AboutSarracenia Northwest Expertise Got a carnivorous plant problem? The growers at Sarracenia Northwest can help! Carnivorous plant experts Jeff Dallas and Jacob Farin have helped thousands of growers around the world, and they can help you too. When you submit your question, they will diagnose your situation and offer a solution to help you get your carnivorous plant back on track.
Experience With over 40 years of combined experience, Jeff and Jacob has definitely taken a straight forward approach to growing carnivorous plants. Get the straight facts from the guys who grow and propagate thousands of these plants every year.
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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?)
Hi have some Sarrs that the pitchers are becoming very dried. I notice no insect type damage. They are sitting in plenty of rainwater in proper CP soil media. Other sarrs in the area seem to be doing fine. Could it be some sort of fungus? If it is what do I look for? Photo attached
Thanks Much
Bud
Answer Hi Bud,
Thank-you for sending the picture. That was a great help.
When otherwise healthy leaves suddenly die like that, you may have a botrytis fungal infection in the rhizome. Immediately unpot the plant and examine the rhizome. Cut away any part of the rhizome that appears dead. You should only see white tissue. Don't leave any brown. Heavily spray the healthy parts with a sulfur based fungicide, and repot in fresh media. Don't use any of the old soil. If you've caught it early enough, you should be able to save the remainder of the plant.
Things you can do to help prevent this include not keeping the pots too deep in the water, removing old leaves that can harbor the fungus, and plenty of sun. Even with that it does happen occasionally. Sarracenia purpurea and S. rubra varieties seem most prone to it.
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