Sarracenia is a super easy carnivorous plant to grow. Just water with the appropriate water source, put it in full sun and leave it alone! That’s pretty much it!
Upon arrival, pull the plant out of the box, and carefully unwrap and remove the crinkle paper. Carefully remove the loose moss around the roots, leaving the moss plug that it is growing through intact and repot in a carnivorous plant mix that has been soaked with the appropriate water by filling the pot, but not packing it too tightly. Make a hole in the soil that is as deep as the roots and then place the roots into the soil with the crown of the rhizome where the leaves are growing out at soil level to prevent fungal infection and gently press the soil around it so that it stands upright and place it in a dish of the appropriate water going about a half an inch up the side of the pot.
Bottom water with ONLY distilled water (but NO other types of bottled water), reverse osmosis water or clean, collected rain. NO TAP WATER! Tap water contains dissolved minerals that will slowly kill your plant. Sarracenia cannot tolerate as much tap water as Nepenthes can, and you should attempt to never use tap or well water on your carnivorous plants. Your plant may be tired and stressed on arrival. Give the plant time to adjust and plenty of light and it will be back to normal in no time.
Sarracenia enjoy a minimum of 4 hours a day of bright FULL blasting sunlight outdoors and do not like to be inside. Even in a windowsill the sunlight is diffused and weakened considerably and Sarracenia need full sun. Sarracenia are cold hardy in Zones 7 - 10 year round and can survive with protection year round in zones 5 and 6. Provided that the temperatures go above freezing during the day, Sarracenia can handle temperatures dipping to 20 degrees at night during dormancy and can handle temps in the 90s during Summer.
In Winter, the plant will die back and go dormant. This dormancy phase is necessary and must be allowed or the plant will burn itself out after approximately two years and die. If you live in one of the safe zones, you can take your Sarracenia out of the shallow dish at this time and just allow it to get rained on periodically, as they do not need as much water in the Winter time. If you live in one of the areas that requires protection, keep inside an unheated garage or shed or cover to ensure survival. Those who live outside the safe growing zones will need to keep the plant in an unheated shed or inside of the refrigerator for 3 to 4 months until they are ready to come out of dormancy in Spring.
Never use Miracle-Gro or fertilized perlite or potting soil with any carnivorous plants, as you could burn them up and NEVER give your plants people food. Sarracenia will catch all that they need from eating bugs.
If you have any questions or we can be of any help when you get the plant or in the future, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Remember: No care guide is going to be perfect for every situation. Plants in rainy Seattle will have different needs than plants in hot and dry New Mexico. We recommend that all customers read their care guide thoroughly, follow the instructions, listen to what your plant is telling you about what it needs and adjust accordingly.