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Lost Cause?

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Long story short, the bigger one is a "S. x Judith Hindle" and the smaller one is a S. Leucophylla.

Both were left out on the porch all winter long, in Zone 5/6 weather (Twin Falls ID, 83301), with very limited watering. The lowest temperature I personally saw was 8F. No winterization was performed or even considered, the plants were on a shelf on a somewhat sheltered porch.

The pot was a standard plastic pot, the soil was a layer of dead LFS, a layer of peat/perlite, and a top layer (about 2 inches) of LFS.

Are these a lost cause, or would some tender loving care bring them back to life?
 
NEVER give up on Sarrs! 99% of the time they'll pull through! Just give them good conditions and they'll recover just fine, I did the same with a S. purpurea venosa
 
NEVER give up on Sarrs! 99% of the time they'll pull through! Just give them good conditions and they'll recover just fine, I did the same with a S. purpurea venosa

I had 2 S. Purpurea out there, one of them has sent out a tiny new pitcher from under the original rhyzome, the other one remains inactive but under the grow lights.

The 3rd Leucophylla I already brought in and put in a smaller pot, it turned fuzzy white and hasn't done anything since.

The brown roots are my major concern, they look dead compared to the pure white ones that my other plants have.

I have limited space under the grow lights which is my major concern, I don't want to "waste" rack space on 2 (more) corpses. I bought some 3.5" square pots from Andrew but don't have a square tray to put them in, and the circular trays I do have simply won't hold more than 2.
 
"All I can say is... sham WOW!"
I couldn't resist.

Anywho... If there is any green left on the rhizome, do not give up.

Pot them up, water them, and pray real hard.
 
"All I can say is... sham WOW!"
I couldn't resist.

Anywho... If there is any green left on the rhizome, do not give up.

Pot them up, water them, and pray real hard.

There's not, no green whatsoever, but the old pitchers were still red and green before I gave it a haircut, so...

I found some space on my rack. It's not elegant, but it'll do.

How many months should I give them before writing them off? 3?
 
When the rhizome goes mushy and brown is when the plant is done. I wouldnt worry about the roots being brown though. I've seen some terrible cases come back from the grave before. Leave any pitcher that still has coloration on, it may give it the slight edge to photosynthesize. I would set them outside though they'd have a better chance for full sunlight and wouldnt be so prone to fungus from indoors.

If there's no color then just trim the pitchers and let the rhizome do the rest. Dont dig it up every week to check for growth or rot. Just leave it for a few months and if by June-July you dont see anything... it may have kicked the bucket
 
There's still some hope. The inside of the rhizome may still be alive, and if the old pitchers were colored then you should be fine.

I would give them at least until the summer.
 
When the rhizome goes mushy and brown is when the plant is done. I wouldnt worry about the roots being brown though. I've seen some terrible cases come back from the grave before. Leave any pitcher that still has coloration on, it may give it the slight edge to photosynthesize. I would set them outside though they'd have a better chance for full sunlight and wouldnt be so prone to fungus from indoors.

If there's no color then just trim the pitchers and let the rhizome do the rest. Dont dig it up every week to check for growth or rot. Just leave it for a few months and if by June-July you dont see anything... it may have kicked the bucket

Problem is, we're still getting freezing nights. =/

My plant rack gets about 10K Lumiens + whatever sunlight comes in through the window. It's bright enough that it's turning all my Sundews a firey red, so I'm hoping it's enough to resurrect a dead Pitcher Plant or 2.
 
Then I say give it a shot. Although, they will probably be just fine if left in dormancy for a while longer.
 
  • #10
Freezing nights are ok as long as the temps rise during the day and dont go lower then 20F for a few nights in a row. They really will be fine even if it freezes. If you want to 'be nice' you can start them under your lights and transplant them later in the spring when temps warm up more consistently.
 
  • #11
Freezing nights are ok as long as the temps rise during the day and dont go lower then 20F for a few nights in a row. They really will be fine even if it freezes. If you want to 'be nice' you can start them under your lights and transplant them later in the spring when temps warm up more consistently.

Oh yes, I do intend for them to go out once they've re-established themselves.

IF they re-establish themselves,I should say. I think the Purple Pitcher Plant will definitely come back (it already has started, after all), but I'm not that sure about the others.

I have a D. Filiformis var Tracyi under the growlights too, after it went from having about 5 nearly foot long leaves to dying back to 1/8th a rhyzome out there. It appears to be growing back now that it's under the lights.
 
  • #12
Squeeze the bulb. If it's firm, I'd keep it. If it's squishy and water comes out like a sponge, it's a goner.
 
  • #13
Squeeze the bulb. If it's firm, I'd keep it. If it's squishy and water comes out like a sponge, it's a goner.

Little in between. It's already repotted so I can't pull it all the way out. It had a little give but didn't squish up. The center of it seems to be as hard as a rock.
 
  • #14
I had some problems with some Alatas I thought were dead. I pulled 'em out for repotting and had a similiar experience. I started breaking apart the rhyzomes, and most was brown, but I found some that was white and repotted that. Hopefully, those parts will be fine.
 
  • #15
Huh.

Freezing at night, and 100.2 in the sun during the day.

Methinks my plants aren't going to be too happy in this environment.
 
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