Question
QUESTION: I have a serracenia purpurea that has 5 traps on it.  2 are dead and no more are growing.  How do you take care of purpureas?  What needs do they have?  I also have a serracenia "Tarnok" that has white furry mold on it.  It just started molding recently.  It's in a large room and not in a terrarium so I don't know what could be causing it to mold.  How do I fix these problems?

ANSWER: Hello Dave,

First off, can you grow them outside in your region? Sarracenias are North American plants that can tolerate temperatures in zones 5-9 easily, you just have to mulch them or cover them with a tarp or plastic in weather below freezing in winter to keep their rhizomes from freeze drying.

If your weather or environment does not allow for outside care of Sarracenias you will need to work a bit harder to keep them alive indoors. It sounds like your plants are dormant and one is succumbing to mold, very common in Sarracenias indoors in winter. Even though it is not in a terrarium, the air indoors is still more stagnant than outdoors and their is simply not enough Ultraviolet radiation indoors to kill mold spores.

The first order of business will be to get some fungicide and spray your plants with a good once over. Neem oil, sulfur powder, and any water based fungicide that does not contain natural soaps (potassium based soaps) or copper can be used. Best to use are the sulfur or neem oil products.

Sarracenias of all types are easy to care for if you provide them with what they need.

In the growing season:

1.  Light is the number one need for all plants, Sarracenias being at the top of the list for light greedy plants. Sarracenias really do well outdoors in natural sunlight and rather poorly indoors unless you can place them in the brightest window you have with around 6000-12000 lumens of supplemental florescent (40 watt shop lights or 100 watt equivalent compact florescents) light over them.

2.  Water is another priority for Sarracenias as they need mineral impoverished water, like distilled, reverse osmosis, or fresh rain water. Hard water of over 50-100 parts per million of calcium, magnesium and other salts will sour their soil and slowly kill them. Keep a tray of water under their pots that will provide them with up to half their pot depth in water.

3.  Soil needs for Sarracenia are the same as for Venus Flytraps in that they are bog plants that adapted to acidic mossy medium in bogs with sand mixed in for drainage. You can use sphagnum peat moss and perlite in a 50/50 mix or sphagnum peat moss and silica sand in a 50/50 mix. Both work well. Repot the plants in fresh medium each spring just before they come out of dormancy as that keeps the soil from souring and provides air to their roots.

4.  Patience. Once the plants have what they need, they will usually grow normally and provide themselves with fertilizer by catching the odd insect. They do not need fertilizing at all and they are able to attract flies, ants, and wasps on their own.

In winter:

1.  The shortening fall days will tell the plants that winter is coming and that they need to get ready to go dormant. This is done by the day length of light that they get. In natural sun they get this information automatically as the fall days shorten. In winter just give them less water, barely enough to keep their soil just moist, and leave them alone in a cold place. Some people that grow them indoors place them in a cold room where they get some light from a chilly window. Other people place the plants in the refrigerator after they have stopped growing in winter as a means of providing them with cold, lightless conditions and take them out in spring to resume growth in a well lit window. In any event, only place the plants in a totally dark, cold place if you are sure they are dormant as they will die if they have not gone dormant. Best bet is to place the plants in a cold window or garage with a window to over winter.

The Sarracenia purpurea will require some distilled water dripped in its pitchers every so often in the growing season to provide it with a means of drowning insects. the other Sarracenias typically do not require water in their pitchers as they have lids over them to keep rain out.

That is about it on Sarracenia care.

Good luck on fighting that mold,

Christopher

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

QUESTION: Thanks again.  Where can I get neem oil and sulfer fungiside from for these plants?

Answer
Hello Dave,

Both types of fungicide are available at plant nurseries and hardware store plant sections. A lot of the stuff they sell might be three in one systematic treatments for insect, mite, and fungus control which is just fine (usually says neem oil with pyrethrines).

Keep up the good care of your Sarracenias.

Christopher