What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Pruned sar. pitchers

I'm working on an indoor mini bog environment as I cannot/will not grow outdoors where I live. I have been wondering if I should mix in the pitchers I pruned with the growth medium. In the wild I doubt there are two-legs going around, pruning old pitchers, and pocketing them to dispose of later. Would letting the pitchers decompose bring back some of the lost nutrients in a beneficial way? I'm sure they are fine catching bugs occasionally. I also don't feel comfortable trying to add small amounts of fertilizer because I'm relatively inexperienced when it comes to these little guys. Do I need to set up a compost for them? It seems silly because it's not a lot of material. Am I opening them up to infection? Has anybody tried this?

Sent from my SM-G892U using Tapatalk
 
I would doubt that you can't grow Sarracenia outside unless you live in the Arctic; they may have to be brought indoors in winter in order to survive if they're in pots, but full sun will nearly always be better for them than an artificial equivalent.
A big lesson when growing carnivorous plants: though in many ways we try to emulate their natural conditions as much as possible, the fact is we are not growing them in a wild location, so doing exactly as would happen in nature may be more of a detriment than any help. Decomposing nutrients in their natural bog environments are washed out fairly rapidly by rain or seepage and will not hang around; such is not the case in a pot, or especially in an enclosed indoor terrarium etc. And, plants in cultivation may be more likely to succumb to various diseases that may be given an upper hand if old, dead leaves are left to rot around the rhizome, so their removal is best.
 
Something tells me the water use required to keep sarracenia alive outdoors during a prolonged drought in the mojave would be a tad irresponsible. The setup as it is, is open top, and the environment is set op a bit like an earth box. It is made up of three plastic shoe boxes and a plastic straw. There is a water reservoir underneath and holes to let water pass through. The straw let's me add water to the reservoir without flooding the soil. I use RO water to keep the mineral content low, and the third box as a humidity dome in case I leave for a couple of days. It's fairly crude, but it has been working enough to keep things alive since I started a year ago. I will keep what you said in mind.

Sent from my SM-G892U using Tapatalk
 
Back
Top