Expert: Christopher Littrell - 3/20/2008

Question
Here in Kentucky springtime is slowly creeping upon us, and the time for me to consider some more outdoor species is now! Because our summer days nights are very muggy, rarely going below 65 and frequently rising above 85, growing a Darlingtonia in a container is out of the question. I can't afford to construcruct and all-out bog garden, nor can I get a drip-watering system. However, I got an interesting idea the other day. My dad has a little pond in front of our house that gets full sun and has a waterfall that circulates and cools the water. If I were to purchase a floating island from Sarracenia Northwest and set the Cobra Plant in the pot, would that keep its roots cool? I really love the way the interesting plants look, and they would really look great with my Sarracenia and Dionaea. Thanks a lot!

Answer
Hello Corey,

The main consideration with Darlingtonia root systems would be moving, cool water trickling down into the soil around the roots at least some of the time daily. Just placing the plants in a pot and floating them in a pond would be about the same as placing them in a pot in a large tray of water. It might keep the plants slightly cooler, but it would not provide moving water inside the pot. You might want to send a question to Sarracenia northwest directly and see if they have more information about Darlingtonia that can help you as my experience with Darlingtonia is a bit limited.

I would suggest trying to set up some rubber tubing from the waterfall feature to the pots so that some water trickles through the tubes and down into the pots of the Darlingtonia, in effect, creating your own water drip system.

Christopher