Overpotting CPs

[linuxman]

Having just re-seen the thread on repotting sarras reminded me of query I've had for a while. Do other growers find that overpotting young plants inhibits their growth? I've seen this with vfts whcih can get smaller and sometimes die. Also small sarracenia divisions in big pots seem to sulk for quite a while lasting even into years! Anybody else got any experiences thaey want to share?

[North West Neps]

I have no experiences to share sorry Martin, but i look at it this way, plants aren't 'potted' in the wild and therefore have no physical bounderies.

Surely that answers any questions ?

I've had some interesting results with my nepenthes though. A batch of my self sown sibuyanensis x burkei seedlings were planted in 5cm pots and a random selection were planted in 23cm pond baskets when they were all just 1.5cm in diameter. I found that the ones planted in the way oversized 23cm baskets grew quicker. The only thing i can think of that could explain this, is a more even temperature and moistness in the larger mass of the pond baskets. The seedlings in the small 5cm pots probably have a greater temperature and moistness fluctuation which maybe inhibits the growth rate ? That's the only reason i can come up with, they're side by side in identical conditions in the greenhouse.

Of course, it may not apply to 'bog plants' i'm not sure.

[ada]

Martin,Welshy, I think neps are more fussy than sarra's overall and what Welshy says about temps/moisture makes sense for them.

I have found repotting sarra seedlings always gives them a boost if you are using good quality peat.In fact i have just repotted some this weekend but they were in the same pot for over a year,i waited while they had grown a few pitchers this year before doing it.

I never pot them into a massive or oversized pot,just the next size up.The only time i found they didn't grow when repotted was when i used moorland gold.

The only thing i have found is no matter what you do some sarra clones just dont grow well this far north,the frost and cold/damp winters just don't suit them,they never look as good as when grown further south where it is slightly warmer and they get a longer growing season or should that be a shorter winter?

ada

[Alexis]

Sarras seem happy even when they're in small pots and rootbound. They do seem to be happiest when left alone for a few years, or conversely rescued from concrete peat they've been sat in for ages.

I repotted all my flytraps into taller pots a couple of years ago and they seem very happy.

[linuxman]

The only thing i have found is no matter what you do some sarra clones just dont grow well this far north,the frost and cold/damp winters just don't suit them,they never look as good as when grown further south where it is slightly warmer and they get a longer growing season or should that be a shorter winter?

ada

I think you're right ada. I put some small divisions in small pots and the grew really well and even flowered, but others put in larger pots have sulked for years. I'm coming to the conclusion it's more down to the clone rather than the species.

[Hud357]

My experience with sarracenia is that overpotted ones develop more but smaller pitchers. Not always what you want.

 

I broke up an overpotted one last month and now, in individual pots, the pitchers are back the way I remembered them (large and green). Could just be me of course, hardly a 'scientific' finding.

[ada]

some plants do benefit from being broke up and repotted,my Sussex co flava is one,all it did was divide and produce pitchers about 15 inches tall,Last year i split it all apart,one single crown is now about 28 inch tall.

But my leuco Titan or cronus just did nothing no matter what i did and i had it for years and years, so i sold it!

good riddance i say,i'm still sorting out good and bad growers up here in the cold grey north.

If they grow well up here,they will grow well anywhere.

ada

[Mujinamo]

I like to give my Sarracenia as much room as possible to grow. All of mine are in pots at least 30cm tall and 20 cm wide. When I repot them I find that the roots often reach to the bottom of the pot, so I think the plants like it. My flava is currently in a 60cm tall pot.

 

With that being said, in February I got three leucophylla in a trade and since they were small I just potted them in the same pot as the flava, which is not yet mature yet. The plants didn't seem to like it and one plant took four months to open a new pitcher. And the new growth is also shorter than the original growth. 

 

 

[cpbobby]

lol, I do not think it is possible to have a pot that is too big for sarracenia.  

 

Joking aside, I do not believe small sarracenia sulk in a big pot but do well in a small pot....may just be an issue of management/infrastructure. 

 

I try to pot as oversized as possible but it never works out for me since I usually repot in the winter and they always get bigger than I estimate. Coupled with way more new acquisitions than I anticipate can lead to a light management issue. Again with experience you learn to pot all your big sarracenia in 1 section and your smaller/new acquisitions in a different section so the pot can be rotated for an even distribution of sunlight. 

 

Overall the longer you can avoid repotting the more robust they will become especially for pre-adult sarracenia. For me the full acclimatization period seems to be 2 seasons.

 

While I use sarracenia in my reply the example can most likely be applied to most plants in general. 

 

1 side note/discovery I have made is sometimes it is necessary to bury small sarracenia deeper than larger ones so they can be properly anchored which could be a contributing factor to plant's complaining. I would try raising the planting level and maybe plant some thick moss around it and or using some small rocks on top of it to anchor it instead of planting it deeper and the immature plant may respond more favorably. 

Edited June 27, 2016 by cpbobby

[Incursion]

lol, I do not think it is possible to have a pot that is too big for sarracenia.  

 

Joking aside, I do not believe small sarracenia sulk in a big pot but do well in a small pot....may just be an issue of management/infrastructure. 

 

Could it be that if any plant has more room to grow its roots, it will try to focus on that for a while as it will gain some nutrition from finding 'pockets' in the media, which is generally where the root tips head? (Science backs this suggestion up) Then as it gets older and more root bound, as a carnivorous plant it focuses more on its evolutionary advantage of collecting resources (hence bigger more elaborate looking traps). I realise there is not that much nutrition in the media most CP's are put in, however obviously fresh media will have fresh resources to tap into. I would also second that most of my plants in a pot which is becomming root bound (or at very least roots attempting to break the bottom of the pot) they tend to produce bigger more attractive traps whereas small ones go nuts with lots of foilage (possibly for harnessing more light?)

 

By the way on a side note, Ada is correct, I live about 100 ish miles south of him, and the plants I bought of him are growing like mad. They must think they're on holiday down here with the warmer weather! (Not to mention the bonuses which have popped up in his pots (d.rotundifolia, p.lustianica and lets not talk about the d.capensis ) Shocking really that such a small distance (geographically) can make a huge difference on lighting and average temperature.