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American Pitcher Plant Questions

Hi all! New CP gardener here. Since i am new to this i am hoping you guys can help me out with some questions i have. First my setup, it is a 6X4 outdoor drained bog garden(with liner). I have 12 American pitcher plants that i started from bare root in April. They seem to be doing well for the most part with a couple of hiccups. I am using a mix of rain water and tap water (hardness of 75ppm or less) since we are going through a drought here. My questions are as follows:
1) I have noticed that some of the pitcher plants "hoods" are not there, as in they didnt develop or they look like they were burnt(The bog garden is constantly wet so it isnt lack of water) any reasons what this is occurring?
2) My lawn service, Scotts, put out slow release fertilizer and managed to get some in my bog garden. Will this cause problems in the long run?

Thanks for all the help in advance as i am sure that i will be asking more in the future,LOL.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]1) I have noticed that some of the pitcher plants "hoods" are not there, as in they didnt develop or they look like they were burnt(The bog garden is constantly wet so it isnt lack of water) any reasons what this is occurring?
2) My lawn service, Scotts, put out slow release fertilizer and managed to get some in my bog garden. Will this cause problems in the long run?
The burnt hoods is probably from the sunlight. Perhaps a little shade would do them some good.

What kind of fertilizer is it? You might want to wash out the soil or even replant if too much got in there.
Oh and I would be upset with scotts if they kill your plants
 
Hey, welcome to the forums! Is your liner drained at all? From what I read, people poke holes to provide some drainage. I think you've pretty well surmised the potential causes - burnout from too much too fast and possible poisoning from fertilizer. Tap water is better than no water in an emergency. Do you have plastic trash barrels staged to collect rainwater. That will be your biggest ally, down the road.
 
Hey Poker,

To start, do you know which species you have? There are 8-12 species in the U.S. (depending on who you ask and how firmly you believe the cladistics) and each is going to behave a little differently in terms of conditions.

FWIW I use only tap water but Atlanta tap is pretty clean.

The "burning" could be a lot of things but sun is not likely to be one of them. The plants LOVE sun, the more the better. However, if the bog is against a house/garage/shed or something then the radiant heat reflection from that might have some impact.

Moisture could be an issue even if the bog is "wet." You mentioned that the bog is drained, what level are the drain holes at? If they are too deep then the moisture level might be enough to make the media look wet but stillnot enough for the plants to really thrive.

Pests are another candidate, Not many cause crisping of the pitchers but thrips/caterpillars could be nibbling the edges which would then crispout from fluid loss. Depending on where you are Exyra might bea culprit too though usually the make the pitcher flop from about halfway point.

As for the fertilizer, I would not think it is much of a porblem. If it is just a few stray prills then their contribution/contamination will not upset the balance much. No difference really than using a dilute liquid fertilizer.
 
So to answer a couple of questions:

The scotts fertilizer was sparse and was three days ago and it has rained hard for 2 days(Which makes 8 days of rain this year in my area, LOL).

The burning of the pitcher hoods occurred long before this and is only affecting the sweet pitchers, (the green pitchers are look great) of which i have several all are zone 7.

Yes the bog is drained about 5-6 down from the top. I have poked holes in the bog and it is very wet as i use soaker hoses throughout the bog.
 
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