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.
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?)
Question Hey there, I was at your last open house and noticed you use kiddie pools for your plants. I also noticed that you have them lined with a plastic. Is there something in the pool plastic that is toxic to the plants? And, could you explain your rainwater catch system...do you collect straight off of your roofing?...do you use metal or plastic gutters?...do you filter your collected water?...etc...
Thank you so much, Byron
Answer Hi Byron,
The black plastic on the pools is a sun shield. The plastic the pools are made from isn't UV stabilized.
We don't use rain catchments since summers tend to be so dry in the Northwest. We use our well water passed through a reverse osmosis unit. The little plastic cabinet over by our porch has the unit along with a pump that we hose out to our pools and greenhouses. The RO unit we use is a GE Merlin that can produce 700 gallons a day. We use the discharge on our garden.
