About 10 weeks ago I received a Sarracenia c.v. 'Abandoned Hope' with two 10" pitchers, and a small Venus Flytrap, c.v. 'B-52' from California Carnivores.

The Sarracenia shipped in a 3.5" pot, and I'd like to move it to a 6" pot, or maybe a 11" bog pot—maybe along with the Venus flytrap. I suspect that the roots of these things are fragile and fibrous. Is it better to just plug the existing rootball intact into the new mix, or should I try to gently wash & tease some of the old peat mix away first?

Afterward, should I shade it for a week or so? It has a new pitcher developing which is about 8" tall and still mostly "flat" but starting to open at the tip, and a couple of others that are 1" and 3" tall. While these new pitchers have been developing, one of the older pitchers seems to be leaning over a little, as if it might be declining. (it's still firm and very solidly attached to the crown) Should I cut the "leaner" off to lessen transplant shock? Is trimming these even done? Humidity is fairly low here, with 55° nights, 75° days and bright, cloudless skies.

Also, there's a lot of greenery starting to cover the surface of the B-52's planting medium. At first, they consisted of just the smooth leaves, then the spiky growth emerged. Is this sphagnum moss? (for scale, the smooth leaves are about 1/4" long)

Wow, nice purchase with the abandoned hope, heard it's lovely!

Considering your in cali, I wouldn't be able to confidently give you advice, but what I DO know, leave the pitchers on if they are not moldy or brown, considering how many they put up a year, and how long it takes, leave it because it is still collecting light as NOT NOM.

You said 10 weeks ago you got it? Well, I hope it's in full sun by now, if not,should take a week roughly to get it acclimated.

I had my entire bog in the shaded forest, like a duma... and I literally dragged it into full sun like a duma....

Didn't burn them too much at ALLLLL . Maybe few dots, but nothing significant at all.

Those green growths thing are odd, I'd actually post in plant I d if you said they start out like that paddle leaf, then go spiky. Weird

Hi Ken,

I love California Carnivores - its one of my favorite go to places for carnivorous plants and knowledge.

Yes, replant the Sarracenia into its permanent home. Their roots are not fragile or touchy. I wouldn't wash off the old peat but when you take it out of the current pot, some of the peat is bound to fall away. Don't worry about that. The important thing is to plant the crown above the peat as it is now. If the crown is too low, the plant will rot. Yes, full sun but if its not there now, as Brenden said, move it slowly into more and more light.

Those little plants in your pot are bonuses. The feathery stuff is moss but the little spade leaved ones will grow into something else. I got them this year when I ordered a Drosera from CC and am still waiting to see what the something might be. I'll go out tomorrow and see if they suggest anything yet.

You live in the perfect location for Sarracenia. I have to work a little harder at maintaining mine outside year 'round. When I lived in California, they lived outside in pots year 'round but in Reno, they have all been transplanted into bogs. I cover them in the winter with burlap to keep them from being damaged by the freeze/thaw cycles of our Reno winters but that's about it.

Daisy

Thanks for the replies. It's getting about 6 hours of direct exposure, sometime soon I'll move it to the south side of the house in order to maintain that, and that's where it'll stay. There, it will get sun from sunrise until at least 5 pm.

I made a swing past CC on Memorial Day, but they were closed. Still, the view through the fence was amazing. I'm definitely going back for a walk-through.

What I'm still not clear about is the amount of water they should be sitting in. Mine is in a 1/2" saucer which practically dries out every day (surface of the mix is always wet) but everything I've read indicates the crown should be less than two inches above the water level. So, if I have a 6" tall bog tray, 4" of water in a deep saucer would be fine? Is that kind of high water level more of a strict necessity or a strategy to reduce maintenance? How much standing water would be too much?

I have always grown mine in water pots - no drainage holes. My inground bog has pool liner under it. Keep the crowns above the water level. If I was using saucers, I would make the saucers as deep as possible. They are bog plants - bogs are wet places.

DaisyI said:I have always grown mine in water pots - no drainage holes. My inground bog has pool liner under it. Keep the crowns above the water level. If I was using saucers, I would make the saucers as deep as possible. They are bog plants - bogs are wet places.

Thanks. I like the idea of water pots too. Pot and saucer all rolled into one. I guess my hesitance to just submerge the entire container comes from having that accidentally happen when using regular potting soils. I understand that peat won't putrify if continuously submerged.

The only "bog" plants I currently grow are bulbs, Crinum calyptratum. They're happy in unamended garden dirt in a no-hole 2 gallon nursery pot, kept topped off with water.

I have read lots of advice to use about 30% perlite mixed in the peat. Is there any benefit to that? (other than the obvious conservation of peat) I don't see any perlite in my pots from California Carnivores, and the Sarracenia and Dionaea at Berkeley Indoor Gardens are growing happily in a sand/peat mix.

I saw your bog garden pictures in another thread. Very nice! How deep is your pond liner, and what's your soil mix?

My bogs are about 12 inches deep. I use 1/2 peat and 1/2 perlite. The added perlite keeps the peat from packing. I don't use sand because I can't figure out how to keep it from sinking out of the peat and becoming concrete.

When I start seeds, I use 100% peat.

CaliFlowers said:
What I'm still not clear about is the amount of water they should be sitting in. Mine is in a 1/2" saucer which practically dries out every day (surface of the mix is always wet) but everything I've read indicates the crown should be less than two inches above the water level. So, if I have a 6" tall bog tray, 4" of water in a deep saucer would be fine? Is that kind of high water level more of a strict necessity or a strategy to reduce maintenance? How much standing water would be too much?

A good rule of thumb for most plants is no more than half way up the pot - although a couple of the sundews and one or two species of Sarracenia like a higher water level.

At the other extreme, I have some 16" tall pots sitting in a pool that has only 3" of water depth.

I have so many plants that individual water saucers would be a real pain - plus would require refilling at least twice a day during hot weather. So all pots and mini-bogs sit in kiddie wading pools with a hole punched in the side to limit the maximum water level when it rains.

CaliFlowers said:
The Sarracenia shipped in a 3.5" pot, and I'd like to move it to a 6" pot, or maybe a 11" bog pot—maybe along with the Venus flytrap. I suspect that the roots of these things are fragile and fibrous. Is it better to just plug the existing rootball intact into the new mix, or should I try to gently wash & tease some of the old peat mix away first?

Afterward, should I shade it for a week or so? It has a new pitcher developing which is about 8" tall and still mostly "flat" but starting to open at the tip, and a couple of others that are 1" and 3" tall. While these new pitchers have been developing, one of the older pitchers seems to be leaning over a little, as if it might be declining. (it's still firm and very solidly attached to the crown) Should I cut the "leaner" off to lessen transplant shock? Is trimming these even done? Humidity is fairly low here, with 55° nights, 75° days and bright, cloudless skies.

Both can be transplanted at any time of the year, although late winter or early spring is best.

To do a summer transplant:

Fill a larger pot with CP media - make a hole in the center for the transplant.
Carefully remove the plant and soil ball from the pot.
Carefully remove surface moss (if you don't want it there) and loose soil around the outside of the ball. When you start to see roots at the side, stop.
Carefully place the plant roots in the hole at the same level as it was in the smaller pot. Cave in the planting media around the roots to help hold the plant at the proper level - add more wet media as necessary. Firm the media gently - do not pack it tight, you want the small air spaces.
Place the new pot in your watering tray.

Sarracenia Northwest has a video DVD that covers many subjects about American pitcher plants and dewthreads - Vol 1 of the series. Their web site is www.growcarnivorousplants.com

Just unpacked and planted 5 Sarracenia today from California Carnivores to add to our pitcher colony,
which we started 3 years ago.

I thought I was keeping it boggy enough, but when I dug into the soil to
remove some weeds that had crept in, I realize now it was too dry.
In spite of that, the plants seemed to do well, and bloom (very interesting, almost alien blooms).

re: "CP media"......I still need to add some new soil as I lost some in the weeding process.
Do you recommend the pre-made soils from CC, or can I just use Canadian peat, perlite, & sand?

I use half peat and half perlite. My experience with the sand is that it sinks out of the 'soil' and forms a layer of concrete at the bottom of my pot.

California Carnivores is one of my favorite nurseries. If you check back with them in about January, they will be having their bareroot sale. Lots of great plants for a small price. They aren't labeled but I would rather have the plants - I don't really care what they are.

Thanks Daisyl for the good info.

Is it Ok to use pumice instead of perlite with peatmoss?

I don't like the white in the mix, and they float. I'll put a 1" layer of pure peatmoss
on top either way, but have only seen perlite used, and wondered why.

I don't see why pumice wouldn't work. I have always used perlite because its available and cheap. I haven't had a problem with it floating as I mix it well with the peat and make sure everything is good and wet before planting the pots (or bog). The difference may be that when I grew Sarracenia in pots, I used shallow water pots and now, they are in a bog. The water level is always just below the crowns of the plants.

Ok, thanks.....I'll use pumice. If any problems, I'll let you know.