Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 6/30/2010

Question
Hi, I have a collection of Sarracenias (S. Purpurea, J. Hindle, S. Leucophylla. However, I have one common problem that kills my Sarracenias, I always observed that the pitchers are green and looks healthy, but when I look at the base of the pitcher (base part that connects the pitcher to the rhizome), it is brown in color and start from a few millimeters of browning and with a few twist the healthy pitcher will fall off.

The disease spreads to the rest of the plant and on the same spot on the rest of the pitchers, till in the end, the rhizome gets affected and when dissected evrything is brown.

Thanks for your valuable help.

Answer
Hi Gad,

Most likely your plants are falling victim to botrytis mold.  Since you live in a very humid place, this can happen easily.  It will start with a mold patch on dead foliage, then spreads to the rhizome.  You often first notice it when pitchers begin dying, but by that time the rhizome is usually too far gone to try and save the plant.

Prevention is the best remedy.  Make sure your plants are trimmed of dead leaves, and in good growing conditions.  You should have them outdoors in shallow trays of low mineral water (rainwater or distilled) in a full sun location.  When I say full sun, I mean a location that you could grow vegetables in.  Sarracenia hate shade.  Since they originate in the Southeastern U.S., they are very used to hot summers.  Shade weakened plants are much more prone to fungal infections.  Also, make sure they are in the correct soil media, which is peat moss mixed with a rock ingredient such as perlite, pumice or sand.  They should never be in any kind of commercial potting soil.

If an infection is caught early, non-copper fungicides can help.  You can also use a sulfur-based fungicide as a preventative spray, but it's not a substitute for good growing conditions.

For more information on growing Sarracenia visit our website caresheet pages.  Also consider our DVD, Grow Carnivorous Plants, volume #1.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com