Jeannie7, First I don't see where I said anything about adding wood chips to anything. And adding anything to the top of the soil will never, I repeat NEVER rob nitrogen from the soil. I have been gardening for all of my life, composting for most of that also. Never has there been a need to add store bought fertiliter to a compost pile. What is the point when I can add things that come from the kitchen or horse barn which is all free. Yard waste when i can get it also, which is also free. Also the person who started this thread never said anything about adding wood chips to anything. Even not totally finished compost will add nitrogen to the soil. Now if you love to use store bought stuff, great go right ahead, but please stop attacking people that don't find the need to do so. Buying food has more than just "excrete it out". Without food your body doesn't have fule to function. Unlike a compost pile, without greens it still will compost. And again on the top of the soil it will not rob the soil of its nitrogen. You might be in zone 5, not sure what Canadas zones are, but you don't have a clue as to what Missouri soils need. We don't need peat moss-I am 3rd generation in this area and not one has put peat moss in a garden or compost pile. Or store bought fertilizer. Oh and joytosew, you do not need peatmoss, leaves will do the same here in Missouri. Again I repeat you also don't have the need to go to any store and buy anything for a compost pile. I have not in the 20 years I have lived in this house, my parents never did in the 40 years they lived in the house I grew up in, my mothers parents and now my uncles don't do it at the farms they have. Why when there are so many free resorces out there. Isn't composting suppose to be a way to keep stuff out of the landfill in order to also enrich our soils? And if your pile freezes soild, again no big deal. Once spring hits and it warms back up the pile will become compost really quick. I spread out some compost a month ago around some butterfly bushes that were just barely making it. Never did to good this past summer. Some would say the compost was not done however that one butterfly bush has gotten so much greener and has doubled in size. So if it is robbing my soil of nitrogen I would say butterfly bushes don't need it. So if it doesn't need it why add it to the pile? Sandy

I used to live in florida too. The hot sun there and the humidity will be very kind to your sarracenia. They love intense sunlight. The same goes for flytraps. It is probably a good idea to acclimate them a bit first, but I've taken sarracenia straight from shady nurseries to full sun before with no ill effects. In a few weeks, you'll probably see some pretty coloration on the pitchers. Use a 1:1 soil mix of NON-fertilized peat moss and perlite. Never ever use miracle grow soils, potting soils, or fertilizers. They kill plants fast. For planting in pots, use either plastic or glazed. Terra cotta loses water fast and can leach nutrients into the soil (bad). Use only distilled water or the abundant florida rain to keep em wet. Generally, CPs are kept on the tray system, where they are planted into a draining pot which is inside of a deep tray. This way, you keep standing water close to the roots. Now comes the problem. You bought your plant in winter. And since you got it from a hardware store, it probably has no idea what season it is. Sarracenia and flytraps need dormancy as a general rule, but it's probably best if you don't try to force it on them this year. Hopefully it'll survive. I'd recommend only buying tropical plants if you want more this winter. That means mexican butterworts, nepenthes, and tropical sundews. I'm not sure how cold it's gonna get around where you are. If you don't expect significantly low temps, you could probably get away with growing butterworts and sundews outside in partial sun. Nepenthes can be a bit testy, so I'd hold off on them for now. However, I suspect that florida would be a great place to grow lowland nepenthes outside year round.

Thanks Karyn1. I brought the plants outside again and will watch the temps at night. I'm thinking I might let one go dormant and try to keep the other happy in the garden room. I will have other tropical plants there so I'll have to try to figure out what supplemental lighting I'll need to keep them happy. I'm pretty new to gardening, so I still have lots of questions. For the one going dormant, do I need to keep it in a cooler place or just a dark place? My only choices are warm and dark (basement) or cold and dark (unheated garage the sometimes goes to freezing). Should I cut the leaves off in addition to part of the stems? Is there anything you need to know about cuttings (size, place on plant, etc)? Can I keep the cuttings in just water until the spring? Do they need any additional nourishment? I'm also planning to move them into bigger pots (14"?) but will probably wait until spring. I can't do too large or I won't be able to move them.

Hi, Sarah. The cultural issues most likely to cause wilting are over-watering, under-watering, high temps, and a high level of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil solution. The later is usually accompanied by necrosis of leaf margins on lyrata, unless the high level of salts was due to a very recent fertilizing. If it wilted while the soil was still damp, your issue would probably be related to the effects of over-watering and/or the heat. Water and nutrient uptake is an energy driven process. It takes oxygen to burn (convert) the food (carbohydrates - from photosynthesis) into the energy that drives root metabolism. Too much water in the rhizosphere (root zone) means too little air means not enough O2 means the work of water uptake is compromised. The heat increases the rate of respiration increases water demand and exacerbates the issue. I would: Shade the pot to help keep roots cool if the plant has direct sun hitting it Use a wood dowel or bamboo skewer to test the soil, waiting to water until the soil is nearly but not quite dry. When soil is at first dry to the touch, there is still 10-15% additional water left that the plant can access - so a built-in margin for error. Flush the soil thoroughly the next time the plant needs watering by pouring a volume of water equal to the pot capacity up to 10 times, using room temp water; this, to rid the soil of accumulating salts. Then, fertilize the plant with a soluble fertilizer with a 3:1:2 NPK ratio. RATIO is different than NPK %s - ask if you'd like me to explain the difference. After flushing the soil, water on an as needed basis. Don't let the soil remain saturated for extended periods. I can also help you learn how to deal with soils that hold too much water, if you think that's an issue. I'll wait on your comments before I offer anything else. Al