Question
I live in the Santa Cruz, CA area and have an S. minor that purchased a year ago. It was healthy when I got it, with pitchers about six inches tall, but now it's pitchers are short, thin, not opening and die in about a week. At the moment, I have it in a three and a half inch pot with one part peat-sphagnum and one part sand in a southern window. What should I do? Thanks for reading my question!
Clay

Answer
Hi Clay,

There are a couple things that might be contributing to the symptoms you've described.  The first would be mineral build up.  If you're using tap water, the minerals in the water will change the soil pH and damage the roots of the plant.  Smaller pitchers that die quickly are a classic sign of mineral build up.  The water should be mineral-free.  So if you're using tap water, you'll need to switch to bottled distilled water.

Insufficient sunlight is another possible cause.  This plant requires full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight).  Lack of sufficient sunlight long term will cause the symptoms you've described.  Ideally, you should grow it outdoors since it's native to the United States.  At our nursery in Oregon, we grow all Sarracenia species strictly outdoors.  

However, it's too late to acclimate your plant to outdoor growing since we're already in the middle of fall. So change the soil and start using bottled distilled water.  Grow your plant in the sunniest window you have with lots of direct sunlight.  In spring, acclimate your plant for outdoor growing in full sun.

For more information about growing Sarracenia and other North American carnivorous plants, visit the following pages on our website:
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets
http://www.cobraplant.com/DVD
http://www.cobraplant.com/ebook

Good growing!
Jacob Farin