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Repotting sarracenia

M

Mike D

Since it's about repotting time, I wanted to get the opinions of the other growers on transplanting.  Specifically....

When moving Sarracenia to larger pots, should you typically avoid disturbance by just transplanting the entire plant/soil clump and then filling in the gaps with new soil?  Or should the old media be washed away and completely replaced?

... or does it depend?  I've always done the former to prevent shock, but I seem to remember reading about benefits from "refreshing" all of the soil.  I don't recall if I was even reading about Sarracenia; but in any case, can soil ever go "stale," and if so, how does one tell?

And CAN Sarrs be set back by transplanting at all?  Maybe I'm coddling them...

Thoughts/experiences?
 
I'm sure you'll get several different "methods" but generally I remove the plant by tipping the pot. At this point most of the old mix falls away. I then just work away most of the remaining soil with my hand. A bit remains but for the most part I think this is sufficient. You could wash away the soil or soak them first to get rid of all old soil.

I try and rotate my plants into fresh mix every 2 - 3 years. Plus it's always nice when they "graduate" to a bigger pot
smile.gif


Good luck.
 
Mike, it has been my experience that Sarracenia are pretty resillient. I have had plants mailed to me with the pitchers chopped off to within an inch or 2 of the rhizome, completely uprooted and wrapped in a paper towel and shipped across country at the hottest part of summer..  potted them up and every single one survived and grew very well....  provided you have decent conditions where you live, Sarracenia are almost bomb-proof.  I wouldnt worry about coddling them.

Steve
 
If you're just bumping up to a larger pot then I would use the existing soil block and put new peat around the edges and bottom in the new pot. It just makes life easier.
If you want to split then it's up to you if you want to repot in the same soil or not. If it's quite old and hard though then it might be worth replacing it with fresh stuff.
 
Hi Mike -

Since you are repotting, one thing I have noticed with my many many sarrs is that the ones planted in LFS or a LFS-Perlite mix grow much faster and larger than their counterparts in the peat-sand mix. If I want to remove old soil, I set the unpotted plant in a big bowl of water with a few drops of Superthrive added and gently wash the old away, then let it sit maybe a 1/2 hour or so in the bowl. I mainly do this if I am going to ship the plant.

Last spring I repotted a S. purp that had been in a 5 inch pot too long. I put it in a 1.5 gallon sized, deep pot and BAM!, it sent up 3 flowers and the plant about doubled in size by the end of summer.

Good luck with it.

Bill
 
Thanks for the info!  Sounds like I can go either way without much risk.

Bill, that's an interesting suggestion - I wasn't aware that either peat-based or LFS-based Sarracenia mixes had any advantages over the other.  Perhaps LFS allows for an airier mix, and thus healthier roots...?  Have the advantages shown up in all species, or just the purpureas?

I'd be willing to try it out; my only concern is the weight. I live in windy San Francisco and the tall plants are in danger of blowing over if they're in light pots.  Ever had a problem with this?
 
Mike D., Wind is a common thing in growing sarrs. Mine are always getting whipped around. Just like in the field. I enjoy watching them sway or whip in the wind, depending on intensity. Hotter here too than San Fran, another plus for sarrs. How are yours growing, and in what part of the city do you live? I am in Martinez, east bay.
 
I'm right in downtown San Francisco, and all my plants seem to be growing fine.  They're mostly Sarrs and a few Drosera, and although there is hardly any temperature variation seasonally, none of them have any problem telling when to go dormant.  Apparently all they need is the decreased photoperiod.

The wind IS annoying, though; I've had to tie down several pots because the plants were so top-heavy.  Interestingly, however, the only times when I've had problems with the pitchers themselves collapsing is with newly purchased greenhouse plants.  Once exposed to strong wind, the current set will often blown over, but subsequent pitchers grow more robust (though perhaps shorter) and are able to withstand the wind.  Peter D'Amato said that his Sarrs did the exact same thing when he was growing some near a large ventilation fan.  I'm fairly impressed that they're able to respond to different conditions so quickly.
 
Mike -

The LFS was true with all of mine, especially the S. leucos. I had planted a bunch of S leucos, flavas, and purps from seed a few years ago and decided to try it.

Last year in spring, the NECPS had a great grow contest where participants got flasks of genetically identical material S. alata. I tried four diferent mixes:

A: 50:50 sand/peat
B: LFS (Long Fiber Sphagnum) with Perlite
C: LFS
D: Live LFS

I had 2 deflasked plants in each mix, grown in tall dixie cups that sat outside in the same tray. Not enough for a true scientific study but my observations were that while most remained small - the ones in live LFS were more than double the size of the rest by October. Our members had the conetest plants on display on one table at the annual NECPS Show last year. Of course Jeff's ( the 'cephmaster' ) grew the largest. He said he kept his deflasked plants indoors at first for a month or so before setting outside. Not sure if he grew them in his greenhouse or not.

A new thing I am trying is when I have a multiplanting/mini container bog is to use sand/peat mix for most but leave large pockets of LFS for the sarrs. I'd put a soda bottle or tall cup in place as I pack the sand/peat. Then I remove the bottle and fill the pocket with moist LFS.

In late summer I sometimes have to stake my tall S. leucos, not from the wind, but because they get all floppy from the amount bugs they catch.

Bill
 
  • #10
just take the old soil and repot with new soil surrounding it
Hellz
 
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