Trim All Sarracenia Pitchers in Late Winter

Jacob here with Sarracenia Northwest. A viewer asked me if Sarracenia would lose a substantial amount of nutrition if we cut off the older pitchers in late winter before new growth emerges.

Trimming off older pitchers is something we do to our Sarracenia. We typically do this in mid to late winter, hacking back all pitchers down to the rhizome. The goal is to clear the way so the new growth gets as much sunlight as possible. With maximum sunlight, new pitchers are healthier and stronger.

Now, these older pitchers still have bugs in them, so the viewer asked, "Is the trade-off for more light reaching the new growth worth it when there are still bugs in the older pitchers?" That's a very reasonable question. Yes, there are still bugs in the older pitchers. If we cut one open, you can see all the insects captured during the previous growing season. So, going back to the question, is giving the new growth maximum sunlight a worthwhile trade-off, given how many bugs remain in the pitchers?

First, let's look at the premise of that question. The premise is that bugs will boost the plant's new growth in early spring. Now, there's a misconception that bugs are a source of energy for the plant. Carnivorous plants don't get their energy from bugs. Instead, they get their energy from sugars they produce from photosynthesis. Plants take in carbon dioxide and transform it into sugars with the help of sunlight and water. Plants then convert those sugars into energy.

So, bugs are not at all a source of energy for plants. Bugs are only a source of fertilizer, much like the fertilizer you give to your vegetables and houseplants. With most commercially available fertilizers, their primary ingredients are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. They also contain trace minerals. And plants use these nutrients for healthy development, kind of like how humans use vitamin supplements. So, think of bugs like tiny packets of fertilizers or vitamin pills. 

Sarracenia, being a type of carnivorous plant, get fertilizer through their leaves rather than their roots. In addition, the amount of fertilizer or bugs they need are not a lot. And by late winter, much of the bugs have already decomposed, and the nutrients have already been absorbed by the plant. What remains in the pitchers are undigestible parts of bugs. So, keeping older pitchers has no significant benefit in springtime, especially when they prevent new growth from getting maximum sunlight.

Now, people often ask a follow-up question. Won't it be best to leave the pitchers on your Sarracenia for photosynthesis? It makes sense, right? If Sarracenia need pitchers for photosynthesis to make sugars for energy, why not leave the older pitchers on if they still look good?

Now, Sarracenia grow by rhizomes, which are underground stems that grow along the soil surface. On the rhizomes are growing points, also called crowns. New pitchers emerge from these growing points along the rhizome. Throughout the growing season, Sarracenia will store excess sugars in the rhizomes as starches. They will also store minerals from bugs in the rhizome. So, even if you cut off the pitchers, the plant will still have a source of energy and minerals. They're all stored within the rhizome. In spring, the plant will then use the stored sugars and minerals to produce new growth. It's the same with bulbs, like tulips and daffodils.

Many years ago, we experimented with a batch of Sarracenia. We wanted to see if it was feasible to trim them in summer rather than in late winter because winters in Oregon are generally cold and wet. During that little experiment, we saw that the early-season pitchers on those plants were very weak and floppy when compared to plants that were already trimmed. They were weaker because the older pitchers shaded them as they emerged. Without sufficient sunlight, the base of the pitchers couldn't develop properly and couldn't support their own weight when they fully matured.

Floppy pitchers can also happen throughout the growing season when growers overcrowd their Sarracenia display. I answered a question about that in a previous video. A grower wondered why his tall Sarracenia pitchers kept flopping over in late season despite his plants being in full sun. In his particular  situation, pitchers were flopping over because his display was overcrowded and the new growth wasn't getting enough sunlight. I recommended that he spread his plants further apart. You can find a link to that video in the description below if you haven't watched it.

Floppy pitchers can also happen to spring growth if you keep the older pitchers in place. If the older pitchers shade the spring growth, you'll end up with floppy pitchers at the start of spring. It’s also a tedious nightmare to trim off the older pitchers without damaging the new growth. For this reason, we recommend cutting off the all older pitchers in late winter before new growth emerges.

The only plants that we don't trim back all the way are Sarracenia purpurea and psittacina. These plants have very small rhizomes compared to other species, so they don't store a lot of sugars. However, they make up for it by producing leaves that last into the next growing season. So with these plants, we recommend clipping off only the brown pitchers. Keep any pitchers that still look good.

But, the other species store lots of sugars and minerals in their hefty rhizomes, so it’s ok to clip off the older pitchers in late winter before spring growth emerges. Even if the pitchers still look good, we recommend cutting them off. Clipping off the older pitchers will also give the new growth more sunlight. Your plant will then have stronger and more colorful pitchers in spring.

Now, if you want more information about growing carnivorous plants, subscribe to our channel. We produce a monthly care video to show you what you need to do for your plants as the seasons change. We also respond to questions submitted to us by carnivorous plant growers. And this video is a perfect example of that.

If you want to add some Sarracenia to your collection of plants, visit our website, growcarnivorousplants.com. Our inventory changes monthly and seasonally, and we typically release a fresh crop of Sarracenia every April. So visit the website to checkout the inventory. Thank you so much for watching. I look forward to seeing you in another video.