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Flowering Saracennia

Long time no post, anyway, after a 4 week trip abroad leaving my poor little hybrid to fend for itself, we returned to find it had survived and shrunk down, it's growth having slowed subtantially (the cold? domancy?).
Anyway, fast forward to this month, my partner mentioned a strange growth on my plant so I checked and sure enough, it's sprouted a flower bud which is steadily growing by the day!

So, what do I have to look forward to? I'm such a newbie when it comes to plant care of any sort, I think i've just been very very lucky that this little plant is so tough. It lives in a windowsill in the bathroom for goodness sake.

I had wanted to repot it into a larger pot but with it flowering I don't think that's a good idea is it? Should I wait till next winter/spring or just till after it's flowered? Will it be ok to flower? ahh so many questions.
As I said, it's some sort of unspecified hybrid with green pitchers that blush a beautiful red as they mature.
 
Congratulations on your first Sarracenia flower! The plant is exiting dormancy and resuming growth. Make sure it is getting the sun it needs and increase watering again. You can repot now, esp. if you are just moving it to a larger pot. In fact, you can do that with minimal root disturbance, just knocking off a little of the older soil, putting it in the bigger pot, and watering it well. This is a lot different than chopping off pieces of rhizome for division, where many roots are lost.

I usually don't let fresh divisions flower (some people do and report no problem). Since you have had the plant since last year, I would just let it do its thing. Sarracenia flowers aer actually quite beautiful and interesting. Enjoy!
 
Yeah, the plant is actually about 3 now, least.. i've had it almost 2 and a half years.
What sort of pot do you reccomend? A plastic one like what it's currently in or what? are there any particular glazes or materials to avoid? I know the plants hate nutrients and some pots leech things into water but i'm not certain which ones.
As for soil, whatever it's in (It was bought from a supermarket of all things hahah) must be keeping it happy but are there any particular mixes you can reccomend? People quote all different variations/quantaties of Pearlite to sphagnum to whatever else. For someone like me to whom gardening is some foreign passtime it's rather intimidating (How i've managed NOT to kill this plant is beyond me, maybe it's just that hardy or i'm doing the right thing by leaving it be).

Anyway, a trip to the gardening store is at hand evidently. Guidence would be wonderful as those people have no idea when it comes to carniverous plants or anything that isn't a simple rose or daisy.
 
i'm envious :poke:, all my sarracenia are stuck out side in 40F (5 C) degree weather
 
i'm envious :poke:, all my sarracenia are stuck out side in 40F (5 C) degree weather


Can you bring any inside? I am waking mine up early this year by keeping most at the big south window. I too have my first sarracenia flower from one of these plants that I woke up early. Some are still outside in the garage though (I'm running out of room inside). It is frustrating living in our region and seeing posts from people in livable regions with beautiful pitchers already.

oh well. Try bringing one or two in and see what happens.
 
I think peat and perlite in equal parts work well. That or whole Sphagnum moss. Two things to not. Peat moss, although it holds water well, is difficult to wet when it is bone dry so let it soak a few days before you put the plant into it. Also, I noticed the big stores are selling peat moss with FERTILIZER added. This seems to be showing up a lot just in the last year or so. Avoid that, of course.
Most plastic or glazed pots should be fine.
 
I think peat and perlite in equal parts work well. That or whole Sphagnum moss. Two things to not. Peat moss, although it holds water well, is difficult to wet when it is bone dry so let it soak a few days before you put the plant into it. Also, I noticed the big stores are selling peat moss with FERTILIZER added. This seems to be showing up a lot just in the last year or so. Avoid that, of course.
Most plastic or glazed pots should be fine.

I don't know why people make it sound like peat moss is difficult to hydrate. Simply put your desired amount of peat moss in a bucket or mixing bowl and pour in the pure water of your choice (rain water, distilled, or reverse osmosis). Take your hand and scrunch up the peat moss in the water and mix it up to let it absorb the water. It's pretty simple. There is absolutely no reason to let it sit for days in the water. That is crazy and pointless. Keep pouring water into your mixing container and mixing it up until it won't absorb anymore. Then add your perlite and mix it up.

It's not hard. Nobody told me how to do it and I figured it out. I mean it really is just mixing "dirt" and water together. :-))
 
Obviously you've never purchased a bale of compressed peat moss, which can be quite hard and dry. The smaller bags often have a wetting agent added (i.e. soap). Soaking for a day or two as well as rinsing well is a very good idea either way.

Can you even get peat moss in the UK now? I thought the EU was banning peat usage.
 
Obviously you've never purchased a bale of compressed peat moss, which can be quite hard and dry. The smaller bags often have a wetting agent added (i.e. soap). Soaking for a day or two as well as rinsing well is a very good idea either way.

Can you even get peat moss in the UK now? I thought the EU was banning peat usage.

Actually I have a 2.2 cubic foot bag of Premier Canadian Peat Moss that I picked up from Lowes. ;)
 
  • #10
Hi

If you want to repot, use either 100% sphagnum moss peat, or a 50:50 mix of moss peat:perlite.

Your flower could end up red, yellow, orange or pink! Looking at your picture, I'd hazard a wil guess at it looking something like one of the orangey pink flowers on here: http://www.pj-plants.co.uk/SarraceniaFlowerGallery.htm
 
  • #11
Yeah, I'm thinking red or orange given the leaves/pitchers turn such a brilliant red as they mature. It's sad, because it's still wintery most of the leaves are still green, ahh well. Soon enough the sun will come out and my poor little plant can blush once more. Might do it some good, poor overcrowded thing.

Does overcrowding pose a problem in the short term? The poor plant is still in the pot it came in which is a rather small plastic number, now the pitchers have gotten so large it's scrunched for space and occassionally we get rather deformed traps, though it's a rare occurance. I can make out what look like several growth points as the plant is getting massive. Should I make repotting a priority or will it be alright all scrunched up for a little while?

I'll be keeping an eye out for pearlite and peat and all those things. Anyone reccomend any particular british gardening stores? Also, what sort of water tray? Shall I get a pot within a pot or some similar arrangement or is there some better arrangement? currently it's sat in a bowl, yes a bowl. Not exactly the most tidy of states but it works. A larger pot however will require either a larger bowl or simply another larger shallower pot or tray to put the whole thing into. So glazed pottery is ok? I'm paranoid about killing this poor thing after it's not only lived but thrived under my amature and clueless hand oops.
 
  • #12
Hi purple monkfi, you should go ahead, and repot it into a larger container. As late winter, and early spring are the best times to repot. Glazed pottery well work great. Just remember that the larger the pot the better. Saracennia love to have lots of room to spread there roots into. :) A good mix of 50/50 peat, and perlite will work great. Just make sure it is free of any fertilizers. When mixing the peat/perlite, I find it much easer to mix when both ingredients are still dry. Then after it is mixed well you can add distilled water, and continue mixing until it is saturated. For me it seems to soak up the water better by doing it this way. After removing the plant from it's old container, I like to dunk the root ball in a bucket of water, and wash away as much of the old soil as possible before repotting.
Good luck.
 
  • #13
Yeah, I'm thinking red or orange given the leaves/pitchers turn such a brilliant red as they mature.

Flower colour is related to the species - for example all red flavas and all green ones both have bright yellow flowers.

Your plant is a hybrid, with purpurea (red flowers), minor (yellow) and maybe some rubra (red) in there too. So orangey red flowers are likely.
 
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