Dead or not?

[swemike]

Hi! I have two sarracenia of an unknown specimen that I'm worried about. They have been in my cellar from early October till late March and I brought them up into light for a month ago.

I took away all dead and faded pitchers and small green pitchers were growing. But I think I gave them a bit too much water so the growing pitchers died Not that much water like being more wet/damp than dry/damp.

I changed the soil to a mix with peat and perlite instead. I'm worried and concerned why they aren't growin any new pitchers? Are they dead or do I have to wait and give them much sunlight? I have checked the roots and they seems to be OK. And the problem doesn't end here. Small two-leaf weeds are growing together with the sarracenia and I pick them up with roots several times a week.

[peterhewitt]

weeds are a pretty normal occurrence and removing them a normal daily chore, your plant is probably still alive, but a picture would help. it would take a few days/ weeks to rot a Sarracenia from too much water, so i would put the plant in the sun, keep the soil just damp to start with, treat normally when you see definite signs of growth.

[swemike]

Well, they look like this in my greenhouse on my balcony




This one have had a small green gowing trap

very small sarracenia that i don't think managed to catch any bugs this summer




A growing sarracenia

[Aidan]

I reckon the plant in the last photo is still alive...

[brokken]

Aidan: You sure have a bright disposition.

I have to concur with Aidan in that your other plants MAY have kicked the bucket (or pot as it were). But who knows... I've seen some miraculous recoveries.

[swemike]

Hmm.... I hope not they have said thank you and good bye. As I have got small green pitchers growing but I gave them a bit too much water and they faded away. One green pitcher sadly broke (picture 3) of when I changed pot from sea sand, spahgnum (or how it's now spelled) and peat to peat and perlite. I'll give them a try at least till June. If nothing happends till then, maybe they are dead. If you look at picture two, you can see two small green growing pitchers in the lower corner right at the "lower" root (left side). They withered away when I gave it a bit too much water

[Alexis]

This reminds me of the Monty Python dead parrot sketch!

I'd chuck them before the botrytis spreads to your only living specimen.

[swemike]

What do you mean? Any transitable diseases?

[petmantis]

What were the temps during dormancy?

Did you let the soil dry out during dormancy?

were you using the correct water, soil, light exposure, etc during the growing season?

[unstuckintime]

I can sympathizes with such Sarracenia die off. Mine were frozen for too long, it seems, and when I repotted them into a bog container, all my flytraps and sarracenia and drosera were mush, not unlike what you have there. So, the major factors would be- too cold, or too wet.

[swemike]

They stood in my cellar from early October till late March with almost no light. I gave them water sometimes so they could drink as much water they wanted on a saucer, so not on the plants. The temperature was approx +10 degrees Celcius, maybe sometime +5 degrees Celcius depending how cold it was outdoor. We had a very long, snowy and cold winter. I used and uses tap water. It's taken from the river and filtrated, humus removed and very little chalc is added at he water purification work,

[stevebooth]

Hi swemike
Do I understand that you had a mix of sea sand and peat in the pots? If you do and unless it is well washed or weathered it will, do your plants harm, possibly killing them.
Also in your last post you say you water them with tap water which has a little chalk is added to it. These plants grow in acidic conditions and the addition of any alkaline on a regular basis, in however small a quantity, will eventually kill them.
You should have the plants potted in a a mix of peat and sand or peat and perlite and water them with rainwater. That will help them greatly.

Good luck
Steve

[peterhewitt]

Yes, i failed to read that part. If your plants were potted in a sea sand mix of any kind, no matter how washed or leached, they would surely die. With a change of media to a regular one, you may get re-generation from the Rhizome, but the damage might be done.

[taz6122]

I would start peeling the dead layers off the rhizomes to see if there is still living tissue. You may be able to save some small pieces to grow new plants with. It doesn't hurt to try. You can trim any rot off with a sharp knife and replant them in fresh media.

[Alexis]

Bin them. Buy some more.

It happens.