FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Ive read on some sites that most pitcher plants collect rain water in their pitchers to assist in digestion. Would it be a good idea to pour a little water in the pitchers?

I think S. purpurea fill with rain water. Other species do not. Perhaps someone else with a little more Sarracenia experience will chime in here, but I don't think you should fill them with water. It might make actually the pitchers too heavy depending on how tall they are.

Just thinking, but don't rain water get in, in the wild?

No, not into most Sarracenia. They have a hood that keeps it out. Only purpurea have pitchers that capture water.

Matt is right, the only plant that needs water in the pitchers is s. purpurea. All others produce digestive fluids.
The lid prevents water from getting in other types of sarracenia.

watnazn wrote:Matt is right, the only plant that needs water in the pitchers is s. purpurea. All others produce digestive fluids.
The lid prevents water from getting in other types of sarracenia.

but wat if its raining sideways??? lol

Well the pitcher plant I have is a of the purple variety, so that means I should put some in them then? The pitchers are about 4.5 inches tall.

Matt and watnazn are right, only S. purpurea and some of its hybrids are developed to capture rain water. Once they get rain water, they mix in some digestive enzymes to help them brake down their food. All other Sarracenia develop digestive fluids to digest their meals and use their hoods to keep water out. Also, the hoods help keep flying insects from flying out, which is what most Sarracenia are accustomed to catching, while S. purpurea seems to be a better crawling insect catcher. My S. purpurea seem to always be full of ants while my other Sarracenia seem to be full of flies, bees, and wasps.

thats pretty cool how much fluid they can produce

Well, for me i sometimes do fill them with water you know to help "subdue" an insect. When it usually rains here (rarely) I've notice that the "hoods" don't really keep out the water.. I think that some water is suppose to be let in to aid the plant. But with S. Purpurea I always have water in their, like what "doku" said to help digest there insect.




Allen,

Lawndude84 wrote:Well the pitcher plant I have is a of the purple variety, so that means I should put some in them then? The pitchers are about 4.5 inches tall.

Regarding your purpurea - If it's inside, you can put some distilled, rain, or RO water into the pitchers, but only about one-third full (be VERY careful, you'd be surprised how little water you need to fill 1/3 since they taper at the bottom). More than that at one time may tip/bend the pitchers. Note that this is only necessary if you plan to feed it bugs.

If it's outside (recommended), though, don't bother. It's gonna rain the next two days.

Regarding other Sarracenia (hooded), you never need to "water" the pitchers. They have hoods to keep water out. Don't circumvent this. If it "rains sideways" some water will get it, but the hoods still keep a lot of rain water out.

I tried filling hooded Sarrs' pitchers because there were bugs in it but no fluid, and the results were not good. They have hoods because rain water in most Sarrs will cause the pitcher to fall over and sometimes snap due to their height vs. the weight of the water. The one I filled tipped over and all the bugs came pouring out, and the plant yelled at me and called me names.

If left to their own devices, when hooded Sarrs have bugs they produce fluid and the bugs do get digested. Sarrs are gluttonous pigs and catch tons of insects per pitcher (some of mine have actually fallen over due to the weight of bugs in the pitcher alone).

Veronis wrote:he one I filled tipped over and all the bugs came pouring out, and the plant yelled at me and called me names.

Did you get it on video? I'd love to see it!

Matt wrote:

Veronis wrote:he one I filled tipped over and all the bugs came pouring out, and the plant yelled at me and called me names.

Did you get it on video? I'd love to see it!

No unfortunately I didn't catch the name-calling on video. Judith Hindle is a mean and spiteful woman though, and knows some very colorful words, I'll tell you that much.

Veronis wrote:No unfortunately I didn't catch the name-calling on video. Judith Hindle is a mean and spiteful woman though, and knows some very colorful words, I'll tell you that much.

doku wrote: My S. purpurea seem to always be full of ants while my other Sarracenia seem to be full of flies, bees, and wasps.

lol, actually my Purpurea has atleast 3 wasps in in. They make an awful sound when they are trying to get out, but then suddenly they go quiet.........

I guess it just depends where you place them. I noticed for a couple of days, wasps would always visit my Purpurea to drink the water out of the drainage tray. I guess they got too curious as to what was in the pitchers and fell in.