Question
QUESTION: Hey guys. I have a couple questions.
FIrst off is my growing conditions,
Southern California
Zone 9
Grown outside.

Now, I currently have a S. purpurea ssp. purpurea and i've heard that they need a really cold winter in order to grow properly every year. Is this true? I only obtained this plant early this year so they have not had a winter with me. The coldest it gets here during winter is in the high 20's at night and low 50's in the day time. The soil freezes a couple times during the winter , but it never snows here. We get several hard frosts during winter that put my S. flava and S. purpurea ssp. venosa into a deep dormancy, which I believe they enjoy, seeing as they grow very well every year. So, do you guys think that these conditions will be okay for purpurea ssp. purpurea to get a proper dormancy or will I have to find a way to get it colder?

Next is, which Sarracenia has the longest, biggest root system? Which one has the biggest rhizome ? and which one tends to divide the fastest? I think S. oreophila has a big root system, but im not sure of this. Thank you for your help. :)

ANSWER: Hi Manny,

The purpurea subspecies tend to grow better when it experiences temperatures below 20癋 during the winter.  It's not essential, and many growers in zone 9 regions are successful in growing this plant.  However, those in the northern regions tend to grow larger purpurea than those in the southern regions.  In general, don't worry about it.  It'll grow just fine for you.

Is there a particular reason for needing to know which plants grow the largest rhizomes and root systems?  I bring this up only because this isn't the type of questions we normally answer and doesn't really relate to the horticultural experience.  

In general, S. oreophila produces the largest rhziome.  If growing conditions are the same, S. rubra produces multiple crowns the quickest for division.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin

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

QUESTION: Yeah, sorry about that. I guess I should have explained. The reason for it is because i have a couple 15 gallon plastic pots, 18 inches in diameter. I was planning on putting a single Sarracenia in each one. I wanted to see which grew the biggest so that i could plant it and leave it there for maybe 2-3 years or more if possible. That way, no other Sarracenia would grow into it or anything like that. Sorry if it was an improper question. But now that you know my reason, what would you say is a better mix for a pot that size? Peat:pumice or peat:silica sand? and at what ratio? Thanks for all the help again.

Answer
Sarracenia flava, oreophila, alata and leucophylla will grow well by themselves in a 15-gallon pot.  I have many in my private collection that are planted individually in 5-gallon pots, and I probably repot them every 3-4 years.  

If possible, perlite would be your best bet.  It's much, much lighter than either pumice or sand.  I've seen large bags of perlite at Home Depot.  Keep in mind that 4 cubic feet of perlite is only 34 pounds.  The same volume of sand would weigh 450 pounds.  So moving around 15-gallon pots filled with peat and sand would get very old after a while.  Pumice isn't as heavy as sand, so if perlite isn't available, then use pumice.  Equal parts of peat and pumice is sufficient.