Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 9/2/2011

Question
Sorry i sent you a question the other day concerning two of my sarracenia that are not growing with a picture of the plant rhizomes but forget to give you details.  The rhizomes are fairly firm but for one part on each of the rhizomes that were a little soft.  These plants get about 8.5 hours of sun per day this time of year.  our water tested around 42 ppm so i use our irrigation water but i still flush out all of my plants twice a month.  I use 50/50 peat moss and perlite, although the pots these plants were in did smell a bit sour compared to my other plants when i unpotted them.  I have had the S. leucophylla "Tarnok" for almost three years now but have had the S. Aereolata less than a year.  The tarnok i have never had this problem with before, but the aereolata i bought from you in January and it never really did anything this year.  Our spring was wishful thinking with weather that had nighttime temps at or below freezing even into may a bit.  Nothing in my bog really showed any signs of life almost until summer rolled around.  When the bog started to grow things it did so very slowly.  I tried to find that photo of the two rhizomes in question but i couldn't find it in my files at all.  To recap, I live in Meridian, Idaho and have two sarracenia that are not growing.  When the new leaves get an inch or two tall they die off, they have done this all year this year and i don't quite know what i am doing wrong as all of my other plants in the same bog are doing just fine.  Again, sorry about the pic, but i hope there is enough info here.  thanx, Nick

Answer
Based on the information you provided, it's likely the plants succumbed to a fungal infection.  This is quite common with S. leucophylla and hybrids made with this species.  I'm not sure why, but this species is prone to it, while other species are more resilient.  The cool wet spring isn't much of a help, and plants are very much prone to fungus in this type of weather.  

Based on the severity of the situation, it's difficult to determine if you can really salvage the plants, but it's always worth a try.  You'll need to unearth your plants, rinse off all the soil and trim off the dead portions of the rhizome.  This is important to reduce the spread of fungus and deterioration of the rhizome.  Basically you keep trimming the rhizome until you get to the healthy white portion.   Just make sure that the healthy portion also has healthy roots.  From there you can pretty much determine if the rhizome is worth salvaging or not.  If the healthy portion is relatively small and/or lacks healthy roots, then the plant may be on its last legs.

If you think it is worth salvaging, then spray the rest of the rhizome with a sulfur fungicide.  Be generous.  You won't harm the plant. Repot the plant in a pot of fresh soil.  Keep the plant in a greenhouse or indoors until next summer.  You'll need to keep the plant in relatively strong sunlight, such as a south window.

This method sounds extreme, and it is.  It's generally a last ditch effort to save a plant.  The very poor growth is because the plant doesn't have enough starch reserves to produce fully developed pitchers.  If the roots are healthy, you could also provide a week solution of fertilizer, 1/4 teaspoon per gallon, into the soil, and flush the soil completely the following day.  Do this once a week until you see a well developed pitcher.  It may take several months.

If you need further assistance, please write back as a follow-up.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin