Q/A #148 - Something Eating Sarracenia Rhizomes

QUESTION:
Are these Sarracenia salvageable? I'm not exactly sure if it was snails, slugs or caterpillars but it completely ate the crown and bore into the rhizome creating a little "den". If I clean the area, treat it with an insecticide and/or fungicide, will the plant survive Will it produce another growth point elsewhere? The rest of the rhizome is otherwise healthy. This happened to several of my Sarracenia!
( Submitted in August 2021.)

RESPONSE BY JEFF DALLAS:
Not sure if this will survive or not. Looks like you have some substantial root rot occurring. Here's what I recommend. Unpot each plant, wash away all the old media, and inspect the rhizomes. Cut away anything that is brown or mushy. You will need to be ruthless. Only white rhizome material and roots should be present. After that, repot them in fresh media of equal parts peat moss and perlite.

I'm also concerned about your growing conditions. If you have several plants where this is happening, you have a severe environmental issue as opposed to pests. Hard to tell without seeing your growing area, but the appearance of the leaves of this Sarracenia looks like it's been in low light. They should be in full sun, the type of sun required to grow tomatoes. 

Judging from the soil appearance, they're possibly sitting too deep in water as well. When watering tray method you only want the water to be 1/4 of the depth of the pot. This is especially important in hot weather.

After fixing these issues, only time will tell if the plants are salvageable. 

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