Question
QUESTION: I have an s.leucophylla and flava that are both producing unusual shaped phyllodia and few pitchers that are growing smaller or die off while in production.I have them outdoors in fullsun in a peat and perlite mix and are in an inch or 2 of standing water.I don't think it's a pest because my other plants that are next to it are fine.It's been cloudy for a while here and the leaves seem to look like the ones without fullsun in your e book so maybe thats it

ANSWER: Hi Preston,

In your case, I'll need more information from you.  I'll need to know where in the country you live.  There are several factors that may be affecting your plant, and one of them is weather patterns.  Given that you've mentioned specifically S. leucophylla and S. flava, that clues me in on something important related to weather, but I don't know if this is the path I should take since it depends on where you live.  If you live in the Pacific Northwest, then my answer will change completely.  But if you live along the east coast, then I can at least provide an explanation about how your weather pattern is affecting your plants.  Could you provide your city and state and the other species you're growing?  This will help me out a lot.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin


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

QUESTION: I live in Houston,Texas near the coast and I have a flytrap and purple pitcher outdoors right next the sick plants

Answer
Thanks for the extra information.  Since you live in Houston, my first impression is that your S. flava and S. leucophylla are experiencing summer dormancy.  These two species, along with S. oreophila, will go semi-dormant when the weather gets really hot.  This is their way to preserve moisture.  When they go semi-dormant, they produce shorter pitchers or even phyllodia, non-carnivorous leaves.  

I know that much of the eastern portions of the United States have experienced unseasonably warm weather lately.  This accelerates the growing season, but for plants that go semi-dormant when the weather gets really warm, it also means that they'll go semi-dormant earlier than usual.  This would explain for the short pitchers and developing pitchers dying off.  It's simply too warm, so they're preparing for a drought.  This would also explain why only your S. flava and S. leucophylla are affected.  Other plants, such as your flytrap and purple pitcher, are not affected by the summer heat, so they will continue growing.

When the weather cools down, they come out of their summer dormancy and produce another set of pitchers before they enter winter dormancy.  For now, continue growing your plants as usual.  There isn't much you can do about the heat unless you grow your plants in a greenhouse with an AC.  

In Oregon, we've been having unseasonably cool weather, so our plants are actually a month behind schedule.  So if you lived here, obviously my answer would be completely different.

On another note, cloudy days don't really affect full-sun plants.  Consider that there are many plants that grow naturally in your area, and they continue to grow well even on cloudy days.  There is still enough sunlight coming through the clouds for full-sun plants to grow properly.  It's just that the sunlight is more diffused.  As long as your flytrap and purple pitcher plants are growing well, we can at least rule out that the clouds are having any effect on plant growth.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin