Post by waxy on May 20, 2014 9:46:16 GMT -5
The good news is it seems the rhizome is still healthy and the plant can be revived. Bad news is it's going to take some work to get it up to speed again.
I'm concerned that it hasn't already started significant growth yet. Plants in California have generally been growing for some time. Cold is not a problem for these plants. When dormant, they can easily take outside frosts and freezes into the mid 20's, even lower with care. (See Carl Mazur's Zone 6b blog from Ontario, Canada zone6b.wordpress.com/ Granted, his plants are in the ground and not in pots, but these plants are fairly hardy.) In fact they need the cold temps and growers in warm climates without frosts store them in refrigerators for a couple of months. This is what boggrower referred to when he mentioned a messed up dormancy. If you had your plant indoors at room temps above 50 all winter they have probably used up most of the food reserves stored in that rhizome. The cold slows the metabolism enough so that wouldn't have happened. BTW, don't let it go through a warm dormancy again next winter, you will likely kill the plant.
As hcarlton said, boiling the water does no good. As a matter of fact it only concentrates any dissolved salts and makes it worse for the plants. If you don't have the R O filtered water he mentioned, use rain water (free) or distilled water (not spring/drinking water, about $1/gal at the grocery). To undo some of the probable salt buildup already in the pot, put the whole pot with plant into a container of water that will allow you to submerge the top of the soil below an inch of water. Let it soak an hour or two then remove the plant and pour off the water. Repeat it at least once more. This is called leaching and should be repeated once a month if you are keeping the plant indoors. If the plant were outside, exposed to periodic soaking rain, this would happen naturally and flush out dissolved salts from the pot. Keeping a tray of water for the plant to sit in is usually necessary to keep the plant from ever drying out (good) but it also acts like boiling, allowing dissolved mineral salt to accumulate and concentrate (bad) to an unhealthy level. Don't just add water to the tray when it dries out. Water from the top of the pot and dump the first flush of water from the tray. Water the pot again from the top until the tray is filled. Top watering and periodic leaching of the soil keeps dissolved salts under control.
Finally, any dried or brown leaves should be cut off. Don't pull them off of the rhizome yet, cut them off about an inch above it. You don't want to stress or damage that rhizome any more than it is. Any leaf that is partially green, trim away only the dead part just above the green. This will allow the plant to continue to make at least a little food as it tries to grow and recover.
As the plant begins to grow again, look to see that the new leaves are not flattened like a kitchen knife (we call these phyllodia) or are not tall, skinny, winding ribbons. This would mean there is still not enough light for it. You should see at least some small, tubular pitchers, hopefully some larger ones.
You have your work cut out for you. I wish you all the best and good growing. Let us know how you make out.
I'm concerned that it hasn't already started significant growth yet. Plants in California have generally been growing for some time. Cold is not a problem for these plants. When dormant, they can easily take outside frosts and freezes into the mid 20's, even lower with care. (See Carl Mazur's Zone 6b blog from Ontario, Canada zone6b.wordpress.com/ Granted, his plants are in the ground and not in pots, but these plants are fairly hardy.) In fact they need the cold temps and growers in warm climates without frosts store them in refrigerators for a couple of months. This is what boggrower referred to when he mentioned a messed up dormancy. If you had your plant indoors at room temps above 50 all winter they have probably used up most of the food reserves stored in that rhizome. The cold slows the metabolism enough so that wouldn't have happened. BTW, don't let it go through a warm dormancy again next winter, you will likely kill the plant.
As hcarlton said, boiling the water does no good. As a matter of fact it only concentrates any dissolved salts and makes it worse for the plants. If you don't have the R O filtered water he mentioned, use rain water (free) or distilled water (not spring/drinking water, about $1/gal at the grocery). To undo some of the probable salt buildup already in the pot, put the whole pot with plant into a container of water that will allow you to submerge the top of the soil below an inch of water. Let it soak an hour or two then remove the plant and pour off the water. Repeat it at least once more. This is called leaching and should be repeated once a month if you are keeping the plant indoors. If the plant were outside, exposed to periodic soaking rain, this would happen naturally and flush out dissolved salts from the pot. Keeping a tray of water for the plant to sit in is usually necessary to keep the plant from ever drying out (good) but it also acts like boiling, allowing dissolved mineral salt to accumulate and concentrate (bad) to an unhealthy level. Don't just add water to the tray when it dries out. Water from the top of the pot and dump the first flush of water from the tray. Water the pot again from the top until the tray is filled. Top watering and periodic leaching of the soil keeps dissolved salts under control.
Finally, any dried or brown leaves should be cut off. Don't pull them off of the rhizome yet, cut them off about an inch above it. You don't want to stress or damage that rhizome any more than it is. Any leaf that is partially green, trim away only the dead part just above the green. This will allow the plant to continue to make at least a little food as it tries to grow and recover.
As the plant begins to grow again, look to see that the new leaves are not flattened like a kitchen knife (we call these phyllodia) or are not tall, skinny, winding ribbons. This would mean there is still not enough light for it. You should see at least some small, tubular pitchers, hopefully some larger ones.
You have your work cut out for you. I wish you all the best and good growing. Let us know how you make out.