Sarracenia Project
 

So... since I have spare time while waiting to transplant my Coconut Project tree, I've been wanting to attempt growing sarracenia for years. There are lots of Jack in the Pulpit growing down by our tiny creek, but I've always wanted the native Northern Pitcher Plant by my pond. I planted a few Jack in the Pulpit many years back up by the house, and have a nice little colony here.

I recently found a place on Etsy that had rhizomes for a very decent price... a "grab bag" of assorted rhizomes, six for $25. They should arrive Friday. Exciting, right?!?

Been doing all my reading and homework. I bought a bag of Canadian sphagnum peat, and already have sand on hand...doing a 3:1 mix. I plan to bury them just below surface level, crown just above soil line (Sounds like planting a water lily.)

I was going to plant in a large pot with holes in the bottom and place at top of my pond biofall. It seemed perfect, as they'd have a constant water flow and stay moist. Was going to put them in the garage to overwinter.

Now I'm reading that pond water will have too many nitrates and will slowly cause death of the sarracenia. So rainwater or RO water. I guess when it says a "bog plant" that the bogs aren't adjacent to fish poop water. {{sigh}} So much for my idea of having them in a bog in my pond area. Now another place to haul RO or rain water to instead. :roll:

Any successful sarracenia growers who want to chime in with advice on WaterWitchin's latest and greatest project?? :bowing

I don't grow Sarracenia, but if I were you I'd say screw it and try anyway, with a Guinea rhizome :biggrin:

Depending on the type of wet land they like, there's a chance nutrients aren't totally missing. I've seen wild Drosera growing happily on very rich compost.

If you can, get live Sphagnum; it will act as a buffer and sequestrate most nutrients.

you can make a one way water ladder ( i made up that name lol)

take a large cheapo pot 3-4 gallon and fill the bottom with the largest lava rock an charcoal you can find and then bury the pots into the pond "edge" up to the level that the rocks occupy in the pot.
then add an inch of sand and more rocks and then use the last 6-8" of the pot for the bog mix.

this is like a backwards backwoods drinking filter.

the water will wick up but the materials should reduce the movement of nutients (i am doing this adjacent to a neighbors koi pond and it is working for sundew and pitchers.


i think that a lot of the water ends up coming from rain here but it is working for about 8 months


you can also just fake the build in the pond and use a pond liner to keep the water separate

It's really true that nitrogen is death to establishing Sarracenias. Same with mineral content. Do some reading at the International Carnivorous Plant Society. The safest way is living Sphag and rain, or peat:sand and rain. Wash the sand multiple times in pure water. Many CP addicts keep a container of live sphagnum for potting new plants. It requires pure water, direct sun and intermediate temperatures.

Stand the Sarracenia pot in a dish of rain in full sun in spring. You might need to move it when it heats up.

Do you mean mixed species/hybrids rhizomes? Purpurata needs/tolerates much colder winters than the others.

If you go enough off the beaten path, they often grow in ditches around here, but they often have standing rainwater.

When I lived in SC, I grew them in pots that were 50/50 sand and sphagnum. Bright sun, no fertilizer ever, lots of water.

Easy for you to say! Guinea Pigrhizome will happen once they proliferate. These guys are usually expensive! Ummm... I could buy some live sphag, but then I'd have to also keep it alive. :biggrin:

---------- Post added at 08:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:38 AM ----------

I like the one-way ladder/backwards drinking filter idea. Think I'll try that experiment once I get some growth. Most of the sites I read where folks grow the sarracenia said the ones they had in real deal pond water lasted two or three years and slowly declined. (chat places where folks grow sarracenia but main focus is koi pond). Once I get a colony going, it would be fun to grow like that and just have "replacements" ready once they decline. And most of my pond water comes from a hose and just dechlorinated. We don't get enough rainfall here to keep up with the hot summer months.

---------- Post added at 08:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:44 AM ----------

I have read there, and it's a good resource. Yes, these are mixed species and includes one hybrid. It's a guess until they grow what they are, but also why they were inexpensive. I plan on wintering the whole thing in the garage in winter. Likely will get a purpurata, but my focus is a couple of tall "wow" type pitchers. Go big or go home type display. :biggrin:

---------- Post added at 08:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:47 AM ----------

Supposedly they grow off the beaten path here, but I've yet to see them and have spent a lot of time off the beaten path over the years. Geologist/surveyor cousin spends tons of time off the beaten path in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas... he said very occasionally he'll see a few. When you were in SC, I presume rain water or RO, right?

No, tap water, but it was so pure, it was close enough.

Here in southeastern NC, about 80 miles from where I lived back then, our tap water is about 100 ppm TDS (true, not measured), of which half is calcium added to "sweeten" the taste.

Plants just arrived! Pictures will be coming up soon, after I get them planted! I'm excited!

Here's my new little beauties, just unpacked.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ium/Sarra2.jpg

Then a lot of thinking and being nervous about planting them. I read that if you used sand, it had to be clean and washed. Ran to hardware store so I could substituted sand with perlite.

Then the quandary... right size pot and depth. Wringing of hands. Bugged a friend half to death with questions (thanks Judah for the patience!). :bowing Numerous pictures of pots sent back and forth. Then decided they should be in orchid space for awhile until they recovered from their trip, so convince husband to haul everything upstairs.... That guy who was promised once I had the new orchid space he wouldn't have to schlep pots up and down the stairs. :biggrin:

FINALLY planted.:blushing:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ium/Sarra1.jpg

This is almost as nerve wracking as waiting for a coconut to sprout! :rofl:

I think it is perfect. Just keep the lower bowl full and you will see amazing growth

I’ve grown them in lined quarter barrels with a peat sand blend. As mentioned, ro or rainwater only and full sun. Keep it wet as in standing water! You can then mulch them with pine needles to insulate in the winter and they should come back the following spring. Love sarracenia! There’s a guy in CA whose website is actually called the sarracenia project...check it out as that is some serious sarracenia addition.

From reading, I think I'll haul them into the garage in winter months. At least until I'm sure they're multiplying in a big way. I've already seen a couple I'd like to add, but am waiting to see how these go. They're rather addictive, aren't they? :biggrin:

YES!!!

Not sure if that can be helpful/relevant, but I stumbled upon a cool concept recently: the bog filter.

There seems to be lots of information about it, maybe it can give you inspiration for future projects.

What size should a pond bog filter be? - YouTube
Wetland Filtration for Pond Health - YouTube

Build an Active Gravel Bog Filter - Nelson Water Gardens and Nursery

Yes, that's one of the things we used to sell and build for customers at my water garden store, prior to retirement. I've got 'er all knowed up about that stuff. I had one in my pond area for years, before last redesign of my pond. :biggrin: But gracias for thinking about me!

A carnivorous update. So almost two months later, here we are! I'm getting there!! It's extremely interesting to watch the pitchers form. Some of them get really long and thin like a blade of grass first, then all of a sudden they sort of start to open up and form the top.

I tried to take a closeup of a really cool red red/white patterned lip on one, but it was too windy to get a good picture. Maybe next time. But check out this flower bud. It's been like that for about a month and a half, sloooowly increasing in size. Can't wait to see if it opens up, and what it will look like. This bud is taking more time to bloom than most orchids I know! :rofl:

Sorry I'm late to the party! First off, Sarracenia are not nearly as touchy about water quality as sundews and flytraps. I worked at a nursery that specialized in pond and marginal plants, and we watered everything with 200ppm Philadelphia tap water, including Sarracenia. Plants that were out for sale got rained on, but the ones in the propagation greenhouses got a straight diet of tap water without issue. As far as cold hardiness, it depends some what on the particular plant but much more so on the size of the container. In the ground, mine have seen -7°F without issue. I now mulch them with 3"-4" of pine needles, but didn't in the past. Some populations of S. purpurea purpurea are hardy to -40° in the ground. Most hybrids are good to at least -20°F in the ground. In a half barrel going below 0°F can be a dicey proposition, and in 1 gal pots 20°F can be a problem, depending upon duration. Here's a pic of my in ground bog and one of my Sarracenia, a hybrid known as 'Scarlet Belle'. I've had it 7 years, and got it in one of those little 3" pots with the clear plastic done known as "death cubes" in the CP hobby. It was over 3' in diameter last year, and I divided it for the first time this spring.

I'm so happy to have you join this party Subrosa! Was patiently waiting.

Your bog garden is looking amazing! :bowing And that Scarlet Belle... WOW! Goals...

Since mine is in a water lily pan, sounds like I'd probably better just move it to an unheated space for the winter. Fortunately, I have more time to think about it before winter arrives again.

That definitely makes the most sense in your situation. But be aware that even more important than temperature in inducing dormancy is the photoperiod. Make certain your unheated space stays dark during the night. It doesn't take much intensity to convince a plant that it's daytime, and too long of a day will confuse it into thinking it's spring and time to wake up.

Not a problem on the darkness side. Metal building, no windows. And also good to know about the light periods. Once it starts to get above freezing I’ll just haul back outside and let Mother Nature take over again.

Here we are in fall... what tremendous growth from those teeny tiny little plugs I received this spring. Another month, and I'll be tucking them into the garage for their winter nap.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...Carnivore4.jpg

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...Carnivore3.jpg

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...Carnivore5.jpg

Nice job, and a very nice setting for your pitcher plants (near the pond). Green & blue thumbs are some of the best.

Looking awesome!!!

update please!


here is my pitcher bog...it needs to be weeded



https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ceb4f465_c.jpgIMG_2221 by J Solo, on Flickr

I would love to give an update DC. However, SOME of us don't live in a tropical paradise. :blushing:

My Sarracenia are currently residing in an unheated, barely above freezing insulated garage along with some fig trees. And husband has to schlep RO water out to the Sarracenia in a five gallon bucket from the second floor of the house, because there's about an inch of ice on top of the rain barrels. He loves me/tolerates me very well. :biggrin:

I'd post a picture, but it would be ugly. Plus OB doesn't allow me to post pictures nowadays. :((

ok, i admit, i forgot it was still real winter....that's my bad

i am so sorry that you made Mr witchin do all that schlepping....just remind him they used to all be in the basement!!!!


looking forward to the eventual update...why cant you post pics???

You should tell your husband that while it would be more work all at once, he should think about all of the bucket carrying over the years that he wouldn't need to do if he dug you a bog.

First Sarracenia flower of the season. This a S. rosea, which is the one species of Sarracenia I'm not 100% confident will survive a cold winter in the ground here, so I kept this plant potted and brought it in for the winter. As soon as it's divisible a piece will go out in the bog and I'll winter a piece indoors just in case:

DC, read this thread...Problem Logging In To Orchidboard Nothing has changed for me since then.

I do occasionally remind him that we used to schlep stuff up and down stairs twice a year. And that it helps keep his muscles strong for all the bales of hay he has to lift for the horses. It usually provokes immediate compliance. :biggrin:

---------- Post added at 10:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 AM ----------

Subrosa, I used to own a water garden business that created bogs, remember? He would likely be fine with digging one, as long as I was digging right along with him. About seven years ago, a friend who builds ponds and I reshaped my water garden and falls section. We filled in a second stream that led down from the top of falls to increase water flow to make the falls higher but use the same high head flow pump.

Fast forward... I wanted to build a bog garden. Right where three years earlier there was already a part of pond could easily have become a bog. But was now filled in and had a few tons of rock and four-man boulders on top of it. Husband looked at me, reminded me of the three years earlier project, and reminded me I'd said "I'm sure not moving these rocks twice." I lowered my tail, rolled over to expose my belly, then slunk off to lay under the porch. :blushing:

Yup, looks like checkmate to me!

No no no. You are approaching this all wrong… you have to trade. It’s simply a matter of allowing his hobbies to be the focus while you slyly add a shallow gradient bog area to the pond. Maybe you need a new biological filter area below the pump?? Lol

When I was younger it was well accepted that women changed their minds all the time, and men needed to adapt to that. Has anything changed?

In the overall scheme of things that has always been the norm. I've never been that normal... must have double clutched a gear during mitosis.

DC... MrWW's hobbies are by far the focus, let alone more expensive. He has horses. Enough said. :biggrin: I've thought about creating a bog the horses could wade in to keep hooves soft, however I'm sure they'd just eat the sarracena.

if they do it is part of the process lol...bogs get hooved visitors too, they make holes and divots for new moss and rhizomes to move and grow.

i love the idea of natural spaces that are ALSO filled with collectable and exotic plants

My brother told me I could have his wife's horses for free if I took them when she wasn't there and kept my mouth shut.