Can a butterwort get rid of fungus gnats? How the sticky leaves catch adult gnats, which butterworts work best and where to place them, what they cannot do about the larvae in the soil, how they compare with drying the surface, sand, sticky traps and Bti, and how to keep the butterwort itself healthy.
The purple pitcher plant is the low, rain-catching Sarracenia and the only one that can stay outdoors all year in the coldest climates. Here is Sarracenia purpurea care in detail: how its open pitchers work, the subspecies and forms, light, water and soil, winters and bog gardens, the feeding exception, growing it indoors, and propagation.
What butterworts do in winter and how to care for them: the Mexican succulent rosette and how much to water it, temperate hibernacula outdoors or in the refrigerator, the milder winter rest of southeastern US species, waking plants in spring, and winter problems such as rot, hollow buds and fungus gnats.
A beginner’s guide to butterwort care: how the greasy, sticky leaves catch and digest prey, the three main groups of Pinguicula, light, pure water and when to use a tray, soil and pots, temperature and humidity, winter succulent rosettes and hibernacula, feeding, flowers, leaf pullings and gemmae, and common problems such as fungus gnats and rot.
Growing Sarracenia from seed takes at least four years from pollination to a flowering plant. Here is every step for American pitcher plants: hand pollination, harvesting and storing seed, cold stratification, sowing, seedling care, the first winters, pricking out, and why seedlings often differ from their parents.
Flat leaves in winter, flowers before pitchers in spring and species that pitcher early and stop are all normal. Here is how to tell them from the real reasons a Sarracenia makes no pitchers or weak, floppy ones: low light, a missed dormancy, bad water or fertilizer, a crowded pot, recent division and pests, with what to do for each.
A step-by-step guide to repotting and dividing American pitcher plants: when a pot is too crowded, the best time of year, pots and soil mixes, splitting the rhizome into healthy divisions, planting depth and orientation, aftercare, and other ways to propagate Sarracenia.
Brown pitchers on an American pitcher plant are often normal: old age, autumn dormancy, a heavy catch or a species that dies back in summer. Here is how to tell those apart from low light, sun scorch, hard water, fertilizer, pests and rhizome rot, what to do about each, and how to trim, based on the ICPS, Barry Rice’s Carnivorous Plant FAQ and specialist nurseries.
American pitcher plants need a cool winter rest every year. Here is what Sarracenia dormancy looks like, how cold and how long it should be, where your plants should spend winter in your climate, how species differ, when to trim old pitchers and how to wake them in spring.