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Carnivorous Plants/baby pitchers bad or good

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Expert: - 4/17/2009


Question

pitcher plant
I have a pitcher plant and it has like 4 big pitchers with
openings big enough for bugs, and then like 7 tiny
pitchers. some of these babies are brown on top (zoom in on
pic). The only reason i kept thse on is cuz i thought the
lant would need them for photosynthesis, and i didnt want
to put the plant into shock, however, i also think maybe
the plant is putting energy into keeping thse small less
useful pitchers alive when it could be using energy into
making new useful pitchers, or upgrading the existing, or
to put up a flower..also are those pitchers even useful
because if i cut them off thered be room for new growth

Answer
Hello Matt,

What you are seeing is a young Sarracenia purpurea or hybrid theroff putting up rhizome divisions. The tiny pitchers are baby plants that are sprouting from the parent plant's root system. There is no need to stress out about this as it is a natural occurrance. The plant "knows" what it is doing so to speak. I have a similar plant that is a hybrid of S. purpurea that is 2 years old and over 6 inches across and already putting up rhizome divisions as well. Your plant looks healthy and has some color developing on the leaves. It could do with a little more light to develop intense coloration. Are you growing it indoors? If so, remember, Sarracenias require a huge amount of light to grow properly. They are garden plants that should be with roses and other outside plants in full sunlight. Without intense light they will stop producing coloration and begin producing deformed leaves, eventually running out of energy and dying within a year. If you have to grow it indoors due to weather conditions in your region you will need to obtain several banks of florescent lights that add up to at least 12000 lumens and place the plant in the brightest sunny window you can find, placing the florescent lights right over the plant within 4 inches of the leaves and right in the window.


Christopher  

Christopher Littrell

Expertise

I am capable of answering questions about the most common carnivorous plants found in cultivation. I have no personal experience with Byblis, Drosophyllum, Aldrovanda, and Heliamphora. I have not cultivated gemmae forming pygmy sundews nor tuberous sundews. For information regarding those aforementioned species, I would suggest contacting other experts. I can answer questions regarding most species of Nepenthes, tropical and temperate Drosera, Mexican Pinguicula, Sarracenias, and Dionaea. I have some limited experience with growing Utricularia, Cephalotus, and Darlingtonia.

Experience

I have grown carnivorous plants off and on for about 27 years. I have made the same mistakes and suffered the same mishaps that many growers make as they attempt to separate the myths from the realities of growing these plants. Currently, I am successfully growing a variety of tropical sundews, a Nepenthes, several Venus Flytraps of varying ages, and Sarracenias. I have been successful in stratifying Sarracenia seeds and providing artificial dormancy requirements for my temperate plants when needed.

Education/Credentials
I hold a Master's degree in Educational Psychology. Over my lifetime, I have constantly read books involving the growing conditions of carnivorous plants. I hope to incorporate the educational aspects involved in psychology with teaching other people how to cultivate carnivorous plants.

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