Sarracenia and its flowers

[HealthCare]

Have you ever seen a difference in the number of flowers in Sarracenias which are divided? I mean: is the mother plant (an old one) able to produce more than one flower at the same time or we have to divide it in order to have more flowers? I'm asking because all my Sarracenias (not divided) produce only one flower at once (and the time of repotting is close).

 

[DJ57]

Number of flowers produced varies depending on species and hybrid. Generally sarracenia will produce one to two flowers at a time per growth point or crown depending on species and hybrid. Some sarracenia are slow to produce additional growth points and some are more vigorous at doing so. For example oreophila and some rubra varieties tend to be very vigorous growers and produce additional growth points every season, equaling more flowers, whereas purpurea can take some years to produce additional growth points so generally have less flowers. If your plants are healthy and have multiple growth points then you should get multiple flowers from them each season.

Dividing will not cause your plants to produce more flowers. The number of flowers produced in a season is dependent on the number of growth points on each division. Stress such as dividing or repotting can cause a growth point to produce no flowers for that season, putting its energy instead into pitcher production and root repair depending on the health of the plant to start with. Environmental stressors can also cause a sarr to not produce flowers. For the best display of flowers leave the plant alone to grow and produce multiple growth points before dividing or repotting.

 

[HealthCare]

Thank you very much for the answer! Maybe there will be more flowers this year. For sure I will not replant my old Sarracenias, just the new ones - I'll prepare a large pot for them and grow them together with VFTs.

 

[DJ57]

Glad I could help. Your original question was about dividing so I focused on that without considering factors that can cause flowering issues. I should have added that peat does break down over time and can become anaerobic. You may want to repot your old sarracenia into fresh soil if they have been the same pots for over 3 years. A good way to tell if your soil has gone bad is if it smells nasty, like rotten eggs. If your sarracenia have multiple growth points but only producing one flower but otherwise look good, I would start with repotting into fresh soil in a bigger pot to see if that helps.

There are so many variables to consider when a sarracenia is not performing like it should such as soil conditions, climate conditions, water source, watering method, sun exposure (at least 6 hours of sun a day to look their best), and pest issues.

 

[HealthCare]

For my Sarracenias I use a mixture of peat and perlite (70-30, but next time I'll try 60-40 or 50-50), I'd say that it's fresh, I changed it last year. For the upcoming season I'm going to repot my new plants from separate pots into a bigger one, that would be a good opportunity to change the media composition, maybe apply a better drainage system.

Speaking of S. flowers, I sowed my S. leucophylla seeds for the first time, stratification is ongoing (started in the beginning of 2018) - when can I initiate the germination process?

 

[DJ57]

I use a 50/50 mix of peat/perlite and my pots sit in water trays outside year round. A 60/40 mix should work okay also.

Typically a 4-week stratification period is sufficient before you sow the seeds for germination, this would be the minimum stratification period.