FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Is my CL sick or did it somehow go in to dormancy? I have had it for about 9 months or so. It took off like a weed reaching over 13 inches but now the main large pitcher along with several of the smaller pitchers have all turned from a deep red to brown and almost dying off for dormancy. There have been no changes to soil or water but I did increase light in my greenhouse by an hour. I would hope that would not signal dormancy but I am not a CL expert.

In my grow area, Darlingtonia goes dormant by slowing and ceasing growth. There is no die-off of the pitchers.
Has there been a change of temperature?
Cobras throw hissy fits from mild to terminal if their roots get too warm.
Throw a container of CP Water in the fridge and top water your Cobra every day to cool down the roots and flush away anything building up there, making the plant unhappy.
I vary the photoperiod a little bit each day, using an astronomical timing program on a Raspberry PI, mimicking normal seasonal change.
I've never heard of a plant having a nervous breakdown from a sudden 1 hour lighting increase, but who knows?
Also, YMMV, I'm not a Darlingtonia expert.

I have distilled ice I keep in the freezer. Gets that about once a week. Maybe I should increase.

Despite having hundreds of Darlingtonia, I too am no expert, but that as a growth pattern does not happen, it looks to me like there are three plants in that pot and the largest has died. That is dead growth rather than a dormant plant. What has caused that I dont know, they do get sudden death syndrome, generally heat is a good candidate.

Gently lift it and see what the rhizome looks like, if its dead cut it out and get rid of it. I agree that a change of 1 hour in the light shouldn't do it.

Cheers
Steve

I have learnt from experience with quite a few of mine that died whilst being grown in a mix of peat and perlite but since switching to growing in live sphagnum moss alone they have thrived but get around 2-3 hours of full morning sun then shaded the rest of the day so the temperatures do not reach a very high figure

I think I may have discovered what my original issue was. I was growing in an Aqua Bowl I bought on Amazon. This contained a a few different types of rocks. I trashed some of them as I did not like the look of them. My first one thrived growing in coarse sand and flowing water. However, it appears that some of the rocks I did keep have become chipped. I truly believe this caused something to leach in to the water and wipe out my second one. I am on the fence trying to decide if I want to get another while I wait on my seedlings to grow up. Decisions, decisions.

I don't even bother (for now anyway...) with cobra lilies – they're the hardest plants to grow, in my opinion. However, you mention seedlings...

I've noticed that the Sarrs I grow from seed in my area/conditions/climate seem much hardier than plants that I receive from others that have been living in a totally different area/conditions/climate. Something about growing a plant from seed under the conditions of your yard or garden makes it hardier (unless you move, I guess). Hopefully the same will apply to your cobra lily seedlings.

I like a challenge some times. And once they grow up they are quite stunning. I have mine indoors for now until the weather warms up and we get some sun so I can get them out in the Aqua bowl I have for them. I have solar water pumps to keep cool water flowing through them.
Pic is of mine before it froze last season.

jgreen1025 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2024 7:27 pm I've noticed that the Sarrs I grow from seed in my area/conditions/climate seem much hardier than plants that I receive from others that have been living in a totally different area/conditions/climate. Something about growing a plant from seed under the conditions of your yard or garden makes it hardier (unless you move, I guess).

This is true with all(?) plants. And just wait til you get seeds from plants grown in your own area the next year (you probably already have them, it’s just a figure of speech). Those seeds will be far hardier than seeds produced by the same type of plants somewhere else. Plants’ ability to quickly adapt to their growing environment is super neat.

jgreen1025 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2024 7:27 pm I've noticed that the Sarrs I grow from seed in my area/conditions/climate seem much hardier than plants that I receive from others that have been living in a totally different area/conditions/climate. Something about growing a plant from seed under the conditions of your yard or garden makes it hardier (unless you move, I guess). Hopefully the same will apply to your cobra lily seedlings.

Well, my seeds were from FTS so until I get some of my own I will not be able to compare. As for other Sarrs, the only one from last season that I got any seeds from is the one S.rubra ssp.alabamaensis I have that I was keeping in my grow tent and I pollinated myself. Those seeds just recently germinated for me.