FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

at the start of last spring (I'm in australia, so about half a year ago), I purchased a Sarracenia leuophylla f. ruby joyce from a well known nursery online. The plant arrived bare root and coming out of dormancy. I potted it with a peat/sand/perlite mix and have grown it in a sunny location since then. The plant was obviously shocked and set-back in its growth, and only produced very thin non-pitchers. I expected that it would at least produce at least one open, tubular (albeit weak) pitcher by the end of summer, but it has not done so. The plant is still actively growing, putting out a red shoot from the rhizome every week or so.


Do you think that this is normal given the circumstances? I hear the S. leucophyllas produce their best pitchers during autumn so hopefully, it will show signs of more recovery.

My leucophyllas (SW Queensland) are thriving in full sun, with 100% peat and a shallow water bath under the pot.

This little fellow had been inside, and getting insufficient sun, when I moved it outside, a couple of weeks prior to this photo in January 2011:


It's now two thriving plants in (January 2014 photos), and I'll be splitting and repotting at the appropriate time.





I've noticed my leucophyllas are much more thirsty, in terms of water throughput, than my purpureas of similar age and maturity.

Usually, non carnivorous phyllodia are caused by lack of light. Try giving it more light. All Sarracenia need very high light levels, but especially this species. Some phyllodia are normal for this species, but it should have pitchers.

Another thing that leucophylla do is go into sulks especially when stressed and repotted from bare root. I have had them go two years, before in year three they decide to look like they mean to put on a show.
Assuming your media is OK and conditions are good, it will recover but in its own sweet time.
Your last picture is typical of phyllodiform leaf production (the newest one), it has a pitcher on it that opens to about 3mm or so and is only at the leaf tip, otherwise it is a phyllodia, it will produce them till it is happy then start on the pitchers proper.
Bear with it, it will be worth it.

Cheers
steve

Thanks guys. It receives 5 good hours of australian sun, so I think the conditions should be alright. I was just worried as I don't have much experience with sarracenias and the phyllodia didn't exactly resemble those of the S. flava growing next to it. I hope it starts pitchering next year.

5 Hours of sunlight is okay for a dormant plant, but an actively growing Sarr should be getting much more than that in my opinion.

Starchy wrote:5 Hours of sunlight is okay for a dormant plant, but an actively growing Sarr should be getting much more than that in my opinion.

That's five direct hours of direct sun on average now that the autumn is coming along. Normally gets above 6 in mid summer. It gets indirect sunlight the rest of the day.

My Sarrs get 8-10 hours of direct sunlight during the summer, and 2-4 additional hours of indirect sunlight. Now, I live in Massachusetts, USA so my sun isnt too offensive for my Sarrs. But as long as you keep them well watered to cool them down, they love the sun.

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Where I've seen sarrs in the wild, all the healthiest ones were getting 10-12 hours of direct sun. The temperatures in summer there are about 30°- 40°C every day. In the winter it gets kind of chilly, but not super cold (though it did get flurries this winter!)
These were S. alata, but from what I've heard, S. lecuophylla needs more light than any other sarr. The plants all had a reddish flush to them, and all of them had red veins.
These plants are basically on 30 degrees north latitude, so your light is just a little bit less intense than this habitat. This climate is technically subtropical, but they do get a few light frosts each year.
So, give them more light!
I hope the pointers on their native habitat helps!

Unfortunately, it's in the position that receives the most light already. I have a S. flava var rubricorpora next to it that's beginning to get a reddish flush in some of its half-pitcher-half-phyllodia leaves, so hopefully thats a good indicator of enough light. That being said, its sort of uneven and could actually indicate a dying leaf or pest damage.

The plant has since given me a small but carnivorous pitcher with a nice pink blush. Hopefully next year it will grow more robustly.