Bonsai?

[gricey]

has anyone every thought of, done, had success with Bonsai Carnivory?

hope that isn't too stupid a question as the general consensus I feel is that the bigger, the stronger, the showier the better with pitchers. Indeed if left unchecked they can spread and grow like weeds...but......I had a small division and didn't want to risk leaving it in ground (just as well as we had a right cold winter) and felt like I needed a little project.

So, I stuck it in the lid of a candle jar and this year it has awoken. It is a small rhizome but has multiple pitchers as you can see. it has not been shaped or cut in anyway, this is to come. The white label is a basic plastic plant label so for size is about +/-10cm

I am assuming that it will eventually grow and need moving but in the meantime it is a nice little ornament on the desk. It has even been catching small flies when put by the window

 

Edited June 22, 2017 by gricey
cant use reply button

[Stu]

You can temporarily create kusamono or shitakusa by way of small seedlings in tiny proportional containers, but you cannot truly create a 'bonsai' which is to continue to maintain a diminutive adult plant by means of root pruning.

Sarracenia continually to extend their rhizome and you will soon find it reaching the edge of the pot. As the growing point is always at the head of the rhizome, you will run into problems as the soft new growth squashes against the pot edge. The only thing you could do is break the back end off the rhizome so it fits in the pot again. I'm not sure how extremely limited pot depth and/or root pruning would affect top growth, but as Sarracenia roots tend to be not massive anyway, I would imagine the top growth would still be too high (out of proportion) over time.

As a further point; as the rhizome/roots fill the entire pot, you will be on dangerous ground with regards to keeping it watered! - even more so than traditional bonsai plants as Sarracenia start to wilt fairly quickly without damp conditions.

[Tropicat]

I think other plants might be more suitable. There are ofc small versions of CP (pygmy drosera, vft cudo, certain pinguicula's), but they are not bonsai's like stu said.

[gricey]

cheers stu.

Confirms most of my thinking and assumptions. It would be nice for the little feller to flourish and grow, as stated just a small cutting that I didn't expect to see out the winter outside, gave him a chance and he is growing nicely in the little pot now he has woken up. For size at present he is in a large Yankee lid, +/- 2". Pitchers are set 3-4" or so.

I do understand that the rhizome will/should/hopefully swell and grow and move across the pot thus making the project pointless.

I suppose that the next few months/year he will just be a little curio that can sit in the office when fully dressed. Then after a trim and a sleep, into a proper pot and rejoin the rest of the family outside. Might even take a few more babies (Darlingtonia, Flava, Filliformis, Dionaea) dress and jar 'em as a curio nursery until the new year