Should I be worried that my Sarracenia is eating too much?

Should I be worried that my Sarracenia is eating too much?#378325

By Eventerminator -  Thu Apr 15, 2021 4:26 pm
Location:  Perth, Western Australia
Posts:  156
Joined:  Sat Nov 26, 2016 3:10 pm

- Thu Apr 15, 2021 4:26 pm #378325

Hello!

It's the middle of autumn here in Australia and the bugs have finally started coming out more. Probably because they're less busy dying from heatstroke. I've been enjoying seeing flies falling down towards their death in my Sarracenia's pitchers but I'm worried that they are getting overfed. Is it possible to overfeed them?

Also, they seem to be predominantly attracted to the Leucophylla hybrid? My other Sarracenias don't catch them as often despite having more pitchers.

A newbie at taking care of carnivorous plants. I live in Australia, Perth WA.

Re: Should I be worried that my Sarracenia is eating too much?#378331

By ChefDean -  Thu Apr 15, 2021 4:45 pm
Location:  Clarksville, TN
Posts:  9347
Joined:  Tue Sep 18, 2018 12:44 am

- Thu Apr 15, 2021 4:45 pm #378331

Nope. As long as it's catching its own bugs, no supplemental feeding/fertilizers, it's good.

Eventerminator liked this

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Re: Should I be worried that my Sarracenia is eating too much?#378398

By MikeB -  Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:14 am
Location:  Clayton, NC, USA - Zone 8a
Posts:  1899
Joined:  Sat Apr 25, 2020 4:13 pm

- Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:14 am #378398

Here in North Carolina, USA, my leuco's would stuff themselves on moths during the autumn. They would end up catching way more than they could digest, and the pitchers would die in a ring at "bug level". The fix for this was to let each pitcher catch a few moths then stick a cotton ball in it to stop the feast.

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Re: Should I be worried that my Sarracenia is eating too much?#378422

By steve booth -  Fri Apr 16, 2021 9:03 am
Posts:  1236
Joined:  Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:15 am

- Fri Apr 16, 2021 9:03 am #378422

Overfilling of pitchers is a common occurrence, as Mike B says, what happens is the excess nutrients from the dead insects, end up burning and killing the pitcher tissue above the digestive zone to the level of the prey, the pitcher forms a ring of dead brown tissue and sometimes the top flops or drops off. But dont worry it is perfectly normal.
Cheers
Steve

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