Expert: Christopher Littrell - 6/14/2010

Question
HEY i managed to save a sarracenia orephila from a florist that did not even know what it had he was growing it in shade,wrong soil mix and even fertilized it the plant was diying so i took it home.I knew i had to act fast to save it so i did i transplanted it into peatmoss,bark,some sand,and sphagnum moss i know strange mix,but even more strange it worked!Next i moved it to full sun and it has flurished i even managed to propagate it!But here is the question i live in puerto rico a tropical island the sun horificly hot here expecialy now in summer i am hatching a few dionea seeds.Where the oreophila is i had a flytrap and it fried. I am afraid the same will happen here with the seedlings when the are moved out.What do i do?I am thinking moving it closer to the house where the sun is less intense but i am not sure also i provide dormancy in the fridge since my sarracenia is huge is there a way to make it fit comfterably?

Answer
Hello Yulain,

The soil mix you have the plant in sounds mostly normal for that species. You really do not need the bark, but the rest of the mix is what everyone else would use to aid in the survival of a Sarracenia. So long as the heat levels do not go beyond 100 to 110, and the plants kept well watered, they should be fine. You will want to protect the seedlings by placing them in less intense, and less hot, conditions. You could place the seedlings under and near some larger plants to shade them a bit.

In winter dormancy, you can clip back the leaves of the plants and then place them in the refrigerator if that is the best way you can overwinter them. You can also use an ice chest with frozen water bottles to serve the same purpose while keeping the refrigerator free for food and beverages. The ice chest helps reduce mold and keeps you intent on observing and caring for the plants rather than leaving them in the cold, dark for 3 months. Just open the chest in the day and place it in a bright window for several hours of sun. At night, close it to reduce the temperature down to about 40. Replace the water bottles every 12 hours or so and keep several in the freezer at a time to replenish the supply of ice constantly. Replace any degraded bottles as you need as sometimes they spring holes and leak. It sounds like you already have the idea of changing seasonal lighting in Fall and Spring to keep the plants on a dormancy cycle, so I won't belabor the point.

Christopher