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putting water IN pitchers

Has anyone tried or ever put water IN the pitchers of their sarrs?

I have noticed that a full pitcher is top heavy and tends to break in the wind, so if one tries to do so, make sure you stake it...

But, put all that aside, is there any benefit from doing so? How DOES a sarracenia 'absorb' the nutrients from bugs, if there's no liquid (visible to my naked eye..) like in nepenthes?
 
I put wter in my sarrs, to help them 'wash down' wat they've eaten, i'd imagine as the water evaporates it leaves a concetrated liquid at the very bottom!
 
there is absolutely no need to do that. the reason they have lids is to keep the water out, the exceptions being purpurea and psittacina. they will digest and absorb just fine without any water in them.
 
I agree with sarracenia. In fact..adding water can, in some instances, cause rot if the weather is too hot. The water can get overheated and stagnate inside the pitcher.

I do keep water in all open mouthed plants that are accustomed to collecting rain; purpurea, catesbaei, mitcheliana.
 
I've read that we are supposed to do that with S. purpurea. Mine have water in their pitchers and I didn't manually put water in there. What do they do in nature, LOL! I doubt that people are going around with water cans!
 
I fill my sarracenia's manually with water, at least 1/4 full so the flies can be digested. I've found that if the prey captured is left to just die and decompose without any water surrounding it, the pitcher will make a big brown spot where the decaying prey is....then in a week the brown spot spreads and anything above the original brown spot dies.

I don't fill the pitchers of my S. purpurea though, the constant rains here in Quebec have done that for me :p
 
There is no need to add fluid to any Sarracenia pitchers except S. purpurea. Sarracenia will produce their own fluids which fill the tubes about 1/4 to 1/3. Take a bright flashlight and backlight a pitcher and see for yourself. Try it on a pitcher that is just about to open too.

http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq3100.html

S. 'Hummer's Okee Classic' (S. alabamensis x minor 'Okee Giant') - out of focus, windy (as usually) needed at least two more hands:
P7260025.jpg
 
Adding water in completely unnecessary except in purpurea as stated numerous times above. I will add water to my purp pitchers only when I am manually feeding them, but other then that I never add any water to any Sarrs. Most others such as flava, oreo secrete their own digestive enzymes, so by adding water you are only diluting them.
Also as Phil stated above, you increase the chance for stagnant water which can lead to rot and premature death of a other wise healthy pitcher.
 
I do it every so often to drown the live wasps. In the past, I have lost several nice pitchers because the hornets/wasps chew through them before dieing in the pitcher. I do have a rather small collection, though, and can see how it would be impractical for someone with a large collection.
 
  • #10
There is digestive juices down there - you just can't see it. It will be produced as soon as insects are caught, but is below the level of the insect. Not much is produced - they don't need much to break down an insect.

Later on in the season, older pitchers do produce a little pool which you can see, but not on all plants.
 
  • #11
Thanks everyone, I was debating this with a friend, and we had a hard time 'seeing' where the level was, if it was there at all. Now we know!
 
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