Question
Dear Sarracenia NW,
I have a couple of inquiries regarding some of my carnivorous plants. I have a
Drosera Scorpioides that I bought from you guys about two years ago, and
for the first year I made the mistake of growing it under low light. I now have
it in a full-sun windowsill, but it is still very "leggy." I was wondering if there
would be any way to make it look healthy again, or if I should just start over  
with a new specimen.
My second question is about the Sarracenia that I grow outside (in Western
Washington). Every once in a while, especially with my Sarracenia Purpurea, a  
pitcher grows with a grotesquely enlarged ala. They all grow in full sun in a
two parts sand, two parts sphagnum, one part perlite mixture. I have a mild
slug problem. Do you guys have any ideas about this?  Thank you very much
for your time.

Answer
Hi Nathan,

This time of year you would need to supplement the plant with artificial light to help it out.  We just don't get enough sun this time of year in windowsills.  For a single plant, a fluorescent desklamp can work very well.  Also, Drosera scorpiodes doesn't seem to live more than 3 years or so.  You could try transplanting it an putting it deeper in the soil.  Did you collect any gemmae off of it?  You could start all kinds of new ones that way.  They would look like little seed-like structures in the center of the plant.  If you see some, simply knock them off with a pencil on a pot of cp soil, keep it wet, and they will grow fairly fast.

With your Sarracenia purpurea, I find they just do this once in awhile, especially S. purpurea ssp. venosa.  I see it more often in plants that are in poor light, but a plant with multiple new shoots will do it too.  I just clip them off if they are not functional leaves.


Good Growing!

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