FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

wow saris are really "glootinous pigs"

S. purpurea/S. rosea are amazing !!

I live near a natural (insitu) site of sarracenia purpurea called 'Blainville tourbiere(peatbog)'

Like veronis said, enzimes(proteases? dont remember) and bacterias help the plant for nitrogen and azote absorption.

What is special with purp and rosea is the durable pitchers ! The pitchers can last 2 or 3 years, even with very brutal Canadian winters. The first year, digestives enzymes and bacteria are working for the plant. The second year in the life of a pitcher, the enzymes are not produced anymore, so only bacterias help the plant for nutriments assimilation. The enzymes are only produced in the first year of a new pitcher. Its a very interesting fact

Hmm... I have a Sarracenia x mitchelliana and I belive that that's a hybrid between S. purpurea and S. leucophylla. So, should it or should it not contain rainwater?

Pivilio wrote:Hmm... I have a Sarracenia x mitchelliana and I belive that that's a hybrid between S. purpurea and S. leucophylla. So, should it or should it not contain rainwater?

Probably not. The upright pitchers will topple over if they contain a lot of rainwater.

Just rescued a S. purpurea from a local hardware store.

Mind if I fire off a Sarr. noob question?


My plant is inside under grow lights. I am repotting it tomorrow. In any case, since it is indoors, there is no rain. Should I fill the pitchers a bit with distilled water or let them do their thing? I understand that digestion method 'A' works in purpurea as well, so will it sort of compensate with its own fluid? Thanks!


Kbud, Sarr. noob

Well first thing's first, is there a reason you aren't growing it outside? I don't know of too many people that successfully grow many sarracenia indoors (though I do agree that purps would be easiest). If you absolutely must grow them indoors, then I would add a little water but since there isn't much to eat, it may not even be worth the trouble

Hey, thanks for the reply SFLguy!


I don't really have much experience with sarrs., but I have never had much good luck with CPs and the outdoors, so I generally keep them inside. I figured it would be okay because they are on a 12 hour photoperiod under good lights in my setup. I was open to growing them indoors due to the encouragement The Savage Garden offers. In any case, I plan to take them to a bug infested area occasionally for "the hunt," and so figured it would be good to put a little bit of distilled water in the pitchers.

I'm not sure if a 12 hour photo period is enough, I think most people put seedlings on a 16 hour photo period. In any case if it's a Purpurea ssp. Purpurea, then it will be an extremely hardy plant, those grow all the way to Canada, if you can't the no harm done, but if you can I'd definitely suggest you leave them outside

Okay! Thanks!

Wow really informative I'll bear that in mind next time I see my new sarrecenia alata trap some flies

This is, by far, the best webpage on Sarr capture and digestion. I waste a ton of time each day looking carefully at the pitchers and seeing if they caught anything. Thank you for the great information, Veronis!

A. Plants like S. flava, S. rubra, S. minor, etc. (hooded pitchers whose hoods block rain):
The insect will die in here, either from starvation or drowning (if enough rainwater has made it in from, say, a windy torrential downpour). The plant releases enzimes from inside the walls on the lower portion of the pitcher, which envelops prey and starts breaking it down. The enzimes absorb the nutrients (e.g. nitrogen) from the insect back into the inner wall of the pitcher. Below is a cross-section of one of these pitchers. In some cases a Sarracenia will have so many digested insects inside it will fall over from the weight. Sarracenia are gluttonous pigs. The above cross-section photo was not taken by me. It is property of Barry Rice, sarracenia.com

And the smell is amazing.

Can psittacina digest insects that are still in the hair zone?

I was given a s.purpurea that was part of a dieing group at local feed and garden store. I knew nothing about carnivorous plants. I didn't even know the plants genes

Through trial and a little experience she has grown into a beauty who's size has increased four fold. I need help breaking her into daughter plants and replanting.

DEEP: How deep should the soil be?
SOIL: What is the perferred mixture? I am thinking of using a mixture of peat moss and sand. What proportions? What about stratas, maybe a layer of spaghnum moss?
WHEN: When should I replant? I live in New Orleans, zone 8, where Summer turns to Fall the last week of October and first two weeks of November. Our Winter gets into the low 30s for several days in December or January.

Seriously looking for advice, I want to do it right.


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Granpa Walt wrote:I was given a s.purpurea that was part of a dieing group at local feed and garden store. I knew nothing about carnivorous plants. I didn't even know the plants genes

Through trial and a little experience she has grown into a beauty who's size has increased four fold. I need help breaking her into daughter plants and replanting.

DEEP: How deep should the soil be?
SOIL: What is the perferred mixture? I am thinking of using a mixture of peat moss and sand. What proportions? What about stratas, maybe a layer of spaghnum moss?
WHEN: When should I replant? I live in New Orleans, zone 8, where Summer turns to Fall the last week of October and first two weeks of November. Our Winter gets into the low 30s for several days in December or January.

Seriously looking for advice, I want to do it right.


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I don't know much about Sarracenia but a 4 week Winter sounds awesome

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