Question
This is my first purple pitcher and I need some information on EVERYTHING. I would like to know what I need to feed it, how often it needs to be fed, is distilled water from a bottle ok to water it with, and living in Mississippi would it be ok to leave it out doors all year round or should I rotate it from indoors to outdoors? Right now the purple pitcher is in a plastic box with a lid on it in the green container which it was planted. Should I take it out and replant if so, how?

Answer
Hello Mystica,

Purple Pitcher Plants, or Sarracenia purpurea, do not really need to be fed. They will attract flies, gnats, ants, and wasps which will fall into the leaves and be trapped. Often, the leaves will contain some water from rainfall and will aid the plant in drowning the insect vicitms. After drowning, the insects will decay from bacterial action and some amount of digestive enzymatic action will be initiated by the plant as well to help speed breakdown of the proteins in the insects into nitrogen fertilizers produced by bacterial action. If the plant has not captured anything for several weeks, you can drop an ant, fly, or other small insect into a mature, healthy trap every couple of weeks, but that really is not necessary. Carnivorous plants are efficent at utilizing what little nutrients there are for their needs.

Distilled, reverse osmosis, and rain water are all fine to water carnivorous plants with. Make sure the bottled water is not actually drinking water as that water usually has magnesium and potassium salts added for flavor, which would be harmful to most carnivorous plants. Make sure that the plant has a large tray about two or more inches deep under the pot as it will prefer up to half the pot depth in water like it would get in a soggy peat bog where such plants grow naturally.

Purple Pitcher Plants do best outside in full sun all year long. They are hardy North American plants that are found much farther North of Mississippi. In a pot, make sure that the plant does not experience totally freezing weather in winter as that can cause freeze drying of the roots and kill the plant. In nature Purple Pitcher Plants are able to handle temperatures below freezing, but that would be insulated in the ground and surrounded by other plants. Pots are less insulated, so just keep the plant in slightly above freezing temperatures and and it will be fine.

You can leave the plant in the pot it is in now if the pot is at least 4 inches deep and as long as it has drainage holes in the bottom for water to drain or absorb as needed. Each year or so it is beneficial to change out pots to a size or two larger and use fresh sphagnum peat moss and perlite in a 1/1 ratio as soil. Make sure that none of the soil mix has fertilizers added and never fertilize the plant's soil as it will burn the roots and sicken, or more likely, kill the plant. Repotting a carnivorous plant is generally the same as for a regular plant. Loosen the soil around the edge of the pot with a few knocks of your knuckles and by squeezing gently on the sides of the pot with your hands, then turn the pot over with your hand cradling the plant and the soil clump. The entire pot of soil should fall out in your hand with the plant. You can loosen the soil and remove residue with a few inches of distilled water to wash off the roots of the plant. Set up a pot of fresh soil and make a hole deep and wide enough for the roots. Make sure the roots face down and out as normal. Fill in soil around the roots as you place the plant in the hole and firm gently until the moss and perlite have the consistency of a moist sponge. It will rebound slightly after you press down with a finger. The trick is to keep the moss firm to hold the plant in place while keeping it slightly open and airy to facilitate drainage and air transfer as the plant's roots will like some air to trickle down into the soil so they can breath.

Have fun with your new Sarracenia,

Christopher