FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I hope that lots of people get a chance to enjoy them! I had so many seeds this year that I didn't know what to do with them all. A big part of that is due to the fantastic Sarracenia flava var. rubricorpora that I bought from Mike Wang a few years ago. I divided it into 3 large clumps, and they produced 5 flowers with enormous seed pods. These plants will make a great addition to your Sarracenia collection.

Here is a picture of the parent plants (on the right) from two years after I got them: Sadly, I lost the ornata and towering cuprea plants due to a freak cold snap (200 continuous hours of temperatures below freezing). I almost lost the rubricorpora, but 3 growth points survived the cold. I'm working on replacing the ornatas, bought a seedling plug from plants at the Outlaw site in Florida: I have high hopes for these little guys next year.

I buy these planters in the garden centers at Home Depot and Lowe's Home Improvement. They're about 12 inches diameter x 10 inches tall (35 cm x 25 cm). I drill 4 good-sized drain holes in the bottom, put a blob of sphagnum moss over each hole to prevent the soil from washing out, and fill them up. Each planter sits in a 2-inch (5 cm) deep saucer. I water the plants from the top to ensure that they stay damp, and let it drain through until it fills the saucer.

I tried doing planters without drain holes (much easier to keep wet), but the root systems on those Sarracenias weren't as robust as in the pots with drainage. The bottom half of the planters became a very anaerobic environment, and the roots didn't like it. When I repotted the plants, the soil in the bottom half smelled "skunky". With drainage, oxygen can reach the lower pot, and the growing environment is much better for the plants.

Great looking flavas! Which rubricorpa clone is that? I picked up a bunch from Mike Wang this summer too and am hoping I got that one. By the time I got them, flavas were well past their peak so I'll need to wait until next year to see any pitchers and probably a couple of years until they get settled in and look really good.

Same here. I got a bunch of flava from MW amongst my others. These pics are inspiring though. I hope to see mine that size in a few years. Flavas are the best looking imo. I think I might need to get a red one.

Matt wrote: ↑Sat Nov 14, 2020 5:02 pmGreat looking flavas! Which rubricorpa clone is that?

It's "S. flava rubricorpora, Burgundy X Liberty Co, FL". Mike had a ton of them back in 2014, so he sent me a freebie with one of my orders. It started off as a 6-inch-tall seedling and grew into that monster in just 3 years.

MikeB wrote:It's "S. flava rubricorpora, Burgundy X Liberty Co, FL". Mike had a ton of them back in 2014, so he sent me a freebie with one of my orders. It started off as a 6-inch-tall seedling and grew into that monster in just 3 years.

Whoa, nice! I don't think I have that clone so if you get a piece of it to spare, I'd love to get it from you

Matt wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 2:15 am

MikeB wrote:It's "S. flava rubricorpora, Burgundy X Liberty Co, FL". Mike had a ton of them back in 2014, so he sent me a freebie with one of my orders. It started off as a 6-inch-tall seedling and grew into that monster in just 3 years.

Whoa, nice! I don't think I have that clone so if you get a piece of it to spare, I'd love to get it from you

This cross is no longer on his "Sarracenia for sale" list, don't know why. The crazy-freeze survivors are doing nicely. I'll see if I can separate a growth point in late winter.

FYI - 90% of the rubricorpora seeds that I sent to ChefDean are self-pollinations from these plants (the rest are from a beautiful plant that I got off eBay, no location data for that one). I sowed a bunch of the seeds 2 years ago. This spring, most of the seedlings put on a massive burst in growth. 2 of them hit 8-10 inches tall!

MikeB wrote:This cross is no longer on his "Sarracenia for sale" list, don't know why. The crazy-freeze survivors are doing nicely. I'll see if I can separate a growth point in late winter.

Awesome, thanks so much!

MikeB wrote:FYI - 90% of the rubricorpora seeds that I sent to ChefDean are self-pollinations from these plants (the rest are from a beautiful plant that I got off eBay, no location data for that one). I sowed a bunch of the seeds 2 years ago. This spring, most of the seedlings put on a massive burst in growth. 2 of them hit 8-10 inches tall!

That's awesome! I'll have to get some seeds from Chef to try out. How did the seeds you sowed 2 years ago turn out in terms of coloration? I've heard that red flavas can be highly variable in terms of their offspring. Are most red or is a pretty wide range of coloration you're seeing?

Matt wrote: ↑Sun Nov 15, 2020 5:36 pmHow did the seeds you sowed 2 years ago turn out in terms of coloration? I've heard that red flavas can be highly variable in terms of their offspring. Are most red or is a pretty wide range of coloration you're seeing?

About 1/3 are spitting images of their parents, but the rest lean toward the atropurpurea look. To encourage the seedlings to grow faster, I "juiced" the plants: every other week, I filled 2 pitchers per plant with MaxSea diluted to 1/4 strength. Flavas don't like having water in their pitchers, so when the plants drained it away, they absorbed the fertilizer in the process. This really got them going.

MikeB wrote: ↑Fri Nov 13, 2020 1:08 am Sadly, I lost the ornata and towering cuprea plants due to a freak cold snap (200 continuous hours of temperatures below freezing).

Were you away? I would run outside any day in that weather to rescue plants that good looking