FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi,

I have a Sarracenia Rubra Wherryl that I repotted after a fridge dormancy until mid-March. I have two window ledges that get sunlight: one is NE facing and gets maybe a couple of hours of sunlight in the morning, and the other is N facing but gets several hours of direct afternoon sun. All windows have lamps with CFL's to supplement light. Last year I had put this plant on my N facing window and it grew leaves but not pitchers (the leaves were a yellow-green, and my understanding is that the heat of the window was too much). I've had it on the NE facing window this time around, and it has been a month, but I haven't found definitive new shoots developing yet. What should I do?

Is bringing it outside not an option? Are you sure your water has less than 50 parts per million of total dissolved solids? what is the condition of the media you have it growing in? Is it time for a repot (i know you did it, but describe the mixture you used)?
Please describe better the growing conditions. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you’re going to want to keep it in a southern facing window or worst case East or West, but never North as it never would get enough light.

felinefancier87 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 4:23 amLast year I had put this plant on my N facing window and it grew leaves but not pitchers (the leaves were a yellow-green, and my understanding is that the heat of the window was too much). I've had it on the NE facing window this time around, and it has been a month, but I haven't found definitive new shoots developing yet. What should I do?

I believe the biggest contributing factor here is light, it needs more. These things regularly see high temps in the wild, so a north facing window is BC is nothing.
The leaves that grew last year are called phyllodia, they are a leaf grown in a time of stress so that the plant can still photosynthesize, but doesn't have to expend the energy to grow a pitcher. The lack of light was this stressor. These plants can live on a windowsill, I've done it, but it need an east facing window at a minimum. West facing would be equivalent to east facing, but south facing would be better.
Two caveats here.
When I say they'll live, I mean they'll survive and grow, but not thrive and explode. Don't expect show quality pitchers.
I normally suggest against south facing windows due to the glass can sometimes intensify the light and heat, cooking the plants. I don't think that will be much of an issue in BC.
For your plant now, where there is no info on growing media, pot, or water given in your post I would suggest a couple things.
You just repotted a month ago, was the rhizome still firm and beautiful with decent roots? Make sure the top third of the rhizome is exposed. Also, what was the media and pot?
Water. Keep this plant in about an inch of water. They like wet conditions, just not swimming all the time. Distilled, rain, or RO water is recommended, but check the TDS of your tap water. Most carnivorous plants need a TDS of less than 50 ppm, but Sarrs can take higher. Most agree that they can take 100-150 ppm, some say up to 250 ppm. My tap water is 100-110 ppm and mine do just fine with it.
My strongest suggestion, as long as the rhizome was good, get it outside. As long as your weather stays above freezing, leave it outside in an area that gets direct morning sunlight and bright indirect light after noon. Eventually you'll be able to move it to full sun, but have some patience.
There are other things you could try, shallow cuts on the rhizome among other things, along with the steps above, but I wouldn't go that far yet. It probably just needs more time and sun to finish waking up.

Sarracenia rubra ssp. wherryi is native to the Gulf coast area of the U.S. It likes mild winter temperatures and very warm summers. Look at the climate for Mobile, Alabama and click on the "Graphs" link. To wake your plant up, it needs to be fairly warm (75 F / 24 C) so it knows that spring is here.

I have two of these plants in my collection. They were a bit slow to wake up this spring, but they now have flower buds and new pitchers on the way (still short, under 2 inches / 5 cm tall).

Also, Sarracenia need a lot of sunshine. If you can't put it outdoors where it will get at least 6 hours of direct sun, then you will need some very bright grow lights for the plant.

Have you read the Grow Happy and Healthy Sarracenia Pitcher Plants care guide that Matt created? It's packed with lots of good information.

Unfortunately the two windows I mentioned are the best I have. I live in a basement suite and the other windows are either too low or obscured by an overlying deck. I use distilled water and could try to make a point of keeping it fuller to guarantee an inch. The roots looked pretty good when I repotted it. I use CFL's in lamps on a timer for my plants. Is that not enough?

I'm in the Okanagan Valley. The nighttime temperatures are finally staying above 0. Is it really just better to put my plant and tray outdoors? It does get pretty warm in the summers here, but I'm just worried about the variation with morning temperatures. I've never taken my carnivorous plants outside. Is that a better choice?

Right, as for media, I've used a 50% peat moss/30% sand/20% perlite mix for my plants.

Daytime temperature has reached over 20° C these last couple of days but will return to the teens and as low as 12° C next week.

felinefancier87 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 17, 2021 2:04 am I use CFL's in lamps on a timer for my plants. Is that not enough?

Sarracenia want full sun (like tomatoes, peppers, corn). How bright are those lamps?

felinefancier87 wrote: I'm in the Okanagan Valley. The nighttime temperatures are finally staying above 0. Is it really just better to put my plant and tray outdoors? It does get pretty warm in the summers here, but I'm just worried about the variation with morning temperatures. I've never taken my carnivorous plants outside. Is that a better choice?

Here is the 10-day weather forecast for Mobile, Alabama. Compare your temperatures with theirs. You might be able to put the plant outside on sunny days and bring it in at night. If it's a cloudy day, your plant would get more light indoors under the lamps.

Ok, I'll try that, bringing them out during the day and in at night. I'm not sure how bright the bulbs are. I don't have the box anymore.

My wherri is just starting to put out growth. You might try increasing the duration of your lights. To carry my plants through the winter without dormancy (a one time thing) I had them on a 16 hour light cycle and my alabamesis seemed to like it. The wherri is the plant on the top middle. My minors are still not doing anything.

Sometimes my sarrs put flowers up before new pitchers early in spring

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Panman wrote: ↑Sat Apr 17, 2021 6:27 pmMy minors are still not doing anything.

I only have one Sarracenia minor at the moment. It was my last pitcher plant to wake up this spring, didn't show any sign of life until a week ago. Now it has two small pitchers and a flower on the way.

murrkywaters wrote:Sometimes my sarrs put flowers up before new pitchers early in spring

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Yeah I had one I received in a trade doing this about a week or two after putting it outside

So if I'm taking the plant outside and keeping it in a tray of water, what do I do if it rains? Just keep the plant inside on a rainy day, so the pot doesn't become waterlogged?

Being bog plants that get rained on in the wild, most Sarrs are just fine with soggier conditions. As long as the pot has drain holes it'll be fine. All it really means is you don't have to water it yourself for a while.