🌿 Update: First Upside-Down Planting from May 2025

The Sarracenia that I repotted is back in growth mode as the weather got nice this week. It is amazing. This post will be an update to the Double Repotting project I posted four months ago.

Here is comparison May on the left / October on the right.

This was the first time I planted a carnivorous plant upside-down. I did not know what the reaction would be.

A few days after I pulled this stunt, the leaves twisted and tried to adapt. Since the leaves are sticky by nature (to catch bugs), they tried to go upward and stuck to the bottom of the plastic pot.

Now, we are heading into spring and growth is exploding on all my insect catchers. You can see new leaves and some are heading downward. Maybe they are finally figuring out that the situation is permanent.

It looks like they are hooking sideways in order to orient themselves to attract bugs. I hope that works for it.

Topside - The Sarracenia

All the leaves turned brown and got dry as winter went on, there was no growth except for some small pitchers (leaves) coming out of the core, and I did nothing with it while the weather was cold.

This one was all brown on its top half and the above shot was from today. It perked up and now the part that was brown has turned green again. What a surprise!

The above shot, is the best I can do until I get my other camera working. This shows the whole pot - top and bottom. It is hard to see, but there is a pitcher/leave that has sprouted up in the last 3 days and it is taller than all of the other ones. The one that was short and revived is it the new ones foreground.

Here is a close up of the newest and tallest leaf/pitcher...

The only way to get a smart phone to focus on these is to put something (a hand) right behind them. I learned something new about these pitcher plants - this one was the first I have ever owned.

The indentation in the leaf will be the hinge for the "hat" or unbrella of the leaf.

They grow flat and closed until they get to their top height. Eventually, this will fill with digestive juices, and become tubular, then the "hat" will position itself above the trap. I have not seen it happen live before.

Also as a part of this update, I added moss to the pot. Last post on this project, I talked about a couple small plants that were growing at the base of the Sarracenia. Before adding moss, I had to replant those babies. There were four, not just two. After replanting those, I was able to get more moss into the pot.

You can also see many new pitchers getting ready to do what the first, new one just did. I have a feeling this will be a huge plant in a few weeks. Big and beautiful!

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Thanks for taking the time to learn more about Bug Eaters. They are really fun to cultivate.