Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 10/29/2010

Question
A few weeks ago here in Southern California, wee'd been getting a lot of rain.
I decided to leave my carnivorous plants outside in the rain so that they could
get some fresh rainwater. Two days later, I went back to check on them and I
noticed that the soil seemed lifted. Upon closer inspection, I found that the
bowl had flooded completely. When i touched the soil, the entire thing -
including the plants - actually rippled as if it was a mat floating on top of the
water. I was very concerned, so I finally found out a way to suck out most of
the water so that the soil stopped rippling. In total, my Sarracenia Purpurea,
Minor, and  'Cobras Nest', and Venus Flytraps were flooded for almost three
days. So my question is: Does this happen in nature? If not, then will my
plants be okay? Thanks!
I have posted a video on Facebook for you to see the rippling effect from too
much water.
http://www.facebook.com/video/?id=1846825733

Answer
This isn't a problem in the short-term.  These plants will sometimes experience periodic floods in the wild.  However, the fact that your bowl is doing this means that you don't have sufficient drainage.  The bowl should have drainage holes to allow water to drain freely.  You may need to repot the bowl to make sure the drain holes aren't plugged by debris.  If so, place some small rocks around the drain holes, and then add the soil to the bowl.

For more information about growing North American carnivorous plants, watch Volume 1 of the Grow Carnivorous Plants DVD series.
http://www.cobraplant.com/DVD

Good growing!
Jacob Farin