Sarracenia - carnivorous plant!

Sarracenia - how to grow her? Maybe you are wondering 'is it easy or hard' or 'how to do it', but don't worry! Sarracenias are very popular carnivorous plants, so you can easily get them. What is more, it is easy to grow them. The only thing that you have to remember is that they have to be watered as many times as possible. Soil have to be wet all the time, because these are their natural conditions. Have you got some carnivorous plants?

 

Not at the moment @FlourishAnn , I have killed several venus fly traps over the years with tap water, even though I know it does them no good I cant help myself! Am currently working in the falklands where there is a type of sundew, but havent seen any yet, although its going into winter down here and plants are dieing off.

 

I grow quite a lot of carnivorous plants. Mine live in a peat and moss mix in washing up bowls.
I would be wary of growing them in soil even if permanently wet as their natural environment is low nutrient acid conditions. Also use rain water or distilled water.

 

I’ve just bought a Sarracenia plant from Lidl, as you do....


It is in a tiny pot, and I suspect it might be a little dry. I’m currently standing it outside in the gentle rain that we are having, to get it moist with good water. Then I’ll bring it in and find it a prime site on a windowsill - probably in the kitchen, where it gets good light (basil and Thai basil both thrive there).

I have a few questions... maybe you can help @NigelJ?

Having done some Googling, I am none the wiser!
- potting on. “They” say that you don’t really need to do this. But the plant was sold in a tiny, tiny pot. Probably 3cm max in diameter. There are quite a few pitchers, maybe 10 or so, and my instinct is that it needs a little space. I don’t really have access to specialist compost mixes here. I have sphagnum moss growing in the pond, and also in one area of lawn. Could I use that, mixed with vermiculite, as a planting medium?
- watering. We live in a very hard water area, even though we have acidic soil. Always a little challenging! We do have an underground rainwater collection tank, which is quickly overflows when we have heavy rain. But the water we get out is often slightly greenish, and can have mosquito larvae in. Would this be ok for the plant?
- light levels. Many sites say that it needs at least 6 hours of direct sunlight. Would my kitchen windowsill be adequate? It gets direct sun from about 3pm onwards, but good indirect light before then (no nearby trees)

....basically, am I going to be as (un)successful with this Sarracenia as I have been with Venus flytraps in the past?!

 

@Sian in Belgium
I would repot say into a 6cm pot. I use sphagnum moss and peat. I know other people use chopped moss and sand, I think that vermiculite and sphagnum moss mixed would be fine. Your rainwater would be fine for it, mine get watered out of an open butt which is quite green at the moment. As for light if the basil is growing well then that should be fine.
I find Sarracenia easier to keep growing than Venus fly traps.

 

Thank you @NigelJ - very helpful indeed!

Once the rain eases, I’ll get out there and pull some moss

 

i'm not sure a window sill would suit all year round, I think they need a cooler time in winter.

Never tried growing them as house plants, so just guessing, but they are pretty hardy.

 

When I first had them I kept them indoors for a year or so. It was a studio apartment,so no garden, with a big window and they were fairly happy there.

 

Must admit I have never owned any carnivorous plants although I have had an interest in them. The New Foest is home to loads of sundews, probably due to the boggy marshy areas. Some two years ago I was at Kew doing some research close to a display of insectivorous plants. A group of young folk began asking questions of each other and somehow I got involved. What seemed to be the $24k question being. Why do these plants catch flies and insects.
Briefly as possible I attempted to explain the growing conditions etc. Then metioning that the boggy marshy growing medium was very acidic and lacked nitrogen. The insects are a source of taking in this valuable nutriment.

Nigel tell me please. On account of the growing medium, dose this cause a bit of smell (pong) at times and no doubt there are certain feeds on the market.

 

Back from church, so I’ve plucked some moss from the lawn, and soaked it in rainwater.

When I looked at the medium it was already planted in, it seemed to be all moss, so that’s what I’ve gone with again.



So glad I decided to pot it on, when I saw the 3.5 cm pot it was in!

Tucked into its 6cm pot...


And on the windowsill (with something pink next to it, in case that’s important!)

 

Hi @Sian in Belgium , if you can get it on catchup ( or something ) ,there was an excellent piece about Carnivorous plants on Beechgove this week.

 

I’m not sure if we still have an “undercover ISP”, as they don’t like Jolly Foreigners watching British tv programs.

A subsidiary question to the potting-on... do I need to “prime” the pitchers? Ie place a little rainwater in them? Or does the plant secrete the liquid itself?

 

@Sian in Belgium No need to "prime" the pitchers. The plant will secrete the liquid.

 

Thank you....

I think it looks a good little plant for about £3....

 

Thanks for that info, Nigel. I’m delighted to say that the pitchers are filling slowly with liquid, and a couple of visitors have already been persuaded to - ummm - stay awhile!