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My sarrs look like crap this year

nightsky

Lover of Mountains
And I don't know why. Last year they got a late start, but ended the season looking fantastic. This year they have just struggled the entire time, and I'm not seeing any signs of the better late season pitchers I was hoping for. I haven't changed anything, they are growing in the same spot, media is in good shape, water is clean, so I can't figure out why they struggled. Given the same conditions they thrived in last year, I cannot pinpoint what the fault might be.
 
Maybe insect pests? Mealybugs seem to be the main problem for me...
 
pics?
what do the pitchers look like?
 
blame it on the alphabet volcano...spring came unusually late this year, could have thrown off their biological clocks...
 
Mine look like crap again too. I know exactly why - overcast and 70's all summer long. The leucos managed to put up a few pitchers last week after 2 days in the 85's, but now it's back to chilly (for Sarrs) and overcast :(
 
Mine looked excellent but never flowered. (leucophylla put out bud in july) Maybe theres a connection between our locations? (warmer here ??? )
 
Mine look like crap again too. I know exactly why - overcast and 70's all summer long. The leucos managed to put up a few pitchers last week after 2 days in the 85's, but now it's back to chilly (for Sarrs) and overcast :(

I'm glad I'm not the only one. Mine aren't doing much of anything exciting either.
 
Hmmmm - I wonder if it's a left coast thing. My oreo's & flava's looked great early season. Most looked good mid season & now most of my leuco's are really putting on a nice show. We've had a really wet year with just a few weeks where we got super hot and dry (105*F +). That period sent the oreo's into summer dormancy mode - probably like they get in their natural habitat.

Two hurricane creek:
SleucoHurricaneCreek091011RS.jpg
SleucoHurricaneCreek091011aRS.jpg


... and another clone with a friend munching on one of the 6 gazillion stink bugs trying to enter our house...
Mantisonleuco092611.jpg


There are some nice forms with much more red but I didn't bother to snap any pics ...
 
I noticed that trend as well. Your sarrs look great though, RL. :)
 
  • #10
Yep, very little spring and summer growth for me the last couple years. A couple of my S. minor are only now putting out their second pitcher of the year thanks to the recent warm weather.

Blame it on La Niña.

What is La Niña?
La Niña is defined as cooler than normal sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific ocean that impact global weather patterns. La Niña conditions recur every few years and can persist for as long as two years.

What are the global impacts of La Niña?
Both El Niño and La Niña impact global and U.S. climate patterns. In many locations, especially in the tropics, La Niña (or cold episodes) produces the opposite climate variations from El Niño. For instance, parts of Australia and Indonesia are prone to drought during El Niño, but are typically wetter than normal during La Niña.

What are the U.S. impacts of La Niña?
La Niña often features drier than normal conditions in the Southwest in late summer through the subsequent winter. Drier than normal conditions also typically occur in the Central Plains in the fall and in the Southeast in the winter. In contrast, the Pacific Northwest is more likely to be wetter than normal in the late fall and early winter with the presence of a well-established La Niña. Additionally, on average La Niña winters are warmer than normal in the Southeast and colder than normal in the Northwest.

However if your pitchers are stunted and twisted looking check for thrips, mealybugs (check the roots too), aphids and/or spider mites.
 
  • #11
Just to illustrate here are photos of my not quite a S. leucophylla 'Hurricane Creek White'. I say not quite because all though the mother plant it was divided from supposedly came from John Hummer himself it has never really produced the large wide mouthed pitchers that are characteristic of 'Hurricane Creek White'. In all other respects it would match.

Spring pitchers
IMGP1531copy.jpg


Fall pitchers from just the past 2-3 weeks thanks to a few days of warm weather (above 75°F) we've had recently. The tallest pitcher is about 30 inches measured from the top of the potting medium.
IMGP1534copy.jpg

IMGP1536copy.jpg

IMGP1535copy.jpg

IMGP1526.jpg

IMGP1525.jpg
 
  • #12
I'll have to see if they have pests. My leucos are just lanky and floppy. This time last year they were putting out some great, stout pitchers. In general all my sarrs stayed small, put out fewer pitchers and had less color than last year, almost like they are starving for light. But they are in the same spot as they were last year which has plenty of sun. Maybe it something to do with the weather, but this summer has been nearly identical to last in these parts, ie warm to hot and dry (though I keep them well watered).

There is an exception. My flavas did fantastic this year. Maybe they used all the good fortune early on ???
 
  • #13
Every once in a while mine look very sickly and they just can't seem to get going. For me, it's often from red wigglers and night crawlers that creep in to the pots during the winter dormancy and wreck the soil.

I flush with a solution of dishwashing detergent and they come wriggling out of the pots. This doesn't hurt the plants. Then I repot into a clean fresh mix.

Hope this helps someone.
 
  • #14
Same boat here... Central Texas scorching heat with severe drought conditions. It has been really hard on the plants.
 
  • #15
Interesting, I've been experiencing the opposite - all my CPs have been doing great this year (except my VFTs). Although it could just be because I'm new to carnivorous plants and just got my first ones in the summer of 2010, and I started out with smaller plants that were expected to grow more. For example, when I got my S. minor last year, it had 5-6 pitchers - this year it put out 26 new pitchers (and counting, it hasn't slowed down its growth), flowered, and looks like it's about to split the 4" pot it's in. My S. purpurea made two flowers this spring, and while it got a late start on pitcher growth and didn't put any new ones out till July, it now has more than it did last year when I got it. For all my other Sarracenia (I got a whole bunch this year), and my Darlingtonia, this will be their first winter with me, so I'll have to wait and see how they do next year.

I think one reason why my plants have been doing well is because I have them up on a deck 20-25 feet above the ground. The deck heats up pretty fast as long as its sunny, even in winter, and that combined with the fact that they are in a black tray means that their roots are usually pretty warm like they would be in their native habitat. I think the fact that they are so high up also prevents a lot of pests that would infest ground-level plants (like worms, as Bill mentioned). That said, these past two summers have been unusually cool in California, so that probably contributed to the lack of growth seen by many members here. Strangely, elsewhere on the continent, they seem to have had an unusually warm summer this year...
 
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