Sarracenia Pitcher Plant: Dormant or Dead?

10 years ago

Hello. I have a hopeless brown thumb but somehow got the idea in my head that carnivorous plants were going to become my new hobby. I got a Sarracenia pitcher plant last week in perfect condition and I checked out every book from the library on carnivorous plants and have read up about them on the internet all week. But ever since I got it it has appeared to be slowly declining and at this point one week later appears completely dead. Any advice on whether there is anything I can do to salvage it? Is it possible it is just going dormant? Please help.

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Comments (8)

tommyr_gw Zone 6
10 years ago
Post a photo. These are not house plants so if you're growing it inside forget it. What type of water are you using also.
Caitlin014
Original Author
10 years ago
I attached a photo of what the plant looks like right now. It is outside on my porch. Partial shade. I live in Florida. I have it in a tray of distilled water I bought from the store. I don't know what it was watered with at the place I bought it. I just took it to a local nursery and they told me it's not dead it just needs more water but I'm not sure.
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Cobra lilys are indigeonous to the Pacific Northwest, essentially, Oregon, Northeen California, and maybe Washington(?) Anyways, they can take freezes but suffer in the heat. Wait... that describes me! Seriously, they are a cool weather plant. From my own personal experience, I have killed 3 of them by taking them out of what they were in and attempting to improve their conditions. My first plant I tried placing in a swampy area by a streamlet that ran in back of our townhouse. A 3" rainstorm carried it off. A replacement Lowes plant wilted when I took it out of the cube and put it outside in the summer heat. I tried perking it up by placing it under an AC conduit, that ran water through the pot and roots. That didn't work too well. Another plant did well when I repotted and had it suspended atop of another platic container. I kept it indoors for a month until the outside temps came down to about room temp. That plant made it through summer, fall, and winter (cold attic). When I put it outside in the spring, the critters got into it (and my VFT's) and the traps were bitten off. so I brought it inside, to kitchen sill, where it began recovering. But then its pitchers turned black. Advice from a very experienced grower finally killed it. I was told to keep the media wet. But it must have been too much to fast, for an already weak plant. I also killed a bunch of seedlings when it was advised that I poke drainage holes in the bucket I had them in. Bottom line: Every time I change its conditions significantly enough, they reacted. The less tweaking I did - the better. The best plant was the one that was suspended and had great drainage. Below is a pic of it: And here is the infamous streamlet: The adage, "If it aint broke, don't fix it" really applies, especially with my experiences! Technically, the plant ought be dormant right now and waking up in about a month or so. But I wouldn't mess too much with its conditions.
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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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tommyr_gw Zone 6
10 years ago
Thanks for the photo. You can clip off the 3 dead pitchers. Distilled water is fine. Rainwater is fine as well. Keep it in a shallow tray of water always. Where you are you can leave it outside all year. Acclimate it to FULL Sun and leave it in full Sun. It's a Sarracenia purpurea.
Caitlin014
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you!
hunterkiller03
10 years ago
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
Caitlin014
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you for your input. I am (obviously) bad with plants but my gut tells me it is dead too. Ironic since I chose the healthiest looking one at the nursery where I got it. It has not improved and there is no new growth so perhaps I will cut my losses on this one and try again with another. Thanks again.
hunterkiller03
10 years ago
It has happen to me. And it happen.

I have lost plants that I have been growing for years. You just don't know that the plant is dead, until all the leaves all of the sudden flop like that.

Sorry about that. But just don't give up.
Sundewd
10 years ago
I wouldn't give up just yet. Take it out of that packed lfs, gently clean the roots amd see if any of them have any white left showing. If so, put into a fluffy sifted peat mix with an equal part of perlite and half part sand. Hopefully its just dormant but yeah, my sarracenia don't do that when going dormant. It's a more gradual process.

Sarracenia Pitcher Plant: Dormant or Dead?

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tommyr_gw Zone 6

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Sarracenia Pitcher Plant: Dormant or Dead?

Comments (8)

tommyr_gw Zone 6

Caitlin014Original Author

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Caitlin014
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