Question
QUESTION: None of my plants (yellow trumpet typical, copptertop trumpet, judith hindle, venus fly traps, pale pitcher and sweet pitcher) have started growing yet! They get enough light, water, and the right soil (peat and perlite with long fiber spaghnum on top) but there are no buds or nothing.  Not even a leaf tip.  What's wrong?

ANSWER: Hi Sarah,

Oh, I'm sorry to hear this!  Your plants should be emerging from dormancy by now, so something is certainly amiss.  However, there are many reasons why plants don't make it through winter dormancy, but I don't have enough information to pinpoint the cause.  I'll need information about how you cared for your plants during the winter months, where you live and the type of water you used.

You can assess your plants by unpotting them and examining the rhizome.  It should feel firm when you squeeze it.  If the rhizome is soft, then it rotted out.  Again, there are a variety of reasons why this occurs, and I won't know the exact cause until I have more information.

The biggest culprit is fungus.  It is a serious problem and difficult to  control once it takes hold.  They are rarely a problem when overwintering plants outdoors, but they can be a problem when overwintering plants indoors, even in an unheated shed.

If you can provide more information, I'll be able to narrow down the possibilities and help you prevent this from happening again in the future.  

Good growing!
Jacob Farin

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QUESTION: I live in the chicagoland area.  Before I mulched them, I sprayed the plants with fungicide.  I just use hose water, but I am gettting an RO unit soon.  I felt all the rhizomes and they were firm.

ANSWER: Thank you for the additional information.  If you used only hose water, that might be a big factor.  You'll need to check the mineral levels before using tap water with your plants.  If the water has fewer than 50 parts per million in dissolved minerals, then it's safe to use with carnivorous plants.  However, if it's more than that and you've been using it all of last season and throughout the winter, then you got a serious problem on your hand.

Minerals will burn the roots of your plants.  Large Sarracenia might tolerate it, but not smaller plants.  Flytraps and sundews don't tolerate it at all.  

To check your mineral levels, call your local water bureau or ask the folks at your local aquarium supply store.  They should know what the mineral levels are.  They also sell test kits so you could check the water yourself.

If the rhizomes are firm, then gently scrape the outer portion with your fingernail to check the color inside.  It should be white.  If it's brown, then that portion of the rhizome has recently rotted out.  If there are white portions on the same rhizome, then you could possibly salvage the plant.  If it's brown throughout, then you should read it its last rites.  

With any plant that you can salvage, repot them in a fresh soil mix of 1 part peat moss and 1 part perlite.  This will eliminate the minerals that accumulated during the previous season.  From this point onwards, use only distilled bottled water until you get your RO unit.

Also avoid using dried sphagnum moss as a top dressing.  We've found that some brands of dried sphagnum moss tends to harbor fungal spores.  Live sphagnum moss is perfectly acceptable.

The amount of mulch you used might also affect the outcome of the plants.  The goal of using mulch is to reduce rapid temperature changes.  If you use too little, then you won't have the proper insulation required to prevent large rapid changes in temperature.  There's no hard and fast rule to the amount of mulch to use.  Growers have to make that assessment themselves based on microclimate.  

If you have additional information, please let me know.  And let me know what you discover about your plants and the water.  I'm curious as if we can salvage any of your plants.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin

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

QUESTION: I'm a big aquarist myself.  The pH is 7.4 and the hardness is 219 ppm.  I guess it is the water. The flytraps I should just throw away and the pitcher plants that have white or mostly white rhizomes I should put in pots?  I will let you know later today how the roots are.

Answer
YIKES! That's super-duper hard water as far as carnivorous plants are concerned.  The minerals will deposit on the roots and make the roots  brittle.  Ideally the roots should be supple, white and feathery.  In conditions of hard water, the roots become dark and brittle.  With this type of brittle root system, plants will have a hard time pulling up water, especially during winter dormancy.

Well, we all make mistakes like this, so don't feel bad.  When I set up my first fresh water aquarium a few years ago, I loaded it up with lots of large expensive fishes.  I didn't know about the nitrogen buildup, so I lost a few of them within a week.  Oops!  Lessoned learned!

Yes, I'd assume the flytraps would be goners.  After examining the rhizomes of your Sarracenia, you can decide if it's worth the effort to salvage them.  Even for us, salvaging plants in this type of state would be very iffy.  If any of them happen to make it, they'll be small plants this coming growing season since the brittle roots and damaged rhizome would severely stunt their growth.  

Keep me posted.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin