Hello Bernergrrl, What kind of pitcher plants do you have that are flowering? I can appreciate how cool it is as I have a Sarrencia psittacina and I did not even think about it flowering on me but it has just opened up and is the coolest deep red velvety flower I have ever seen. Got images of it but will have to put them up at some later date. From what I have read in other forums and possibly in this one, regular mosses are frowned on in your bog as they MAY smother the plant. I know this is true with Venus Fly Traps as that happend to mine but on Sarrencia I am not sure. If the moss you are talking about is sphagnum then don't worry about it as they grow together. If you decide to get rid of your mosses and do not want to replant them how about sending some to me!!! I like mosses and grow mine in pots, beside having a sphagnum bog (which is currently dominated by sedges!!). Let me know-you can email me or post here. Whatever is cool. Thanks.

Hey - I'm in North Alabama - you shouldn't have any trouble growing pitchers outside. Flava and purpurea (both of which it appears you purchased) grow very well here. If I can borrow a camera, I'll get a few shots of my bog garden and post them. If I can figure out how. ha I'm not as crazy about a lot of the hybrids, as some of them aren't quite stout enough. I do love the cross between minor and leucophylla, though. And I have a few alata crosses that do very well, also. Certain rubra species do just fine here, too. "Savage Garden" is a GREAT book...I've met the author, and he knows his stuff (surprisingly, he remembered something I'd written for the Carnivorous Plants Newsletter back in the 1980's, so we're mutual admirers, I guess...). Now, I have not read Barry Rice's "Growing Carnivorous Plants," but I expect great things. It came out last year, when I'd been hospitalized and tending to plants at all was rather difficult. However, I've met him, too (he also remembered the article) and he is both knowledgeable and personable. I will go out not on a branch but a pitcher leaf and say I'm sure it will be a wonderful companion to "Savage Garden." Armed with the knowledge of Peter and Barry, you should be able to grow any number of plants. I love the idea of the clawfoot tub and was looking into it, myself. Provided you are friends with Kong and Godzilla, you could also take it with you if you ever moved. I may have to visit Lowe's and Home Depot, too. If only to rescue carnivores. Those sorts of places, along with grocery stores and nurseries who know zilch about CP, are notorious for underwatering them and leaving them to fend/die for themselves... Also, if you get any flytraps, don't bother feeding them hamburger. The smaller ones can't even CATCH cattle. Here's a link to info on Barry's book: http://www.sarracenia.com/faq.html

Well, if the pitcher plant is molding, the terrarium would cause even more problems with mold. Terrariums are great for killing virtually all North American carnvorous plants like Venus Flytraps and Sarracenias. 1. High humidity causes weak growth, opening the plant up to infection and mold attack. 2. Terrarium unable to be placed in direct sun as plants would overheat and cook. 3. Terrarium not able to provide normal dormancy for North American species that require it. North American plants have to experiecne cold winter and short photoperiods for about 3 months out of a year so they go dormant. They suvive over 10 years that way. If not allowed to go dormant, they die within a year in most cases. 4. I already tried the terrarium route when I was about 8 years old. All of the plants died within a few months. Experience speaking here. I also live in Texas, they do fine here so long as the temperature does not go over 100 degrees for long for the North American species. I have all mine in open pots, no additional humidity, and under 12000 lumens of florescent lights until I can get them outside where they belong. Sarracenias and Venus Flytraps really are related distantly to many garden plants, like cabbage and spinach, so they really need bright light that simply cannot be provided in a terrarium unless you can provide some really extreme ventilation and at least 12000 lumens of light within 1-2 inches from their leaves... Even then, they would be weak compared to being grown outside in open pots and possibly succumb to rot and fungus. The pitcher plant will make more pitchers, but will not regrow cut off sections of leaf. Is your pitcher plant similar to this Sarracenia rubra? Venus Flytrap also grown in open pot. Drosera adelae grown in open pot... and outgrowing it. Your terrarium would not last 6 months for them. One plant becomes a colony of 40 clones in under 6 months. Hope this information helps you out.

If they could be grown in plain dirt then we wouldn't have to spend the money on sphagnum moss and perlite/silica sand. There are trace amounts of nutrients and minerals in that plain dirt that will kill your plants. Every time you water those minerals are going to leach into your sphagnum so now it's contaminated too. Where are you located in CA and where did the plants come from? If they are going dormant it might be a good idea to bare root them and stick them in the frige. Whatever you do you need to get them out of the dirt. To tell if you are over watering tip the pot on one side and if water runs out then you are over watering. If no water runs out and the soil is moist then your doin good. Never let the soil dry out completely. These plants need to be outside to receive the signals to go dormant. You can leave them out until temps drop to the lower 30s then unpot them and put if frige. You could leave them out in the pot if it doesn't get too cold there.