Question
Hello,

I had a question about dormancy requirements for Sarraciania in our climate(Portland, OR.)

First of all I have a Sarracena Leucophylla that is starting to grow sideways out if its container.  It doesn't appear to be dead.  Is this natural? Could it be from all of the rain?

Also, I have several other Sarracena growing in a toilet bowl that I found(yes It was clean). However, I'm not sure how well it drains, there is only a hole at the bottom.  Could it become too waterlogged and weaken the plants? Should I take them out and winterize them?

Finally, are you going to have any large cephs again?

Thanks, hope all is well, and I'm excited for all the DVDs to be done.

gb

Answer
Hi Gregory,

It's likely that the soil softened during the heavy rains, which caused the rhizome to tilt.  We see this in our plants sometimes.  Straighten the rhizome and add some extra soil to anchor the plant firmly in place.

With a toilet boil, it should drain through the s-pipe.  Excess water will drain out, so the water level will always remain constant.  If anything, it's actually a very good system for carnivorous plants.  The only part that wouldn't be appropriate would be the tank.  In there, you might grow aquatic Utricularia instead.

I'm not sure if we'll have larger Cephalotus available.  We just started stratifying our seeds, so it all depends how many germinate.  If we get a good rate, we can release some of our larger plants.  If not, we'll need them for propagation.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin