Expert: Christopher Littrell - 7/5/2010

Question
Hi! I have a slight problem with 2 of my sarracenias... First Im gonna describe growing conditions... Plants are grown outside all year roung, and they have come every year in order... no problems whatsoever... plants are growing in pure sphagnum peat, receiving at least 5 hours of full sunshine... I grow them in pots, burrowed in bog, because I planned on moving the plants in a future, on a different and better location... Not so long ago, we had a big problem with floods... There were lots of rainy days, but water didn't make any problems by itself, but all the mud and garbage it took with it... I took the plants out and washed and cleaned them... I had no bigger losses, except that i lost my dionaea and s. psittacina (i never had luck with that one... :(
This is the problem... one of my sarracenia, which mostly resembles to be Sarracenia leucophylla, is developing pitchers that are normally tall, but narrow and not so big whatsoever... The plants and crowns are perfectly healthy, but pitchers are small, but tall... IT looks that the only bug they could catch with the size of that pitchers are fruit flies... (maybe something a little bigger...) I must tell that that same plant has set up a flower spike this year, but I have cut it not a long after it opened a flower, to promote growth... what is wrong???

second, I have some type of sarracenia purpurea, which used to be pinkish/red, but turned in a green color... It has been grown in same conditions... what is wrong with it? please reply soon! thanx! :)

Answer
Hello Elvis,

All of your descriptions indicate a problem with adequate lighting. When plants loose coloration and grow abnormally tall, thin leaves, they are suffering starvation. They simply need more light of greater intensity and for longer hours in the day. Sarracenias need a minimum of 8 hours of full, strong, direct sun each day. More than that would be even better. You might need to move the plants to a brighter area or provide artificial lighting to add to the natural light in your region. If your area has overcast days or the plants are placed where houses and trees occlude the sun, then they need to be placed where they get full sun all day long.

Christopher