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Carnivorous Plants/purple pitchers

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Expert: - 9/10/2009


Question
I just brought some p.p.p that were in a closed container with a lid on it. i just wanted know how big will they grow and how long do they have to stay in the container?

Answer
Hello Bill,

Purple Pitcher Plants can grow up to about a foot or more in diameter and up to about 6 inches or so inches tall.

Since the supplier has them in containers with humidity domes (generally a bad idea), you will need to slowly adapt the plants to low humidity. You can adapt a plant to low humidity by gradually opening the domes a fraction of an inch on one side and bracing the dome up. Every three days, open the dome even more and even lift the the other sides and brace them up. After about 2 weeks the plants should be better adapted to the humidity in your area. You can also just punch some 1/4 inch holes in the domes every 3 days. About half a dozen holes every three days will gradually lower the humidity in the dome until the dome is so full of holes it no longer holds in humidity. After two or so weeks, remove the domes.

I tend to avoid places that sell carnivorous plants under domes and with crazy instructions about high humidity and feeding.

If the instructions with these plants did not indicate anything about the pitcher fluid, this is the one and only case in which water should be poured in the pitchers to promote insect capture and nitrogen procurement. Purple Pitcher Plants rely more on rain water to fill their pitchers as seen in the pitcher structure that lacks lids over the pitcher openings.

Christopher

Carnivorous Plants

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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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