Question
QUESTION: Dear Carnivorous Plant Guys

Last year I purchased a sarracenia flava online and when it arrived it had 2 fully developed pitchers about 12 inches tall. Unfortunately it never produced any new pitchers, after placeing the plant in the refrigerator wrapped in sphagnum moss for dormancy i removed it around late may. The year before I had planted it in a mix of peat moss and perlite but was unsatisfied with that mix since the perlite kept floating to the top the more i watered the plant. This year after removing from dormancy I planted it in pure sphagnum moss rather than peat becuase I live in South Texas buy the gulf coast and temperatures get pretty high in the upper 90s and the peat moss seamed to be breaking down in the heat and giving off a funky smell, and it was pure peat moss it did not contain any fertilizer or miracle grow. This year the plant is kept outside in about 8 hrs of direct sunlight, new pitchers have started growing in which is an improvement from last year however the growth seams stunted despite the high light levels the pitchers are very skinny and short nowhere near the size of the pitchers last year when it arrived in the mail. I keep it well watered but the heat is causing them to flop during the day and perk back up at night. As you can understand I am disappointed as I used to grow nepenthes, flytraps, and pingucilua moranesis with no problem so i am not new to carnivorous plants its just rather disappointing not to see the kind of robust growth with the full sun and lots of water. Other than that the plant doesn't show any signs of insect attack or fungus, the color is all green with no red coloration.

ANSWER: Hi Omar,

I'm going to need you to send me photo of your plant.  I have some suspicions about what is going on, but picture will help me to make the correct diagnosis.

You mentioned that the plant was "well watered".  Tell me exactly how you are watering.  Sarracenia are bog plants and should be constantly wet.  What is your water source?

Eight hours of sun is great.  Is the location you have your flava sunny enough to grow tomatoes?

What kind of pot is the plant in?

Looking forward to hearing from you.


Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com


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


sarracenia flava stunt   QUESTION: Dear Carnivorous Plant Guys,

To follow up on why my pitchers are stunted I have sent two photos of the plant indoors, as you can see it is in an undrained glass vase I water with distilled ozarka water only. I used to keep it full to the brim with water as i heard you can not over water sarracenia flava. But again it gets placed outside on a table that recieves at least 8 hrs of direct sun.

Answer
Hi Omar,

Thank-you for sending a photo.  Wow!  Your situation is a testimony to just how tough Sarracenia flava really are.  I'm really surprised your plant is alive at all.

You have your plant outside in the Texas sun in a clear, undrained, glass container.  In this situation, you're probably building up unbelieveable soil temperatures combined with no oxygen since the container has no drain holes.  Undrained containers are always a bad idea for any plant, not just carnivorous plants.  You get low oxygen levels combined with bacteria build-up.  Few plants can tolerate this for long.  Combine that with it being clear, and you have a nice little slow-cooker when in the sun. :)

Here's the good news.  Simply transplant your plant to a normal pot.  Use either plastic or glazed ceramic pots with drain holes.  Avoid terracotta.  Use fresh soil media.  Either peat/perlite or long-fiber sphagnum is fine.  Move it back to a sunny spot with a water tray underneath it.  Always keep the pot standing in about 1 - 2 inches of water.  When you take it out of the pot it's currently in, examine the rhizome and cut off anything that is brown and mushy.

It's going to take your plant some time to recover now.  You should see a few more leaves this season, but it may only produce phyllodia, which are the late season non-carnivorous leaves.  Don't bother with the refrigerator routine this winter.  Your days get short enough in South Texas to induce dormancy.  Just leave it outside.  This will be much healthier for it.  Look for new, better growth next March.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com