Hello kind people-
I keep losing my sarracenias! I've successfully grown pitcher plants on my deck in Alabama for several years. I keep them outside in full sun most of the year, and let them get rained on, and only water them with rainwater. (From the bottom). Last year, several of my plants were afflicted by what we determined to be red banded thrips: a man from the Alabama agricultural department even visited my plants, because it was so unusual to see those kinds of insects in this area. I repotted and treated the plants with Hi-Yield systemic insect granules (imidacloprid), and only one survived. (The one in the large pot in the photo). I purchased a few more plants, and those have become afflicted and died this summer, though I've seen no evidence of the thrips, and have been treating them with the imidacloprid. The two in the photo are the only ones left, and they're obviously not healthy. They all did fine after they came out of hibernation in the spring, several even bloomed, but they've been going downhill for the past month. I did try repotting the big one; I was concerned the perlite I got from a local nursery might've had fertilizer in it (even though they claimed it didn't), so I soaked and rinsed it well before mixing it with the peat moss. (50 perlite/50 peat moss) But I have not repotted the plant in the smaller pot: that's as it came from the botanical gardens plant sale. Any suggestions? I'm so distressed and discouraged!
[/url]Sarracenia by Rachel Wright, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]Sarracenia (older) by Rachel Wright, on Flickr[/IMG]
I keep losing my sarracenias! I've successfully grown pitcher plants on my deck in Alabama for several years. I keep them outside in full sun most of the year, and let them get rained on, and only water them with rainwater. (From the bottom). Last year, several of my plants were afflicted by what we determined to be red banded thrips: a man from the Alabama agricultural department even visited my plants, because it was so unusual to see those kinds of insects in this area. I repotted and treated the plants with Hi-Yield systemic insect granules (imidacloprid), and only one survived. (The one in the large pot in the photo). I purchased a few more plants, and those have become afflicted and died this summer, though I've seen no evidence of the thrips, and have been treating them with the imidacloprid. The two in the photo are the only ones left, and they're obviously not healthy. They all did fine after they came out of hibernation in the spring, several even bloomed, but they've been going downhill for the past month. I did try repotting the big one; I was concerned the perlite I got from a local nursery might've had fertilizer in it (even though they claimed it didn't), so I soaked and rinsed it well before mixing it with the peat moss. (50 perlite/50 peat moss) But I have not repotted the plant in the smaller pot: that's as it came from the botanical gardens plant sale. Any suggestions? I'm so distressed and discouraged!