Question
Hey Guys,
My Sarracenia  are dying.  The traps and leaves are turning brown from the top down. On most of the plants  the brown is hard, but not brittle, and half way down to all the way down to the ground. Many of the young crowns just break off with the slighest pressure. They seem as if they are rotted. On my S. minor it looked like some one sat on it Some of the plants have died. it seems the problem just started in March after I took the pine needle mulch off. I did notice, at that time. that the top of the traps had suffered more winter damage than usual. The flower stalks on most of the plants seem strong. There are a few that have a very weak stalk.
 
I live in PA. Zone 6B. It is watered with rain water. The bog garden is an old plastic pond, about 4 ft. by 8 ft. filled with about 50% peat moss and 50% sand. Almost half of the bog garden is covered with sphagnum moss. My sundews are not as numerous as last year. I do not know if that would help  you in solving the problem. Plants that are affected include 3 or 4 species of S. Flava,  4 hybrids, including Judith Hindle 2 purpurea plants. 4 Sarracenia Minor plants.

Thank you for your help,

John

Answer
Hi John,

Thank you for the details about your growing condition.  I know it can be distressing to see plants die, but lets see if we can pinpoint the problem.  Since we have customers in zone 6 and 5 (New York, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin) who also grow outdoor bog gardens and have successfully overwintered their plants this season, so climate and unusual weather patterns wouldn't be an issue.

From your description, it seems that you didn't cut off the leaves prior to laying the mulch.  If this is correct and some of the leaves were sticking out of the mulch, this could be a serious factor.  You see, cold wind will pull moisture out of the leaves.  However, if the ground is frozen, the plant won't be able to replace the lost moisture and will quickly dehydrate.  

The other issue could certainly be fungus. But I wouldn't expect this problem to occur if you used pine needles.  

The other issue might be how much mulch you used.  Ideally it should be about 4-6 inches given the zone you live in.  If the mulching was too little, then it wouldn't insulate the ground very well.  The idea of mulching is to slow down temperature changes in the soil.  It doesn't protect the ground from freezing.  Rather it prevents the ground from freezing and thawing repeatedly.  So if the mulch level was too low, then the ground may have experienced repeated thaws and freezes.  This can affect your plants.

Another issue is the sand.  We generally don't recommend sand because not all sand is created equal.  Some sand leaches out minerals, which can have a negative affect on your plants.  (Sundews are most sensitive to minerals in the soil.)  

The only safe sand to use is silica sand.  River and play sand are often too inconsistent in their quality and source.  Desert sand contains too much limestone (calcium), and beach sand contains too much salt.  If you used anything other than silica sand, you may need to redo your bog garden.

One final issue is where your bog garden is positioned.  It should be in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight).  If during the growing season it was getting 4 hours or less in direct sunlight, then your plants may have been too weak to make it through winter dormancy.

Since you have flower stalks, cut off the flower stalks.  The rhizomes seem too weak to support both flowers and leaves.  

Please write back as a follow-up and let me know if any of these things are relevant to your situation.  There might be other possibilities, but these factors would be the first ones I would address.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin