FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I spent a few minutes today giving a crewcut to my Sarracenia alata "Red Throat" plant before it flowers. After I cut off last year's pitchers, I found this: I distinctly remember this pot being round, not oval, when I planted the rhizome 2 years ago. If this wasn't one of my thick, sturdy pots, it would have blown out the sides last season. I ended up splitting the rhizome into 4 divisions (two 8-inch / 20cm pots and two 6-inch / 15cm pots).

Yep, it's that hesitation where you ask yourself "Can this plant go just ONE more season in this pot?......SURE!!" I also have S. alata 'Red Throat'. Either bought it or did a trade with madrone. Awesome person! Seems to be a tough plant. Please send some more photos of it later during the season!

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MikeB wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 2:48 am I spent a few minutes today giving a crewcut to my Sarracenia alata "Red Throat" plant before it flowers. After I cut off last year's pitchers, I found this:
S alata - Red Throat.jpg
I distinctly remember this pot being round, not oval, when I planted the rhizome 2 years ago. If this wasn't one of my thick, sturdy pots, it would have blown out the sides last season. I ended up splitting the rhizome into 4 divisions (two 8-inch / 20cm pots and two 6-inch / 15cm pots).

Aw, man. I see a little room down there on the south side and a wee little bit of room at the NNE side close to the plant tag. Plenty of room for another year or so, though you might want to wrap that pot with ten or twelve layers of duck tape, just for a little more reinforcement..."in case"!!!!

That's definitely a pot full of green stumps!!!!

Ok. You got me to thinking Mike (always a dangerous thing)...

You mentioned cutting the pitchers *before* the plant starts flowering. I've got to pots of sarrs I got from CC last fall...the $4.95 specials. One pot has already sent up leaves a foot tall, while the smaller plant has send up what I'm taking as a flower stalk but it only has small leaves showing at the base of the plant...do they usually flower before starting to put up pitchers? These were all trimmed rhizomes went I got them. Thanks!

In my experience, flavas flower before they put up pitchers. That is when I cut back the brown leaves. Other sarrs tend to put them up at the same time.

Which reminds me, I've really got to get out there and clean everybody up.

The reason I asked about the flowering is that while one of the "mystery" sarrs I got from CC is sending up pitchers like crazy the other one has sent up a flower stalk. Interesting. Thanks for the feedback.

MikeB wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 2:48 am I spent a few minutes today giving a crewcut to my Sarracenia alata "Red Throat" plant before it flowers. After I cut off last year's pitchers, I found this:
S alata - Red Throat.jpg
I distinctly remember this pot being round, not oval, when I planted the rhizome 2 years ago. If this wasn't one of my thick, sturdy pots, it would have blown out the sides last season. I ended up splitting the rhizome into 4 divisions (two 8-inch / 20cm pots and two 6-inch / 15cm pots).

Wow! I didn’t know that tall Sarracenia species can grow so fast.

Most Sarracenia flower before they produce pitchers, to make sure they don't attract and kill the pollinators before they've done their business in the flowers.
Cheers
Steve

That makes sense. Like I said, these are "no name" budget plants from California Carnivores. They had a nice hair-cut when they arrived. One pot is sending up a flower stalk, the other one pitchers!

Sorry to hijack the thread, Mike, but just one other observation... All the pitchers except one small one are facing the light...do pitchers tend to orient themselves towards the best light?

Hi ITS
Yep, they maximise surface area towards the sun, and when that's not enough, some make large alas to increase the surface area still further, while others get taller and lean toward the light, which we know as etiolation. They all stay mainly green in low-light conditions.
Cheers
Steve

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 2:10 pm You mentioned cutting the pitchers *before* the plant starts flowering.

I try to leave last year's pitchers / phyllodia on my plants for as long as possible. If part of the leaves are still alive, then they're being used for photosynthesis. And as weak as the sunshine is at this time of year (in the northern hemisphere), the more leaf area, the better.

I usually hold off with trimming until my plants have started making new pitchers, but this one was a special case. It was growing in a tall pot to accommodate the alata's big root system. It had a bunch of old pitchers from last year, and the pot kept getting blown over in windy weather (which also dumped the water out of the saucer). I had enough of that and decided to shear it a bit early.

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Tue Feb 28, 2023 12:58 am The reason I asked about the flowering is that while one of the "mystery" sarrs I got from CC is sending up pitchers like crazy the other one has sent up a flower stalk.

With the "grab-bag" rhizomes, you never know what to expect until they start cranking out pitchers. It's even more crazy if the plant is a complex hybrid.

Barlapipas 6 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:28 am Wow! I didn’t know that tall Sarracenia species can grow so fast.

That rhizome was pretty big to start with. It also decided to do all of its growth east-west, so it slammed into the pot sides a lot sooner than I expected. Of all my plants, the alata's are the fastest growing.

Check out this monster flava growing in Italy. If you can't read Italian, then Google Translate can convert the article into your language of choice.

Something to add about trimming. I've recently been reading that leaving the phyllodia on red pitchered plants like a rubricorpa will cause the actual pitchers to get even redder. This is logical as the plants turn red when they don't want to perform as much photosynthesis. If the phyllodia are doing the photosynthesis then the pitchers don't need to and will be redder.

At least, that's what I read. I'm going to be trying that out this season.

camsdad66 wrote:Yep, it's that hesitation where you ask yourself "Can this plant go just ONE more season in this pot?......SURE!!" I also have S. alata 'Red Throat'. Either bought it or did a trade with madrone. Awesome person! Seems to be a tough plant. Please send some more photos of it later during the season!

Aw - glad to hear that the alata ‘Maroon Throat’ is still doing good for you! I got that originally from Cook's if my notes are right. You and MikeB should BOTH post later this season! I'll have to go see what mine looks like - it's a robust little plant!

Aw - glad to hear that the alata ‘Maroon Throat’ is still doing good for you! I got that originally from Cook's if my notes are right. You and MikeB should BOTH post later this season! I'll have to go see what mine looks like - it's a robust little plant![/quote]

Yep, madrone, doing fine! I'll definitely try to post some pics soon, once they really get going!



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If the cold temps over the next couple nights don't kill the flower buds, I should have some nice pics in a few weeks.

Last year's old pitchers are good for something: they provide some frost protection for flower buds and new growth.