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For those that have just began growing sarracenia you might wanna take a look at this, and for the professionals that grow thi plant please give me comments and anything that is wrong with it:

INTRO: The North American pitcher plant (Sarracenia) is the 2nd most well known cp in the world. I would call this the most beauticul cp on earth because the flowers smell sweet and are beautiful and the pitchers are used in flower arrangements. It's sad to see that one of the most easiest cp's to take care of die due to poor nurseries with UNknowledgeble staff. Same thing with Venus flytraps, what a shame - doesn't it make you wanna run to a nursery and tell them how to care for the plants they receive. Not only that but the are being threatened in the wild and decreasing at a fast rate - already 3 species are endangered. But thanks to tissue culture, this plant is doing a bit better. Anyway, the plant sarracenia was named after the canadian physician Dr. M.S. Sarrazin. This plant is in the sarraceniaceae family.

DISTRIBUTION: this plant has the widest range then any other cp in North America. Its extent is from Florida all the way up to Canada

TRAPPING: this plant catches its prey by luring insects with its nectar, coloration, and many other things. The insect goes to the nectar and begin drinking it and it will keep moving around to find the most abundant spot with nectar which will in turn lead it down into the tube. Downward pointing hairs will make the bug make it loose its foothold and makes it go down the tube further. If it walks back, it will feel a needle like pain thats hurts alot if you were that bug, so it must walk with the hairs then against it. After the insect passes that zone it will come to a surface that is waxy and will offer no foothold making the bug fall into the tube, which is full of digestive enzymes. Then it is digested. Some species catch their prey by confusing them with windows, some catch their prey without using enzymes but rather bacteria, and some catch their prey underwater. Some people think that the hood on top of the plant is used to prevent the bugs from entering, but this is far from the truth. They use this lid to avoid rainwater from being collected.

SIZE : some pitcher plants can reach 4 feet in height and some can only reach 10 inches. Some can be prostrate plants that lie along the ground (these pitcher plants are the shortest of all) and some are upright plants that grow vertically (these pitcher plants are the tallest of them all).

SOIL : I like a mixture of 3 parts peat moss and 1 part perlite or sand, or a 50/50 of peat moss and sand or perlite. Sarracenia can live in very wet conditions and some prefer water logged conditions.

CONTAINERS : 3-5 inch pots for young plants, 1/2 gallon - 1 gallon pots for older plants. ALWAYS use the water tray method. Sarracenia make big rhizomes, so they need room for their roots unless you divide them.

WATER : ALWAYS use distilled water, always keep moist, they like lots of water

LIGHT : They LOVE full sun to a little sun, it brings out their color, especially if you have hybrids. Be careful as they may like lots of sun but if it's too hot the top of their pticher might get burned.

CLIMATE : warm temperate but a couple like cold temperate conditions

GROWING PLACES : outdoors, bog gardens, greenhouses. They can stay on windowsills as long as they have enough light and room. They are poor candidates for the terrarium but a few can stay in there for a while as long as they have lots of light.

FEEDING : they can be fed crickets , pill bugs , anything else is ok as long as its not a pest

FERTILIZERS : BE CAREFUL IF FERTILIZING, but if so then use 1/4 strength foliarly. Miricid, Superthrive, orchid and epiphytic fertilizers can used. Once a month is good enough. They don't need fertilizer however and it is easier and safer to let them be.

HUMIDITY : considering they live in the south they don't need much. 30% or more is good but it doesn't need much for good healthy. Remember to keep the soil moist at all times .

TEMPERATURES : 70-100 degrees F, keep cooler in winter, they can survive short periods of higher temperatures. Some prefer to have much colder temperatures .

TRANSPLANTING : potted plants can be divided every 3-5 years to prevent clumping. Do when they're in dormancy.

FLOWERING : sarracenia flowers are very beautiful and can be used as cut flowers but if you want seeds then pollinate them.

DORMANCY : Dormancy can be done by taking the plant out of the pot, then take the dead parts off, spray with fungicide, wrap roots with peat moss or wet paper towel, put in plastic bag, put in refridgerator and you're done. Some need very long dormancies. Put them in dormancy on Thanksgiving Day and take them out on Valentine's Day.

PROPAGATION : You can pollinate the flowers to get seed, or you can divide the clumps of plants. You can also make cuttings of the plants (remember that when you make cuttings that you should also include the white base), or you can do tissue culture .

TIPS : sarracenia is a very easy plant to grow but why do some many plants dies in nursery just like Venus flytraps? It's because of that nurseries take poor care of them and that some nurseries lack knowledge. You can find these plants anywhere: nurseries, grocery stores, hardware shops and many more places. If you find them in florist shops it will either be the plants that are available , there pitchers of there flowers , most of these are used in flower arrangements and were poached for , now some of you may be saying " So what they just cut off the flowers and pitchers , they'll grow back " . Sometimes this is not true , if the poacher cut all the leaves off then the plant would have no way to get sunlight for photosynthesis and then the plant would die , same thing with the fowers , this plant is very threatened already , if you cut off the flowers then they would make no seeds and the next generation would be gone .Again some ppl think that these plants come from hot steaming jungles but not true , they come from only the USA , some live in southern parts and some live all the way north in Canada where the cold temperate species grow .If you ever see these plants in the wild then please take picutres rather then take them , they are being threatened everyday and alreayd 3 species are alreay endangered .If your plant looks dead in winter it just wants to go to sleep so put it in dormancy .

SPECIES : alata , flava , leucophylla , oreophilla , minor , rubra , psittacina , and purpurea . There are many hybrids available and they are very colorfull .

WEBSITES :
www.petflytrap.com
 
Lots of good advice there, but please don't take offence when I say your spelling and punctuation is *abysmal*
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I've corrected it up to the tips section but I've run out of time and have to go now.
Punctuation should be typed with a space afterwards, not one either side. Remember their, there and they're and also its and it's.
 
goldtrap, it is usually better to grow sarracenia in rather small pots for their size, if you have a big pot, it will focus on producing more roots and larger riozhomes, rather than focus on producing large, colorful pitchers. and you can't feed them every kind of bug, as there are many parasites, like aphids, scale, some species of moth, some species of mosquitos, etc.
 
Spectabilis73,

What is your source for the info. regarding pot size vs. pitcher size? Wouldn't larger rhizomes with more roots equal larger pitchers and a healthier plant? The coloration of the pitchers depends on the intensity of the light, and the photoperiod...
 
the source of info? I think it was said earlyer last year in a post. it might have been in a book though, I just remember it being said or read... maybe in "carnivorous plants" by toni camilery(sp?)? i don't have good memry from where it was said, but I'm sure it's true
 
Spectabilis73,

I'm not an expert in growing sarracenia, but I agree with CP2k. Basic gardening lodgic would dictate that a larger pot would be better for ANY plant, compare to a smaller pot. (smaller pots just makes it easier for us humans to take care of small plants)

Remember, in the wild...sarracenia plants do well in open fields
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...sorry for misspelling logic. maybe Phil will someday add a spellcheck to this forum to help people like me who slept thru too many English classes
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Why is this not stickied?
 
Why is this not stickied?

LOL! The basic premise was put forth and then they proceeded to criticize one another about spelling, punctuation, and source of wisdom.
 
  • #10
I see that! Maybe with a few edits this could make a very nice sticky!
 
  • #11
It was basically fine until the hobbyists chimed in! We all have opinions, don't we!
 
  • #12
Looks that way!
 
  • #13
One of the beautiful things about the discussion forums is that we get to share our knowledge and experiences with others, toward the common goal of successful cultivation..... and one of the frustrating things about the discussion forums is that if you ask one question, and get 5 replies, 4 will be variations of one another and one will be seemingly off the wall - yet successful. Scary for newbies!
 
  • #15
sorry jimscott I'm going to throw in my 2 cents real quick also...

grow sarrs on a windowsill?....

alittle doubtful in real practice.
unless of course you have an absolutely super intense window with full lighting as the day goes by... and even then it'd be pretty crazy for you to get really strong growth...

I'll pick my battles I know nothing of punctuation :)
 
  • #16
Just my 2 cents

-I don't believe they need to be fed...ever. Mine catch plenty of bugs on their own. Every fall when I put them into dormancy their tubes are full of insects.
-Recommending they be fertilized is like recommending the rhythm method of birth control. Good luck.
-Bigger pots means greater water reservoir, hence less chance of drying out (say you are on vacation and your area experiences a dry period.)
-Guard against minerals like the poison they are. Last year was my only year for a die-off and after EXTENSIVE consideration and some lab analysis, I realized the cause--the city was cutting through all of the concrete driveways on the opposite side of the road releasing clouds and clouds of calcium-rich dust over the kids. They did NOT like it!
-Humidity is not important to their growth/flowering/color. OK, maybe zero percent or something might be bad, but they grow fine in 10% humidity desert southwest as well as >60% of the upper midwest.
-DON'T buy them late in the summer. I've charted their growth over the last couple of decades and plants purchased and replanted from late-July or later do OK that year but have a statistically significant chance of mortality the NEXT year. Don't know why for certain.
-No substrate is better than long-fiber sphagnum moss, at least the top 4-5" of substrate. Nothing...nada. I've compared a variety of combinations (and posted last year's results on the CPforum) and although expensive, I think the kids love LFSM the best.
-Let the individual type of Sarracenia dictate dormancy. They all get refrigerated ~Thanksgiving, and from mid-to-late spring they will start to sprout new growth in the fridge; as each one starts to grow I plant it. This seems like the most physiological method to my thinking.
-When starting from seed, DON'T GIVE UP FOR AT LEAST A YEAR!!!! Fifty seeds from the same pod will germinate over a wide time frame, in my experience up to a year later.

Like I said, just my two cents.
 
  • #17
IMO, this thread doesnt need to be stickied..

its an ok care sheet, but there is also a lot of incorrect and confusing info in there..

just let it fade..

Scot
 
  • #18
sorry jimscott I'm going to throw in my 2 cents real quick also...

grow sarrs on a windowsill?....

alittle doubtful in real practice.
unless of course you have an absolutely super intense window with full lighting as the day goes by... and even then it'd be pretty crazy for you to get really strong growth...

I'll pick my battles I know nothing of punctuation :)

He lives in Southern California. I live near Scottychaos, in Western NY. Ours go outside.
 
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