What's new
By:
TerraForums - Carnivorous Plant Community

Welcome to TerraForums — a long-running carnivorous plant community established in 2001. Register for free to join the conversation, ask questions, and connect with growers from around the world.

NASC Auction will open in...

Read the rules first :)
NASC auction is OPEN!!

Cutting flower stalks..

Share this page

vft guy in SJ

vft guy in SJ

VFT and Drosera lover
I was wondering how tall you all let your flower stalks grow before you cut them. I have stalks ranging from anywhere between 6" tall and just emerging from the crown. Is there a benefit to clipping them early or letting them grow out a bit?

Thanks
Steve
 
I have a question on top of your question! I was doing some general cleanup fo my minibogs and removed the obvious dead leaves. But there are many leaves that are green / red for part of the leaf and crispy brown for the top portion. Does one only remove the obvious dead part or the whole leaf?

Does one need to snip the stalks, as one might do with VFT's? I'm new to the pitcher plant flower stalk thing, both Neps & Sarrs. I actually have one of each, for the first time, and not really sure what to do with them.
 
Anything that's red/green can photosynthesize. I cut off yellowing leaves that are still greenish. Some people go all-natural.

I just select a portion of the plant to cut and cut EVERYTHING living or dead. Much nicer. You can see an example of that in my rhizome pics dead bog garden thread.

I snip ALL flower stalks. I can't comment on the VFT specifically since I can't keep one alive for more than a year lol. What you REALLY need to do is PM me with your address if you can :)
 
I snip VFT stalks as soon as I can get the scissors to them. Thats part of the reason I ask the question in the first place. I have seen other Sarracenia growers with clipped stalks 6-10" tall on their plants. Mainly I am just looking for a general idea on when people clip the flowers.


Jim, the reason I want to clip the flowers this season is because #1 I let them all flower last year, and #2 because I just repotted and divided them.

When cleaning up a plant I usually clip everything as close to the rhizome as possible and leave like 4 or 5 phylodia, chopped at about 5 inches height. This winter I repotted and divided my entire collection so almost everything got "scalped" as suggested by JLAP above.. look at the pics I posted in this thread.. http://terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106967&page=12

A few plants avoided the scalping but you can get the general idea...
 
Thanks for the pictoral description. Now I have a better idea.

Back to your question.... so are Sarracenia flowers VIFT's? s the idea to maximize energy and new growth?
 
Peter recommends clipping the flowers ASAP on fresh divisions. Most Sarr growers I've talked to say it doesn't matter. One or two say clip them just before they start producing seed.

As for VFT's look at this post of mine.
 
I never have clipped Sarr's flowers even on newly divided plants. Vft's however Iclip as soon as i can get scissors to them. jack
 
Yes Jim, although I have read many times that flowering does not stress Sars like VFTs, I am going on the assumption that clipping them will force the plant to focus on pitchers.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am gonna go ahead and clip them all tonight.

Cheers
Steve
 
It might be a worthwhile experiment if you have two divisions from the same parent rhizome to clip one and not the other and compare pitcher growth.

Since this is my first year of Sarr growing I want to see flowers :)
 
Not a Number said:
It might be a worthwhile experiment if you have two divisions from the same parent rhizome to clip one and not the other and compare pitcher growth.

Since this is my first year of Sarr growing I want to see flowers :)
Click to expand...


Too late. All flowers have been removed..

I counted 78 buds and a handfull still too close to the crown to reach...
 
Dang, who has time to count flower buds.
Only 32 more tubs at Peter's place, to trim and about 200 trays at my place. I may be done jest in time for Christmas.or the 4th of July.
Lois
 
I have found if you cut of the flower stalks they will just put out another one meaning using up more energy.

I just let them do there thing and in the process make some nice hybrids :)
 
I'm not quite sure why you've destroyed a potential display of 78 flowers ???

Removing flowers will not create more pitchers - it doesn't take that much energy to create a flower - it's the formation of seeds that requires most of the energy.

Would a rubra grow more pitchers later in the season if you removed the floppy spring pitchers as they were growing? I doubt it.
 
jimscott said:
But there are many leaves that are green / red for part of the leaf and crispy brown for the top portion. Does one only remove the obvious dead part or the whole leaf?
Click to expand...

I always clip the dying leaves as soon as they are too ugly. I let them, as Clint said, photosynthesize for a while, but once they are mostly brown and crispy, off they come! I don't have a lot of sarrs (very few in fact), so I like the ones I have to be very nice looking, without all the crazy gangly parts.

xvart.
 
We could always BURN THOSE MOTHERS DOWN! We don't need no RO water let the mothers BURN! BURN MOTHERS BURN!


Embrace the pyromaniac within. Buy Bic lighters. Seriously though burning is good and is a great way to clear a lot of dead tissue and weeds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top