I’ve been doing some re-organizing, and a little bit of clean up lately. A lot of the pitchers from earlier this year have turned crispy, so I’m choppin’ em off. ESPECIALLY the plants that I moved outside from the greenhouse. (UGH, what a mess.) Anyway, removing dead foliage helps with your basic plant hygiene. Removing those dead pitchers allows for better light and air circulation, which in turn, leads to healthier plants. When plants get crowded and you got all that dead tissue shizznits going on all up-in-that mofo, well – uh — it can open up the door to some Sarracenia funk. It *can* get nasty! A little bit each day I’m doing some clean up. And, come Winter, I’ll probably be slicing everything back down to the rhizome! Oh, good times indeed!
Dead pitchers, beware.…
I’m taking notes here so I can keep happy that young pup you gifted me at Matti and Megan’s BAPP fest. When you say “cut it back to the rhizome, I wonder what that looks like. Below soil line? Does the exact point matter? ¡Thanks!
Hey there Mark! So I try to clean up the pitchers a little bit during dormancy. to answer your question, I don’t cut below the soil line and the exact point does not matter (as long as I get the dead material, I’m happy). The older pitchers I’ll cut as close to the rhizome, but you can leave some on. Some species/hybrids will produce non-carnivorous leaves called phyllodia – that helps them photosynthesize a bit during those months. I leave the growpoint (where the pitchers emerge) in tact since that’s where the pitchers will grow from in the spring. Hope that helps!
Yes it does, thanks again.
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