You are here:

Carnivorous Plants/Plants didn't come out of dormancy

Advertisement

Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 6/6/2008


Question
It's the same person with the hard water.  All experts just said there were too many follow-ups and said to make a new question.   Anyway, I felt the roots and they were all firm except for the typical yellow trumpet. But when I picked a little bit of the rhizome off, they were sweet-potato color. (orangey-tan).  The outsides of the roots were maroon.  I guess I should start over when I will get an RO unit.  Thanks so much for the help!

Answer
Yes, it sounds like all of those plants are goners.  An RO unit would be a great investment if you plan to have a substantial number of plants.  You can find one that you attach to your kitchen faucet for just under $100.  Since you also keep fishes, you might want to invest in a larger unit that can process a lot of water.  We use a unit called Merlin by GE.  We got it from a dealer online.  It can crank out 350 gallons a day, and it cost about $350.  That's a great bargain when you consider that similar units of the same capacity often cost well over $700.  Though the kitchen unit is more affordable, it will only process 12 gallons a day.  So you can imagine that it'll take about 22 hours to fill up a 10-gallon fish tank.  

Good growing!
Jacob Farin

Carnivorous Plants

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

Sarracenia Northwest

Expertise

If your plant is showing poor growth, discoloration, abnormal leaves or possible infestation, the growers at Sarracenia Northwest can help! Carnivorous plant experts Jeff Dallas and Jacob Farin will help you diagnose the problem and get your plants on the right track. Their no nonsense approach has helped thousands of growers all over the world. They can help you too!

Experience

With over 40 years of combined experience, Jeff and Jacob has definitely taken a straight forward approach to growing carnivorous plants. They have encountered many types of diseases, abnormal growth and infestations related to carnivorous plants, and they know what it takes to get plants looking beautiful and healthy again. Get the straight facts from the guys who grow and propagate thousands of these plants every year.

Education/Credentials
Authors of Secrets to Growing Beautiful Carnivorous Plants for Your Home and Garden and producers of the Grow Carnivorous Plants! DVD Series. They also produce a monthly video podcast to illustrate how plants cycle through the seasons.

No terrariums. No myths. No nonsense.


PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR QUESTION:
We no longer answer how-to questions (i.e. How do I propagate...?; How do I grow...?).

Instead, we help growers by diagnosing a specific plant problem and offering solutions (i.e. Why is my sundew not producing dew?; Is now a good time to divide my Sarracenia?; Why are the traps turning black?; What's a good substitute for perlite?; Why didn't my seeds germinate?; Can you identify this carnivorous plant for me?)

If you are looking for general care and specific how-to information, please visit the following pages on our main website:
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets

For business questions:
http://www.cobraplant.com/contact

Monthly Carnivorous Plant Care


©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.