Cutting Sarr Pitchers

[jrod]

For those of you who cut Sarracenia pitchers during dormancy, when do you usually cut the pitchers back? During the late fall, winter, or early spring?

 

[Jefforever]

I heard it's good to cut them right when the flower buds start to emerge. You want to get rid of them sometime late in dormancy.

 

[jrod]

Hey thanks for the answer. Wonder if everyone's doing the same thing. I've only ever seen plants with pitchers already cut. Never really heard when everyone does the cutting.

 

[Steven Magee]

I do it in the early spring before they start flowering, that way you don't accidently cut the flowers off..... Around here thats roughly in the middle of march

 

[Alexis]

By cutting off pitchers, do you mean brown or green tissue?

Brown, dead stuff should be trimmed off as it appears all year round.

If you're cutting off green stuff, you are removing material the plant wants to photosynthesise with. However, sarracenia benefit from burns, so a plant won't suffer if it's trimmed back completely every couple of years. If you trim it back every spring though, a weaker plant may grumble and never be able to perform at its best.

It's a balancing act. I trimmed all mine back this spring, but will be leaving everything green on next spring.