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Sarracenia Care Guide
Sarracenia are one of the easiest Carnivorous plants to grow in the UK. The Genus Sarracenia consists of 15 species and sub-species and they are native to North America. The UK has a very similar climate to North America, meaning they are relatively easy to grow here. Sarracenia typically have long narrow pitchers that attract their prey. These pitchers are brightly coloured to mimic flowers so that they attract insects. They have nectar secreting glands near the mouth of the pitcher that the insects are drawn too, these are positioned so the insect has a high likely hood of slipping and falling into the pitcher. If this happens the insect is usually doomed. The inside of the pitcher has a waxy, slippery surface and additionally downward facing hairs so that the insect cannot climb out. Due to the flight characteristics of most insects the narrow tube means they cannot fly out and instead they just crash into the sides of the pitcher. At the bottom of the pitcher is fluid full of digestive enzymes to break down the prey. These nutrients are then reabsorbed and utilised by the plant.
Species
There are 8 main Sarracenia species that are listed below:
- Alata - The pale pitcher plant
- Flava - The yellow pitcher plant
- Leucophylla - The white pitcher plant
- Minor - The hooded pitcher plant
- Oreophila - The green pitcher plant
- Psittacina - The parrot pitcher plant
- Purpurea - The purple pitcher plant
- Rubra - The sweet pitcher plant
Soil and Water
I use a mix of 3 parts perlite, 2 parts peat and 1 part Growbark Pine. I top dress the pots with Growbark pine just to keep the rhizome as dry as possible during the winter. Other growers will have their own specific mixes. As with all carnivorous plants they need rainwater (not tap water)or water with a low TDS reading. In the summer the plants stand in a few cm of water all the time. In the winter I put them all on capillary matting and top water sparingly when they dry out to prevent rot and botrytis, keeping them just damp.
Growing Conditions
Sarracenia can acclimate to a variety of growing conditions. They can be grown in really sunny windowsill, a terrarium (if provided with intense light), a greenhouse or outside. I grow all my Sarracenia in the greenhouse. This allows them to wake up a little earlier in the spring and go to sleep a bit later in the autumn. They love bright, full sun. Some will go dormant over winter losing all their pitchers and growing non carnivorous winter leaves called phyllodia. Some species like Leucophylla may hold onto their pitchers throughout the winter and wont produce their best pitchers till the Autumn. They require a cold winter dormancy from Halloween to Valentines Day. They will survive being frozen in UK winters and will do equally fine in hot summers (when we get them) as long as they are standing in plenty of water.
