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Carnivorous Plants/s. pitchers hurt

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Expert: - 5/19/2011


Question
HI! My sarracenia alata has been growing lots of developing pitchers. But last might my careless mom accidently knocked it over. Luckily there were no completely mtured pitcher but the 2 largest developing pitchers got bent and their top halfs were gone. (like sliced away) Will the pitchers still grow or should i just cut them off?

Answer
Hello Victor,

The pitchers are just leaves. Since they have been damaged, those particular pitchers will not become fully functional pitchers, however; you can keep whatever parts of them stay green so the plant can absorb sunlight with them. Just clip off whatever parts are broken as they will brown and die off eventually. Your Sarracenia will grow more leaves, dont worry.

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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