wanting to try it again

10 years ago

my local food city sells pitcher plants in the summer. I bought my first one, hung it on my front porch. kept the pitchers half filled with creek water (I have a creek in my backyard). kept the soil moist. the pitchers one by one turned brown and dried up. itd have baby pitchers show but did the same thing. the 2nd time I tried I hung it up inside of my backdoor where its sunny. the same thing but the leaves stayed pretty and green for a long time afterwards. I resisted buying one last summer afraid id kill it. I know they go dormant in the winter. do they completely die down and send out new growth in the spring? they are so unusual looking I would love to have one survive.

Comments (3)

LandStander
10 years ago
Hello Jeannie,

I am a beginner myself, so bear that in mind...
First, if there is liquid already in the pitchers when you get them, do not fill them up! The plant makes its own liquid, and you dilute its fluid if you fill them with water, making it much less viscous. This means any bugs that do get in the pitcher could get away. What kind of soil are you using? Stay away from regular gardening dirt; you want extremely porous soil like live sphagnum moss and peat.
tommyr_gw Zone 6
10 years ago
Are these Sarracenia or Nepenthes?
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Drosera84
10 years ago
Hanging basket are usually Nepenthes and these are tropical pitcher plants. So they do not go in to dormant. When they seem to "die back" that mean that they are dieing. Unless you live in zone 9 or above you can't grow them outside year-round. Another think is that I think that you are feeding it the wrong water. Nepenthes's water can be up to 150ppm or 160ppm no higher
But good luck with 2nd try