Post by meizzwang on Jan 21, 2014 22:33:40 GMT -5
Normally, when it's freezing cold outside, I'm not as worried about pruning, pests, rot, and diseases. However, with the warm temperatures and extreme drought we've been having here in California, we have new challenges that are othewise normally "dormant". First off, there's potentially less time to prune and transplant because we are in danger of having the plants break out of dormancy earlier than normal. Another challenge are pests, like thrips and mealy bugs. With warmer temperatures comes bigger winter pest populations, and controlling them early in the season is crucial to prevent outbreaks and crop damage.
Sanitation and prevention are the best ways to keep your plants healthy. Clear up all the weeds in the surrounding area to prevent overwintering pests from having a "hide out" during the dormancy period. Cut away all dead pitchers and get those rhizomes exposed to light-this will help ward off fungi and bacterial issues.
Here's a photo of a tub of S. leucophylla Hurricane creek white before being pruned. Had I left these pitchers on for a few more weeks, a couple of these rhizomes may have rotted out, as this dense layer of leaves creates a humid, dark microclimate, which invites many nasty fungi and bacteria to attack:
Here's the same tub, but now it's all cleaned up. Bacteria and fungi have a harder time attacking the rhizomes under this circumstance because there's a lot better air flow, and the sun dries out the surface:
I'm not too worried about the S. roseas-they don't seem to need as much care during the winter, but they will benefit from cleaning up the dead leaves. I haven't gotten to this pot yet:
A little more than half of the collection has been trimmed-still have a ways to go:
Lots of dead leaves:
There are massive piles of leaves:
In the front are plants that still need trimming, whereas in the back, they're all done. Looks a lot cleaner and organized once they're all pruned:
Another shot:
One last one:
Sanitation and prevention are the best ways to keep your plants healthy. Clear up all the weeds in the surrounding area to prevent overwintering pests from having a "hide out" during the dormancy period. Cut away all dead pitchers and get those rhizomes exposed to light-this will help ward off fungi and bacterial issues.
Here's a photo of a tub of S. leucophylla Hurricane creek white before being pruned. Had I left these pitchers on for a few more weeks, a couple of these rhizomes may have rotted out, as this dense layer of leaves creates a humid, dark microclimate, which invites many nasty fungi and bacteria to attack:
Here's the same tub, but now it's all cleaned up. Bacteria and fungi have a harder time attacking the rhizomes under this circumstance because there's a lot better air flow, and the sun dries out the surface:
I'm not too worried about the S. roseas-they don't seem to need as much care during the winter, but they will benefit from cleaning up the dead leaves. I haven't gotten to this pot yet:
A little more than half of the collection has been trimmed-still have a ways to go:
Lots of dead leaves:
There are massive piles of leaves:
In the front are plants that still need trimming, whereas in the back, they're all done. Looks a lot cleaner and organized once they're all pruned:
Another shot:
One last one: