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Small secret

Adam

Sarracenia Collector
If you want to get sarracenia with big pitchers and betiful colors, all you do is this: for one month, put it in a terrarium with dull lighting. The next month take it out! thats it! altough i havent tried this, it happen with my judith hindle which i kept inside for a year by mistake, iw ouldnt reccomend it, but now its taking off! Just remember, if you want ones better after seeing it, put it in for 2 months. But be sure the lightings good enough to keep it barely alive.
 
This works for cephalotus pitchers I guess when you grow the plant in stronger light like full sun the pitchers are full of purple/red hues but are smaller and compact. I heard grow it in like 50% shade so the pitchers are larger and then acclimate it to full sun to bring out the color. If you do it too fast you might burn the plant.
 
Are you sure that the change wasn't because the plant went from sucky conditions to correct ones and therefore naturally started to look better??

Like the plants from Lowes that are in the cubes on the bottom shelf of the indoor section shaded by palm trees and orchids-you get them in the sun and they start to improve.
 
Well, they start struggling but they live,and it IS because of the suckish conditions, but lowes doesnt get as bright as mine... last year they were all green my hindles, and soon today ill take a pic of it.
 
It's not a secret, your sarracenia does not have beautiful color becuase you kept it in the terrarium before you moved it outside, it has beautiful colors becuase you moved it outside and started giving it proper conditions.
 
If I shut myself in the dark in the basement for a month and only ate/drank just enough to stay alive then came upstairs several pounds lighter and a few shades paler and went out in the sun and started eating and living as I should, I'd color up and put on weight and basically return to a healthier state. I don't see how starving myself or my plants intentionally would be healthy in the long run.
 
Yeah your not adding color to the plant, your giving it it's proper color. If you grow it it full sun it will have its proper color. If anything you could make a black tea to water the plants with to add color like bugweed used to do. What your doing now is just stressing the plant. Your giving all the leaves sunburn.
 
Your plants would look just as well if not better if they had been grown outdoors in full sun all along. You would just have nothing to contrast the appearance to that way.

Try going the other way around and take mature plants that have always been grown in full sun and put them in a terrarium. You'll find that it's no secret that terrariums are not the best place to grow Sarracenia.
 
If you want to get sarracenia with big pitchers and betiful colors, all you do is this: for one month, put it in a terrarium with dull lighting. The next month take it out! thats it!

In addition to all the other obvious common sense that is floating around this thread, if you did do this, you may miss one of the better/more attractive growing cycles of your Sarracenia.

altough i havent tried this, it happen with my judith hindle which i kept inside for a year by mistake, iw ouldnt reccomend it, but now its taking off!

I'm confused. How have you not tried this, but also done it with your S. 'Judith Hindle'? And, riddle me this: how do you keep a plant inside, by mistake?

Just remember, if you want ones better after seeing it, put it in for 2 months. But be sure the lightings good enough to keep it barely alive.

This is exactly the kind of misinformation that we try to avoid here. I hope no "new to the hobby" people come strolling through with their brand new plant and try this since it's completely ridiculous and not based on anything resembling reality.

xvart.
 
  • #10
xvart,
Be nice to him.
Remember he is an expert on Neps, and must also be with Sarr's.
 
  • #11
I've always wondered how you get those lanky, crispy, brown pitchers with the maroon blotches. Thanks for the tip! If I had only know to give it enough light to barely survive, and then stick it in full sun... wow. Thanks for the secret knowledge.


This is like saying "The secret to a sexy body is to eat and sit around until your morbidly obese, and then run a triathlon and starve yourself!"
 
  • #12
Well, when i grew it in full sun, it didnt get this color. But now it did, and i accidentally left it in terarium year round because while i was moving other sarrs out, i didnt see the judith hindle, somehow, and it was actually pitchering, so i left it in a year more to see what happened
 
  • #13
I have actually had the opposite experience with seedling sarrs. They grew very slowly outdoors, but then in a terrarium with all mirrors on the sides and good light/80% humidity, they would shoot off. That is until they started to get burnt too close to the lights at about 7'' tall.
 
  • #14
This works for cephalotus pitchers I guess when you grow the plant in stronger light like full sun the pitchers are full of purple/red hues but are smaller and compact. I heard grow it in like 50% shade so the pitchers are larger and then acclimate it to full sun to bring out the color. If you do it too fast you might burn the plant.

It is very true about Cephalotus. That 50% shade really does produce larger leaves but you would not be mistreating the plant by any stretch. In its natural environment, it is just as likely to be shaded by tall grasses as being exposed to direct sun, and there you would find the largest plants. I grow a number of them near a South-facing window (in the US) and the bright indirect light is perfectly suited to them. Late in Summer and Fall, when the sun is lower and more direct, they end up getting their brighter color . . .
 
  • #15
I have actually had the opposite experience with seedling sarrs. They grew very slowly outdoors, but then in a terrarium with all mirrors on the sides and good light/80% humidity, they would shoot off. That is until they started to get burnt too close to the lights at about 7'' tall.

The seedlings may benefit more from the higher humidity levels, but I'm not positive about this.
 
  • #16
Well, when i grew it in full sun, it didnt get this color. But now it did, and i accidentally left it in terarium year round because while i was moving other sarrs out, i didnt see the judith hindle, somehow, and it was actually pitchering, so i left it in a year more to see what happened

It's called leafburn and I imagine it's not pleasant for the plant. It's like when you get a sunburn. While it is true that the health of your plant will increase once it's moved to proper conditions you should always acclimate them.
 
  • #17
altough i havent tried this

You shouldn't be recommending something you haven't tried. It's good to remember that when something happens once, that not enough to be making broad generalizations for recommended growing.

Want to prove your theory? Do some tests and experiment (if you want to risk your plants). There is nothing wrong with trying all sorts of growing conditions on your plants.

But if you're gonna come in here and say "Do this...it happened to me once"...be prepared for a whuppin'. lol

There are some pretty solidly proven growing conditions for Sarracenia and it's best to stick to those unless, like I said, you want to experiment. If so, keep good records of your conditions.
 
  • #18
Another good trick to growing Sarracenia is to water them with tap water mixed with salt. Then when the plant starts getting sick looking, flush the pot with pure water and continue to water from then on with distilled, rain, or R.O. water. The plants will look better than ever, that is if they're still alive from the abuse/neglect. Unfortunetly, I haven't tried this myself.
 
  • #19
Don't forget the CPs that get BBQed in controlled fires and then grow back better than ever. I haven't tried torching my backyard to test this in captivity though.
 
  • #20
You could probably stick your plants in the microwave and get the same effect.:D
 
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