FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I've acquired this Sarracenia x purpurea (Barbapapa) last summer and it was growing fine till autumn (still very warm outside). It had lots of pitchers, bigger and smaller, all healthy. In October a large number of small pitchers started to decay, then came dormancy period and now the plant is growing again, pitchers big and small, but the small ones die so quick. They grow to 1 inch, open up and a few days later start to wither from top to bottom. Meantime those that grow big are okay.

Is this normal for this type of Sarracenia?

I don't really know what could be happening, but maybe the plant is trying to focus on the larger traps which are more likely to catch bugs.

It looks like you may have multiple growth points on that plant, so that would account for the different sized pitchers. The pitchers should not be turning brown after a few days. They should hold until next dormancy. It looks like the tray that it is sitting in is terracotta (clay), is that the case? You may be leaching minerals into the plant. Sarrs are generally pretty good at ignoring that, but It might affect the new growth.

Panman wrote: ↑Fri Apr 22, 2022 8:45 pm It looks like you may have multiple growth points on that plant, so that would account for the different sized pitchers. The pitchers should not be turning brown after a few days. They should hold until next dormancy. It looks like the tray that it is sitting in is terracotta (clay), is that the case? You may be leaching minerals into the plant. Sarrs are generally pretty good at ignoring that, but It might affect the new growth.

Good point. I didn't see the tray or multiple growth points. I guess I'm just blind.

Panman wrote: ↑Fri Apr 22, 2022 8:45 pmIt looks like the tray that it is sitting in is terracotta (clay), is that the case?

That's a plastic tray, just colored like terracotta.