The Pitcher Plant Project

After my excursion to the land of Darlingtonia (check out the posts here and here), I wanted to try something new with my plants. I seem to do just OK with Darlingtonia for a few seasons, but for some reason I’ll get a few here and there that die off. I then start over again with the runners and plants I have left. I can’t seem to get good size on them like I saw out in their natural habitat. From what I hear, many say that the key is cool and running water to keep those roots cool. One grower I know grows Darlingtonia almost like aquatics! Another friend of mine said that he was able to get some good sized pitchers when he grew his in a set up that included water being pumped through a refrigeration system. I don’t really have the resources at this time to get a fancy refrigeration set up, and I’m afraid that if I attempt to grow them like aquatics in their current mix – the plants may fall victim to rot. This year, I’m trying something new with my plants – I’m changing up the media they are growing in.

I typically use a mix that includes a combination of the following: peat moss, long fiber sphagnum, pumice, perlite, and sand. When I saw them growing out in their natural habitat, I noticed many of them that were growing in seemingly little to no organic matter. Some were growing in what appeared to be straight up serpentine rock. This gave me an idea to try to grow some in mix that was a little bit more rocky. Of course, the common denominator with all of the sites I saw was that the plants were growing by or in constant running water. I figure that I could try to grow the plants in a mix that has less organic matter, and then play around with my water levels from there. Hope that this works and I’ll update from time to time throughout next year’s growing season.

The new mix that I’m trying out with the plants actually consists mostly of river pebbles! I washed the rocks out several times over to get them cleaned.

Next I add a little bit of western red cedar.

Then a little bit of long fiber sphagnum moss.

Time to pot the babies up!

Darlingtonia baby settling into the new mix and pot. For this plant, I’m testing growing it out a terra cotta pot.

Nice and potted up!

Hope I have some success with this new mix!

When I moved into this greenhouse, there was a greenhouse inside of the greenhouse that I figured would be great for Nepenthes and other plants. (You can see the dome structure in the first few photos of this post.) Well, after getting to know this greenhouse for an entire growing season, I realized that I didn’t really need it. The Nepenthes do great growing out with the Sarracenia here! I moved the Nepenthes out earlier in June, and they’ve been happy ever since. I had a few Nepenthes cuttings under the dome, but seems like they’re also doing well enough to be placed out with the rest of the plants. Now that the Dome is down, I have more room for plants! YES! I’ll be constructing 3 more water tables for Sarracenia in the place where the house once stood. Here’s a few photos documenting the take down.

The Dome.

Under The Dome – used for a few Nepenthes cuttings, bromeliads, and a few others. Those plants would also do well in the main growing area. The space that the Dome occupied would be better used for more Sarracenia!

And the cover comes off.

The Dome after a little hacksaw action.

The house has been brought down.

More space!

Next project – building 3 more water tables where the house once stood. I have a feeling that the those 3 tables will be filled up pretty quickly!