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S.Purpurea Questions

First, if I was given a division, does the growth restart small or continue from where it leftoff? Second, what am I doing wrong if the plant is slowly killing off pitchers every 3 weeks or so?
 
It might just be goin dormant
 
Yes, but the temps have been in the 90's for almost a month, now its in the 80's
 
Dormancy is also based on photoperiod
 
Normal dont worry, purpurea is so easy you have to try to kill it for it to decline in health.
 
Sort of off-topic, but does dormancy depend on where the plant was originally from? My S. purpurea doesn't go dormant, and has some still living pitchers on it that will be three years old next year. Could this be because this particular strain was collected from an area that doesn't have harsh winters and it didn't need to go dormant? Or perhaps the opposite - maybe it was from an area up north that had very harsh winters with short days, so it doesn't recognize California weather as being winter? About half of old pitchers died off during the last wet season, but it was primarily during the spring following the winter.
 
So it's my understanding that a division of a mature plant will begin producing mature pitchers once it gets established; it won't revert back to a juvenile state. There may be an adjustment period where the growth appears stunted... or at least that's my experience with propagating Drosera, Pinguicula, and Nepenthes from cuttings or divisions.

As far as dormancy - I thought all Sarrs had dormancy requirements of varying degrees and would go dormant given the proper cues. Whether it's necessary to observe that dormancy is probably up for debate: I've had my S. purp for over a year now and am about to force it to skip its second dormancy since I got it. No obvious signs of decline; on the contrary, this plant is absolutely bomb-proof and continues to grow vigorously despite my many blunders.

If the plant is slowly losing pitchers... that might just be natural turnover. My S. purp pitchers started going brown from the tip down a few weeks ago, but those pitchers have been replaced with new growth. It could also be the start of dormancy. My temperatures don't change drastically month-to-month (highs of mid-upper 90s during the summer and around 80 in the winter). But in my experience my own plants follow the cues of photoperiod more closely than temperature; gemmae production and slowdowns in growth only seem to come about after i've reduced my photoperiod for the season.
 
with purpurea purpurea it is often hard to see that it is dormant in mild climates. especially because it does not loose its pitchers. The best indicator of dormancy is that it has stopped making new pitchers and has made a leaf scale cover over the growing point(s) . For me without a frost most years and never any snow or a hard freeze all of my Sarracenia all go dormant, just the pitchers do not die back all together. This does present some problems with having them flower the next season nicely at the appropriate times......
 
  • #10
@kula, interesting point about the flower - My S. purp is working on another flower... it's October! I started reducing my photoperiod like three weeks ago! It's obviously confused, but very happy!
 
  • #11
Do you find that they flower too early because of the mild climate? My S. purpurea put up two flowers in late winter when it started getting warm, and then it didn't make any new pitchers till July (but it still had the pitchers from the year before to photosynthesize and catch prey).
 
  • #12
I still have things blooming right now. but for me that isn't too odd. As a whole purpurea purpurea might not even loose its pitchers in the winter normally. So i tend not to do anything to them, but the other species I am considering doing a massive hard pruning.
 
  • #13
Interesting. I grabbed a relatively mature purp at Lowes "death cube" this past summer and was going to try and get it going a bit before forcing it into dormancy. I was wondering how I could best transition it from grow rack/light conditions to dormancy but maybe now I don't have to worry...:scratch:
 
  • #14
Interesting. I grabbed a relatively mature purp at Lowes "death cube" this past summer and was going to try and get it going a bit before forcing it into dormancy. I was wondering how I could best transition it from grow rack/light conditions to dormancy but maybe now I don't have to worry...:scratch:

move um outside in the summer. Best way to sync up. Right now might be way too late. Spring might be too cool and days too short will force them dormant and wont be ready to grow when it should be growing
 
  • #15
@jpappy, I wouldn't bother. Regardless of the particularly hardy nature of the Lowes S. purps, I believe plants from TC don't really need dormancy for the first few years out of the flask (TC experts please flame me as necessary if I'm off base...)

But, I did transition some other plants from my grow rack to a dormant state last year. I took them out of the rack and put them in a sunny south-facing window last August, and left the window cracked to expose the pots & root systems to cold air. Temperatures were a bit too high but the plants did briefly enter a light dormancy... my Sarrs stopped producing carnivorous leaves and began sending up phyllodia and my D. filiformis formed a hibernaculum, although in both cases it seemed like a half-baked effort, again likely due to the temps. I can't tell you how successful this method was in the end, however, because I did not think to cat-proof my windowsill, resulting in an epic fail (as well as a gruesome puddle of cat puke with chewed up bits of D. filiformis and S. "Mardi Gras" leaves floating in it)
 
  • #17
LOL sorry waterkirby:oops:
 
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