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Today I while I was observing and pampering my plants in my terrarium I discovered a stalk with a light green bulb of top of it coming out from the center of my only Sarraccenia, which I instantly realised it to be a flower stalk. ()
I, in my excitement, was trying to stop msyself from curiously poking the poor flower, when it suddenly dawned upon me that I have never had any experience in having one of my carnivorous plants flower before. So, before I start panicking, I would like to ask some questions concerning sarracenia flowering.

Does the Sarracenia species self pollinate, or does my plant have to go through cross pollination to produce healthy seeds, with fertile offspring?

I really want to get my Sarracenia to produce seeds so that I can return the favour to the many people who have helped me in this forum.

So, should I:

1) Pollinate the flower myself using any tools I can find.

2) Take the pollen carefully out of the flower, store it for future use, like to pollinate my future flower stalks, when my future sarracenia, or sarracenia(s) send up flower stalks.

3) Leave the fower alone and let the sarracenias pollinate itself.

Also, how long will my sarracenia take to produce fresh and ripe seeds?

How long do sarracenia seeds take to germinate, and are there any conditions such as stratification that I need to use for sarracenia seed germination?

Will my sarracenia be unhealthy and weak after seed production, like in the case of the venus flytrap?

Also could you direct me to any sites I might find useful, (while I spend the next day or so reading the whole internet's worth on the subject of sarracenia flowering) any books which I can read to gain infomation from (although "the savage garden is very hard to find here in singapore, I could try to order it, however by that time my sarracenia flower will be "beyond blooming" or rotting due to no pollination of the flower. Any other sources like help from anybody in this forum will be greatly apperciated, as I have done in the past.

Now I'll just go and poke at my sarracenia flower once again...
It is sooooo cute!
biggrin.gif


Thanks,
Jason
 
Hi Jason,

Sarracenias can self pollinate, but this is discouraged as it cuts down on genetic variation and disease resistance in seedlings.

Sarracenia pollen normally lasts for several weeks, but since you don't have other plants already showing stalks, it probably won't be viable once you get a chance to use it.

My suggestion: If you know what variety your plant is, you can offer the pollen for trade. Other sarracenia growers may have plants flowering at the same time and they might be able to trade.

If a sarracenia pod has been sucessfully pollinated, it will swell somewhat and after several months turn brown. I usually harvest when the old flower stalk starts to dry. Seeds need to be stratified for 4-6 weeks. If your refrigerator space is limited, sow the seeds on the center of a paper towel, fold it up, and stick it in a baggie in the fridge. What is easier is to sow the seeds in a pot with chopped sphagnum on the surface (to prevent fungal attacks), and store that in a baggie in the refrigerator. Seeds take about 2-4, often more, weeks to sprout.

Enjoy your first sarracenia bloom!
Peter
 
Cool , i've never had a sarracenia flower for me , opnly once and that was alogn time ago and the stalk and plant died before it ever flowered do good luck with it . Right now it looks like my S. oreophila is going to flower so i can't wait , by the way , what is the species of your plant that is going to flwoer ?
 
Goldtrap,

I'm not quite sure of what exact species is my sarracenia, all I know is that the sarracenia is all green in colour (not having or producing any red pitchers) , not very tall, and displays all the features of a sarracenia ("veins", tiny hairs on the underside of the leaf, and thin forming baby pitchers). Is there a "typical" version, or species of sarracenia, because I think my sarracenia could be one of a "typical" form.

Thanks for all the info! (and the encouragement!)
smile.gif


Jason
 
Jason,

What exactly do you mean with "veins"? If the pitchers are all green, what color are the veins? Are the pitchers just a few inches tall, curved and stocky? Is the plant mature? Do you have a picture?

This sort of info would help in indentification.

Thanks,
Peter
 
Hi Peter,
No the pitchers are not stalky, actually kind of flimsy, but yes, they are curved.
The veins are not of any actual colour, just kind of like a darker green string imbeded in the leaf. Hard to explain...I'll see whether I can get a photo. Have to find my digital camera first... How do you tell whether the plant is mature or not?

Thanks,
Jason
 
there are nine (9) species of species of sarracenia. there is no 'typical' form, like the flytrap. most species have several sub species too

Sarracenia rubra
Sarracenia alata
Sarracenia flava
Sarracenia Leucophylla
Sarracenia oreophylla
Sarracenia purpurea
Sarraceina minor
Sarracenia psittacina

And there are thousands of variations, subspecies and crosses
smile.gif

I have a detailed post on how to self pollinate flowers, let me see if i can find it
smile.gif
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Spectabilis73 @ Feb. 13 2004,09:35)]there are nine (9) species of species of sarracenia. there is no 'typical' form, like the flytrap. most species have several sub species too

Sarracenia rubra
Sarracenia alata
Sarracenia flava
Sarracenia Leucophylla
Sarracenia oreophylla
Sarracenia purpurea
Sarraceina minor
Sarracenia psittacina

And there are thousands of variations, subspecies and crosses
smile.gif

I have a detailed post on how to self pollinate flowers, let me see if i can find it
smile.gif
Actually John , there are eight (8) species
biggrin.gif
, unless you consider Sarracenia rosea a new species but even that being said horticulturist still want to separate these plants to even more spcies , for exaple : s. alabamensis .
 
  • #10
Well I would say your plant is mature as its flowering.
 
  • #11
My mom's S. purpurea is flowering too! well starting to, the bud is forming
 
  • #12
Wow! Congrats to all of you with flowers coming... assuming your plants are of the sweet scented virieties that is ;) lol.
 
  • #13
Yah , some sarracenia flowers smell like cat piss
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and I'm not kidding !
 
  • #14
Hmm,,,my sarracenia's flower bud is starting to open. Is the flower (bud)supposed go red after some time, or is the "red pigment because it was too close to the light? How much light does a sarracenia have to receive to stay healthy , in and out of the flowering period? (assuming it was healthy in the first place
wink.gif
)

Can anyone reccomend a reliable website which deals with sarracenia questions like humidity and water at all times, even when flowering?

Thanks,
Jason
 
  • #15
By the way my sarracenia flower's petals are red in colour. Does this help with the sarracenia species identification?

Thanks,
Jason
 
  • #16
If the whole flower is deep red, then you probably have a S. leucophylla (white topped pitcher plant) or a hybrid with leucophylla as a parent. S. purpurea also produces red flowers, so you might have a hybrid with purpurea as a parent. S. rubra and psittacina sometimes produce partly reddish flowers.

During the summer sarracenias should be well drained but constantly moist.

Peter
 
  • #17
S. purpurea ssp. purpurea = maroon
S. purpurea ssp. venosa = red
S. purpurea ssp. venosa var. burkii = pink with white style
S. leucophylla = red
S. flava = yellow
S. alata = usually creamy yellow. Some white flowered varieties about.
S. rubra = red
S. psittacina = maroon or red. Some orange varieties about.
Any heterophylla plant = pale greeny cream.
S. oreophila = yellow

Hybrids are intermediate and pink, orange or streaked petals are possible. In my experience, red is the dominant colour in hybrids.

Hope this helps!
 
  • #18
Thanks all you Cpers,
My flower opened today. Hmmm...the flower petals turned from dark red to sort of orange down the middle of each petal and golden-yellow at the side-looks sort of like a pitcher plant cover that I saw...hard to describe.
Anyone know what species my sarracenia might be? Is it normal or usual for sarracenia flower petals to change colour-while opening?
Now I really HAVE to find that camera!

Thanks,
Jason
 
  • #19
Ok, I know that I took a "little" long to find my camera, but I've been busy these last few weeks. I also had to learn how to post the pictures here, see this page

http://www.petflytrap.com/cgi-bin....t=10510

After going through all this (I'm not trying to make this sound like a tragedy), I have the pics

Let me see...uhmmm...

DSCN2013.sized.jpg

Side view of flower

DSCN2012.sized.jpg

Front view of flower

DSCN2014.sized.jpg

Plant itself-what species?

DSCN2015.sized.jpg

Just for fun-flowering sarracenia and scenery (I live in Singapore)

Could anyone tell me what species is my sarracenia, where to pollinate the sarracenia flower (where is the stigma), and how to pollinate the flower to ensure I get seed...I currently have some sarracenia pollen collected from the same flower sitting patiently in the fridge...waiting to be put onto a stigma...:p

Thankz,
Jason

(Ps. Is storage in the fridge the right way to keep (store) sarracenia flower pollen?)
 
  • #20
Your plant looks like S.x catesbaei, which is a cross between flava and purpurea, hence the flower petals were a mix between yellow and red.

To pollinate, put some pollen on the five little bumps which are inside the umbrella, where there is a V-shape cuts are.
 
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