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Carnivorous Plants/sarracenias pot size

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Expert: - 4/5/2010


Question
I bought 2 purpurea,they came from Fly Trap Farm in 3"pots their @ 4" high now,Should I replant now or wait until,next Spring before they start coming back 2 life?I'm not sure of what pot size 2 use.I have 3 extra 6" pots that I had flytraps living in last year and only one survived,no thanks to a roomate that emptied their water supply!!That rat bastard!!

Answer
Hello Rick,

You could go ahead and repot them now if you like. Pot them into a 4 or 5 inch pot each and repot as necessary into a larger pot. When you notice roots poking out the pot bottom or the plant simply seems too unweildy in a smaller pot, place it in a bigger pot that can contain its root growth properly, and its leaf growth to your tastes. For growing season repoting you can simply loosen and remove the entire soil ball from the pot and place it in a lager pot with just enough new moss and perlite to fill in. Right after winter next year, you can do a full repotting by taking the plant out of its pot and washing some of the old soil from the roots in a bowl of distilled water, then repot it in fresh soil.

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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