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oops?

I took a break from growing CPs for a while but I am back in the game. so this will be my first post of my relapse into CPS.:-))

I ordered a few Sarracenias and they arived today. I went to plant my Extra large S. Flava and noticed it had two large growth points. so the logical thing to do was to to divide them, or so I thought. I began pulling at the two points. they cracked in half but were still connected by a small bit attached to the rhizome. I got no roots on one growth point so I decided to leave it attached. it was barely hanging on to the rhizome with nothing but the crown. my question is did I kill half my plant or will it be ok? sorry if this a noob freakout but I kind of am.
 
Hard to tell without seeing it, but I'm guessing that you'll lose that rootless crown. Sorry. My biggest fear (if it were me) would be losing the rest of the rhizome to rot (if the rhizome tear is as bad as it sounds). I use sulfur powder when I divide Sarracenia to help prevent it. You may want to find some at the local garden center. I would also keep as much medium from around the top of the rhizome as you can, and keep it a bit on the dry side until you see growth resume.

If there is any rhizome at all on the rootless crown, it may root for you (stranger things have happened). I doubt the scrap it is hanging by will do it much good, but they plants are pretty tough. To help, you might want to cut back the pitchers (if any) on the rootless crown to reduce water loss through transpiration.

If you have (or can take) a photo and upload it in a reply, that might help determine the best course of action.

Hope this helps. Welcome back to the addiction ... um ... hobby.
 
I've had this happen far more times than I'd like to count. I just put it in my tub of live Sphagnum moss and forget about it. They've always developed roots when I've done this, even pieces of rhizome without a growth point on it. I suppose it depends on the size of the remaining rhizome.

Here is a piece of rhizome that has no growth point and had no roots when I snapped it off 4-6 weeks ago and put it in some live Sphagnum. As you can see it is developing a root system:

S. oreophila "Sand Mountain #2"
IMGP4376.jpg


Indeed when I got this plant a small growth point without roots about the size of a garbanzo snapped off in shipment. I potted it but it showed no new pitcher growth until the following year.
 
well I pulled it up to get a pic and I realized I didn't look closely enough when it happened. there are some roots attached to the crown. its only torn about half way. so should I still worry about rot?

IMG_0023.jpg
 
The sulfur wouldn't hurt, but it looks like both crowns are going to be just fine. Still a good idea to keep the plant slightly drier than you might otherwise. If nothing else, will help encourage root growth.
 
should I cut the flower stalks off or leave them? the flowers are about 1' tall. no pitchers yet.

thanks for all the help!
 
If the plant is actively growing there is no need to worry about root or rhizome rot. Sulfur is only really effective when it is dry.
 
@Not A Number:

"Sulfur is only really effective when it's dry." When the sulfur is dry? When the rhizome is dry? I use an insecticide/fungicide in the greenhouse over the winter that contains sulfur powder in suspension with imacloprid. It's very wet when applied and very effective (at least in my experience) at keeping my two winter CP plagues at bay: Cottony Scale and Powdery Mildew. And the dry sulfur powder I dust cut rhizomes with certainly gets wet when I water. It could be coincidence, but I've grown Sarracenia for 20 years and started using sulfur about five years ago. I would occasionally lose plants to rot after dividing before. None since.
 
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