I'm giving up on Sarracenia Minor

[Wolfn]

I'm pretty much done trying to grow Sarracenia Minor. I've bought 4 different Minors in the past year, and they are all difficult to grow and the last one is on the verge of death.

I've given it tons of sun and various amounts of watering, whether it's soaking wet or barely damp or a nice wet soil inbetween. And the results are always the same. The plant sends up a few deformed leaves before rotting away.

My Purpurea Venosa, Flava, Leucophylla, Psitticinia, and Rubra all thrived and flowered. Meanwhile, Minor rots away within a month or two of me purchasing the plant.

I'm done with Minor.

 

[theyellowdart]

Minor seems to be a little tough for a lot of people.
Mine was in slow decline all of last year and finally kicked the bucket over the winter. All of my other Sarrs were/are growing just fine.

 

[BigBella]

I generally go with a low water table, allow that to evaporate, and water every couple of days. Treat it as you would a Cephalotus. Mine are just sending up its first pitchers and flowers of 2010 . . .

 

[Alexis]

They're no different from any other sarracenia.

Weird.

 

[BigBella]

They're no different from any other sarracenia.

Weird.

S. minor generally does not take well to being water-logged on a regular basis; in that sense, it is a bit more particular than most other Sarracenia. Mine thrive on their own but not in the deep trays with the other species . . .

 

[F R e N c H 3 z]

S. minor has been a weird one for me as well. It's the temperamental one of the group for some reason. I've lost a few, and some nice ones actually. As Bella stated I've noticed that they don't like being waterlogged, but when I transplanted mine to a airier mix, it kicked the bucket within a month. I think a large developed division helps ease the shock of transplant for them.
A nursery in Oregon finds them to be odd as well. When I conversed with them over minor, they found that S. minor roots were never white like other Sarrs, usually signs of nutrients in the soil they mentioned. I have had white roots on my S. minors but that didn't stop them for going the way of the dodo...
I'll eventually give minors a try again.

 

[gr8oz]

There was a time in the mid to late-1980s when you could see Sarracenia minor growing along the roadsides in North Florida, between Gainesville and Jacksonville. Unlike lots of other sarracenia, which grew along the roadsides in wet, swampy conditions, these minors grew on the elevated embankments, in higher, drier conditions. Closer to the Okeefenokee, they would grow in wetter environments. I think most of the minors in cultivation today are of the former type, preferring the drier growing medium. I have some typical minors in my collection, however--not the Okee giants--that seem to prefer wetter soil. I suspect that when obtaining minor, if you don't know specific location data, you have to do some experimentation to see which condition they prefer.

 

[billylh]

when i purchased mine, it was 2 growth points 3 years ago and didnt do too well that first year i had it, last year though, it grew like crazy and is now about 12 growth points and it looks like its coming out of dormancy just fine this year, but as with previous years, the first few pitchers are deformed and it seems pretty typical of it...atleast for me. i hope your last one survives, you could try potting it in a smaller pot(like a 5-6 inch pot), thats what i did and it loved it. i see people saying drier, but mine seemed to like it just fine with the other sarrs...just a thought.

~billy

 

[elgecko]

I have noticed that they do not like water logged conditions. Use a good draining mix, mine has lots of perlite, sand, and lave rock with a little peat. Do not keep it in a tray of water constantly. They grow great like this.

What's funny is when I was doing my back-country canoe trip to the Okefenokee and saw all the S. minors growing there, they where growing in water logged conditions.

 

[mannyherrera]

I find minor, in general, to be the most difficult Sarracenia to grow. 'Okeefenokee Giant' has been the easiest for me. Even the southernmost minor that grow nearest to me are difficult. I have one from Clay County, FL that is doing well. I'm not sure what it is. I have discovered, however, that it is best to repot and handle it in winter than any other time. It really dislikes being disturbed in spring and summer, more so than other Sarracenia.

As others have pointed out, I grow it very dry. The soil almost looks parched before I water it again. I have seen it growing in rock-hard dry soil in central Florida.

 

[mabudon]

I keep my Sarrs outside year round, I live near Niagara Falls. I gave up on S.minor due to the (what in my mind is a) fact that they really don't handle the winters we get very well, whereas all of my other types grow just fine.

It could have something to do with waterlogging in spring from what I am reading here- if I ever get another one I will keep it in a pot and put it in the basement overwinter maybe, I really like the look of the species and it's a bummer that they are so finicky for me!

 

[mannyherrera]

They probably will not tolerate extreme winters as much as other Sarracenia. They are the southernmost, after all. It also probably depends where the minor originated. You might have better luck with a NC minor as opposed to a Florida one, for example. Either way, I would definitely protect it from harsh winters.

 

[petmantis]

Huh. Weird, my S. minor was in a tray full of water (with all of my Sarrs, VFTs, temperate Drosera) last year. Because of the usual cool springs we have in Canada, I didn't get a single pitcher out until July and August. Then it took off, throwing out leaves just as fast as my other Sarrs. Same water table, of course. Heck, it even flowered

I expect the same this year, but probably no flower. With the warmer spring we've had, I can see some new pitchers popping up

 

[thez_yo]

My minors are in a minibog with a bunch of purps and flava, and some Judith Hindle. They all get flooded to where the rhizome is sitting in water every couple of days. They grew just fine in trays for 5ish months since last summer until I replanted to the minibog, and are throwing out flowers this year (got 'em from Home Depot last summer). They don't seem pickier than any other Sarrs imho, but maybe they're just setting me up for failure because I've only had them for 9mo so far?

 

[Jag]

Can the location or mother plant matter? Reason is because I bought 2 minor 2 yrs ago, both growing in the same conditionds. They were next to each other in the same tray and media however, one died and the other one is thriving. Pretty weird I think. I check for worms or any pest or disease and nothing.
The one I still have is growing the same way my other sarracenia's and it seems that everything is OK so far.

 

[gr8oz]

Even the southernmost minor that grow nearest to me are difficult.

@Manny: Didn't you, Bruce, and Clyde get mistaken for bank robbers or murderers while you were scouting these in the wild? I remember something to that effect in the CPN.

Oz

 

[mannyherrera]

Hahaha. Yes, we were at the southernmost minor site known at the time, near the town of Okeechobee, FL. There is a large state prison near the site and several inmates had recently escaped when we were up there. The police did stop us, but the encounter didn't last too long.

The minor at that site were huge. We called them 'Okeechobee Giant'. They were difficult to grow though. Bruce and Clyde made them available for a while. I wonder if any are still in cultivation. I hope so as the site is unfortunately no longer in existence. Well it is, but there are now only melons growing there.

 

[nightsky]

Interesting to see it gives so much trouble. I managed to kill one, and its replacement has limped along for two years now. I'll have to try keeping it drier. They really are a beautiful species and I'd really like to get a big clump of them one day.

 

[Trent]

Like Manny stated: Grow 'em dry.
A biologist friend of ours found a stand of minor in Ft. Pierce, FL, east of I-95, which would be the warmest climate for Sarracenia known to us. This places them close to the warming effects of the gulf stream, unlike the Okeechobee sites inland. The entire stand was recently destroyed by fire fighting chemicals when fires moved thru the area in spring a couple of years ago. The site was very close to an industrial park. We suspect there may be more minors in the area, and would not be surprised if someday they are found in Martin County.
They are problematic in cultivation though...

 

[cpman]

Never had a problem with growing Minor wet. I use the dried sphagnum moss found in Lowes and they do fine. I have a speciman of the Okeechobee Minor I got from Bruce Bednar several years back and its doing well. Just got done flowering. I keep it in a large plastic bin which retains water.