FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello all! I was wondering if it is possible to grow sarracenia on a windowsill that receives direct sunlight throughout the day? This would only be a temporary solution due to their dormancy needs.

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I can't say with absolute certainty, b/c i've never tried wndowsill growing. However, i do grow younger sarracenia indoors under LED lighting and they do very well.

Obviously, outdoors is optimal, but i don't think the plant will suffer too much if sits in a windowsill for a little while, assuming the lighting is of adequate intensity.

No. You need to supplement the light for Sarrs, even more so than VFTs. Definitely will need a good LED fixture.

BUT: the bigger issue here is that you mentioned that you want to do this for dormancy. In my experience sarracenia (and darlingtonia) have never thrived, and in fact they died, when I tried to keep them indoors during dormancy. Ideally you want them sleeping between 30-40*F all winter.

EDIT: You mention this is temporary...So are you planning to keep it on the windowsill march/april then transfer outside permanently? just wanted to clarify.

SundewWolf wrote:No. You need to supplement the light for Sarrs, even more so than VFTs. Definitely will need a good LED fixture.

BUT: the bigger issue here is that you mentioned that you want to do this for dormancy. In my experience sarracenia (and darlingtonia) have never thrived, and in fact they died, when I tried to keep them indoors during dormancy. Ideally you want them sleeping between 30-40*F all winter.

EDIT: You mention this is temporary...So are you planning to keep it on the windowsill march/april then transfer outside permanently? just wanted to clarify.

I was saying that I wouldn't want to deal with their dormancy indoors. That's why this is a temporary solution. I was thinking of keeping them inside from now until Mabye mid to late summer then have them put outside so they could go through dormancy. This window gets direct sunlight from nine A.M. to three p.m.

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It should be ok while they are semi-dormant, but if the sarr starts to take off with growth you will need a grow light.

How cold is it where you live? You shouldn't need to keep it inside until mid-summer.

It's really hard to say if they would be fine in a windowsill, I keep mine outside year round. I have bogs and use the water tray method. They love sun and may not get enough in a window.

SundewWolf wrote:No. You need to supplement the light for Sarrs, even more so than VFTs. Definitely will need a good LED fixture.

I would have to disagree.
I had a Sarr, one of the ones you get at Lowes, the ones that come dormant from Bug Biting Plants. From day one I kept it in an East facing windowsill, in pure LFSM, in a tray of distilled water. I had it for 3 years in those conditions, feeding it every dang house fly dumb enough to come into my house. I also lightly fertilized it about every 2 weeks. I don't know which species it was, but it was a cluster about 6 inches across with the tallest pitcher being over 12 inches tall before I moved out of Utah. No artificial lighting at all, and it was just fine.
When I moved out to Tennessee, I gave it to my wifes aunt, who takes care of it just like I did.
That is my experience, I'm not saying it will work for you, but it is entirely possible to grow them on a windowsill. Here's an older pic of it with one of its many instances of flowering.

Very nice. Mabye it's sarracenia bug bat? Not to sure. Mabye I'll give windowsill growing a shot. Thank you so much!

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ChefDean wrote:

SundewWolf wrote:No. You need to supplement the light for Sarrs, even more so than VFTs. Definitely will need a good LED fixture.

I would have to disagree.

I might just be cursed then. Even with 4 LED strips and T8's 6 inches above them my sarrs were light starved.

SundewWolf wrote:No. ...
BUT: the bigger issue here is that you mentioned that you want to do this for dormancy. In my experience sarracenia (and darlingtonia) have never thrived, and in fact they died, when I tried to keep them indoors during dormancy.

While this is likely generally the case, I wouldn't say it is written in stone.

Once upon a time, I had two Darls which I had obtained from Lowes in the typical death cubes.

One I planted in a sealed terrarium, the other I potted up. Both lived for me for years with the terr receiving light from my east facing window and the potted being under my fluorescent lights during the winter and out on my shady balcony during the summer. Interestingly, to me at least, the one in the terr never got over 6inches tall but regularly produced new pitchers which had a lot of red-purple coloration. The potted one would produce pitchers about 12inches tall but stayed green.

Unfortunately, did eventually lose both. The potted one I lost when I decided to try summering outside next to the landing for the apt's stairwell door where it could receive a lot more sun. Came home one day to discover that some vermin -- whether two legged or four-legged -- had pulled the plant up and left it on the hot concrete. The terr one I lost soon after when I tried to take a division of it to start a new potted one. Perhaps the stress of being divided was too much for it or a pathogen infiltrated the plant?

SundewWolf wrote:I might just be cursed then. Even with 4 LED strips and T8's 6 inches above them my sarrs were light starved.

No, not cursed, I just have had a different experience with my Sarr.
I have 3 now, 1 new one from Lowes (assuming the same species as the one in the pic) and 2 other varieties. They're being kept under the same condition as the first, with the 2 new ones beginning to thrive and the Lowes one still dormant. The only major difference is I'm now in Tennessee (warmer annual average temperature with higher humidity) instead of Utah (more days of bright sunshine, but drastically lower humidity). It's possible that they'll all go down overnight. But I just relayed what worked for me, with the results of my experience, but also with the disclaimer that it may not work for him.
So, no, I don't think you're cursed, you just have different environmental conditions that I did that affect the outcome. Hell, I may have just been extremely lucky.
Take care my friends.

Also in Tennessee here.

I kept my sarrs indoors during their dormancy. Gets a bit too cold and stays that way for too long to keep them safely outside. Kept them in the “plant room” southeast facing Glassdoor.

They are now starting to wake up with warmer temps and more light.

I would put them outside as soon as it’s safe to do so.

The window may work as a temporary solution.

That one plant boi wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 9:22 pm Hello all! I was wondering if it is possible to grow sarracenia on a windowsill that receives direct sunlight throughout the day? This would only be a temporary solution due to their dormancy needs.

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If they are rosea, purperea, or psitticina species or hybrid I think that you can grow them indoors completely without dormancy because of their weak requirement. Well that's atleast what I read online

Dragonslayer126 wrote:

That one plant boi wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 9:22 pm Hello all! I was wondering if it is possible to grow sarracenia on a windowsill that receives direct sunlight throughout the day? This would only be a temporary solution due to their dormancy needs.

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If they are rosea, purperea, or psitticina species or hybrid I think that you can grow them indoors completely without dormancy because of their weak requirement. Well that's atleast what I read online

Howdy!
Problem is already resolved since I posted this years ago, lol. I have all my sarrs and traps growing outdoors once again!

Thank you for the response though!

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That one plant boi wrote: ↑Mon Feb 07, 2022 8:26 pm

Dragonslayer126 wrote:

That one plant boi wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 9:22 pm Hello all! I was wondering if it is possible to grow sarracenia on a windowsill that receives direct sunlight throughout the day? This would only be a temporary solution due to their dormancy needs.

Sent from my LG-M150 using Tapatalk

If they are rosea, purperea, or psitticina species or hybrid I think that you can grow them indoors completely without dormancy because of their weak requirement. Well that's atleast what I read online

Howdy!
Problem is already resolved since I posted this years ago, lol. I have all my sarrs and traps growing outdoors once again!

Thank you for the response though!

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Sorry, I didn't see the time when it was posted.