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Carnivorous Plants

Sarracenia pitchers drying up

10 years ago

Hi - I bought this plant in mid-August and read that they need a lot of direct sunlight, so had them by my south/west facing window during the afternoons, and then would move them to be outside at night. The soil has always been kept wet (with filtered, not tap water).

I started noticing the tips drying out on one pitcher, then two. I called the place where I bought the plant, and the owner suggested that I mist the pitchers and also mist the insides so that the pitchers would be liquid inside. Then all of the tips dried out, and I just moved it to the outside space, which has light, but not direct sunlight, where it has been for the last week or more. There is some new growth at the bottom, but I think that even with those the tips are a little dry.

What am I doing wrong? Is it just not humid enough where I am? Also, I have no idea if it's catching flies. The spot it's in (our doorway) always has a ton of flies flying around, but I'm not sure if any of them are getting lured in by the sarracenia.

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Comments (9)

tommyr_gw Zone 6
10 years ago
First off it belongs outside all the time. Second, filtered water is NOT GOOD to use. Rain or distilled only. Third, it looks like you have 2 different species in there, a Leuco and something else that looks kind of like Judith Hindle but I'm not sure which. Acclimate it to FULL SUN and switch your water ASAP.
a_shau
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you! yikes about the water. does spring water work as well or does it need to be distilled? Just asking because i have a lot of spring water right now. It's a Leucophilla and a Dana's Delight.
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I've always had a fascination with carnivorous plants. I have a Nepenthes pitcher plant. I am planning on getting some sarracenias, but I don't yet. They're hardy to zone 5, and some go as far as 3. do you grow them in your bog? A floating bog thingy would be nice. It should help cut down on mosquitoes laying eggs in the water. Let me know if you come up with a good design for a floater. I'll work on one, too. P.S., I was just thinking, planting them by a waterfall would be nice, too. I plan on putting in a waterfall next year.
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I'll will add something about my last post. Dang! I really need to proof read my comments before posting them! Example: "The bugs are still being digested and the pool of thoroughly", which I meant to say "The bugs are thoroughly digested in the pool" and I left out something like this "and the dissolved nutrients are easily absorbed through the walls of the pitcher". Or how about "the plant is oborbing the sugars the trap". I hope you get what I as trying to say is that the sugars are then being obsorbed by the trap's walls. With all the moving of sentences, cutting and pasting sentences, I made a real mass on the comment field. Sorry if I caused any confusion, I had a chance to fixed it on preview but I didn't. Really does make me look like an amateur of the worse kind.
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That looks like the picture of a plant that suffered sudden death. When all the pitchers wilt like that, plus the developing pitcher dies. I have the feeling that the rhizome is dead. I may be wrong but that looks like symptom I've seen before. The rhizome id dieing but the leaves are still green & look normal. But once the the rhizome is dead, the next thing that dies are the developing new immature pitchers, like the little developing pitcher. Then the rest of the developed leaves die and the pitchers kinda acquire this wilted drying, its a sudden collapse. Like I'm seeing on the photo you provided. You may have purchased a plant that was dying. Hope I'm wrong
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Thank you so much for your reply! I tried to get some pictures of the white stuff but I had wiped most of it off and the stuff that was left did not come out well. Not sure you will see it on here... there is only a small area visible. I did repot it when I first got it and I have to admit I did not really check the rhizome... I guess that was a beginner's error If it is a fungus what do you suggest??? Thank you so much for all your help!!!
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tommyr_gw Zone 6
10 years ago
I wouldn't chance it. Distilled water is cheap, under a dollar a gallon in most places. start collecting rainwater too.
hunterkiller03
10 years ago
Distilled water is the best, Reverse osmosis is next, has very little mineral content but eventually they build up. So you have to repot them, best time is before they break their dormancy next spring.

I agree with tommyr, the whiter one with the single pitcher is indeed S leucophylla. The redder one looks like it is a complex hybrid called Sarracenia 'Daina's Delight' (it has been misspelled as 'Dana's Delight' but albeit the name most used).

Unfortunately, most of these plants have been grown inside a greenhouse, which means higher humidity. So you expose them in drier air. Another thing is that you may be exposing your plants with a direct stronger sunlight, while in the greenhouse they were exposed to filtered light. All that will cause the old leaves to burn or dry up at the tips and edges. And that is not all, when the plants are shipped inside a box to your address, they experience shock. So the old leaves will often die back.

I've have but Sarracenia directly from California Carnivores when I visit the place. And no matter how hard I try, they still suffer shock when I move to another state with a different climate. So the old leaves it came with die off.

The good news is that new pitchers they will spout soon will be hardier and will tolerate direct sunlight as they do in the wild. You may even have bigger and more colorful plants.

Good luck!
hunterkiller03
10 years ago
Why do I miss some mistake when I proof read my comments :-p
a_shau
Original Author
10 years ago
Got it. Distilled water it is. Thank you!
Leafhead
10 years ago
Good to know about the distilled water. I just acquired one as a gift. How late in the year can it stay outside in South WI.?
tommyr_gw Zone 6
10 years ago
Well it needs winter dormancy but when temps get down to 32F it's time to move it somewhere that will stay around 35-40F for 3-4 months. Mine go in the fridge for the winter. This is how I put my Sarrs. away for winter;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHoC7YLOqbM&list=FLSTLlzBVNI41wRe5SgRpIcQ&index=305
Leafhead
10 years ago
Good to know. Should I keep moist, not wet?
That's how I kept my other CPs in the past. I have a basement area that is sort of heated but has a cold floor. It averages around 55 degrees F air temp and has one small window.
Can I pack periodically c fresh snow to keep cool and moist? I used this method for S. purpureas, Sundews, VFTs and various bladderworts with a great deal of success. The snow melted slowly, rehydrated the medium and cooled the plants down s freezing the medium.

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