do produce plantlets from their rhizomes, basal leaf areas, or from root runs according to species. If the smaller leaves appear to have a central crown from which new leaves form separately from the large adult leaves, you indeed have an adult plant with forming plantlets. As Sarracenias age, they do much like Venus Flytraps in that the rhizomes divide sections off from themselves to develop new plants in a pattern around the adult. If left in a single small pot for a couple of years without repotting, one Sarracenia could overrun the pot and deform the sides with too many rhizome outgrowths if it is really healthy.

There are some Sundews and Asian Pitcher plants that do not form divisions from the roots. They have alternate methods of reproduction, and some basic growth patterns that may look similar, like Nepenthes pitcher plant vines developing new vine offshoots from the base of a parent vine.

All of the North American plants, like Venus Flytraps, Sarracenias, and the North American Sundews like Drosera filiformis, Drosera rotundifolia, Drosera intermedia, and some other forms would grow virtually in identical conditions. The main considerations to providing a mini bog would be to ensure that gradients occur in the soil so that the water loving Sarracenias would be a couple inches closer to water while the Venus Flytraps and Sundews would be higher up so they can reach water with their root tips, but not be submerged deeply in water. Many of the Sarracenia and North American Sundew species can be found growing side by side and some even share space with Venus Flytraps in North Carolina. You will also need to ensure you have a method of keeping total freeze from occurring in your bog so that the plant roots will not freeze dry if the bog is very small. The bigger the bog, and the more material, plants, and objects are close to the bog, the less likely a total freeze will occur deep under the soil near the plant roots. North American carnivorous plants can survive near to below freezing temperatures in the wild according to species and zone, but when growing a mixed group together, you will need to ensure that the plants never go below freezing to keep track of the less hardy species.

One thing to remember about many species of Sundews, along with a large segment of many other genera of carnivorous plants, is that they could be tropical, so planting an unknown Sundew next to a Venus Flytrap or Sarracenia might not be the best for that Sundew since it might not survive Winter like the North American plants can. Double check before planting just to be on the safe side. Any tropicals can be grown indoors year round in sunny windows or under strong florescent light, or outdoors in warm months in varying degrees of sun according to species, and indoors in Winter.

As a note, the reasons why I grow Sarracenias and Venus Flytraps indoors are twofold. I do not suggest it for those with alternatives and those purely growing the plants. I do so to study artificial light effects on the plants, basically just seeing how much light it takes in what configuration to produce healthy, full sun, North American carnivorous plants. I also do so to keep the neighbors kids out of my plants. Indoor growing of sun intensive plants with dormancy requirements is more difficult than just letting them do their thing outside in full sun.

Christopher