June 30, 2023
Q/A #122 - Sarracenia Barry is Pitcherless in Florida
QUESTION:
I bought Sarracenia Barry in March of this year. It arrived in good condition with 2 pitchers. My problem is that no new pitchers have developed since I received the plant. I live in Central Florida, and Barry get direct sun from sun up until approximately 2 hours before sunset. It is watered with rainwater and potted in long stem peat moss.
As you can see by the pictures all of my plants are doing fine. what is my problem with Barry?
(Submitted in June 2020.)
RESPONSE BY JEFF DALLAS:
You are not doing anything wrong. Given that you're in Central Florida, the plant looks exactly as it should for this time of year.
Sarracenia Barry is a complex hybrid involving S. flava var. atropurpurea and S. oreophila. (There's another parent plant in there, but we don't know what it is.) Barry is considered an early-season grower, so the best pitchers are produced in the spring and early summer depending on temperatures.
Since you are in Florida, you have had warm temperatures since March, so that speeded up growth. In contrast, we were still experiencing day temperatures in the 50s and 60s. So, your growing season is about 2-3 months ahead of us. Your plant is now in its midsummer growth producing only the non-carnivorous phyllodia. We normally don't see this until August at our nursery. When your weather cools this fall you may see another pitcher or two before it goes dormant.
Next spring your plant will emerge from dormancy in February, so you should see a nice flush of new pitchers, similar to what we see in late May and early June.
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