Sarracenia 'Juthatip Soper'

Parentage and selection history of Sarracenia 'Juthatip Soper'

Sarracenia 'Juthatip Soper' is a horticultural hybrid selected and grown by Matthew Soper and registered in 2008.

Its parentage is recorded as (Sarracenia leucophylla × Sarracenia purpurea) × Sarracenia leucophylla, a backcross involving Sarracenia × mitchelliana.

How to care for Sarracenia 'Juthatip Soper'

• Light: Grow in full direct sun for firm upright pitchers and strong colour. Increase sun gradually when moving a plant from protected conditions outdoors.
• Humidity and airflow: Average ambient humidity around 40–50% is suitable. Outdoors, normal air movement is usually sufficient.
• Water: Use rainwater, distilled water or reverse-osmosis water. While the plant is growing, stand the pot in a shallow tray so the low-nutrient potting mix stays wet.
• Potting mix: Use specialist carnivorous-plant compost with very low fertility. For peat-free growing, use a specialist sphagnum-based carnivorous mix.
• Temperature: A broad range of about 5–30 °C is suitable while the plant is growing. When growth slows, give the rhizome a cool rest instead of keeping the plant warm year-round. Protect a container from prolonged exposure below about −2 °C.
• Feeding and propagation: Keep the potting mix low in nutrients and let active pitchers catch their own prey; do not add ordinary houseplant fertiliser to the potting mix. Divide an established rhizome to make another plant of the same cultivar.
• Rest: Give the rhizome a cool rest when growth slows. Keep the potting mix moist, although it can be kept slightly drier than during active growth; do not let the root zone dry out. Maintain good airflow. Older pitchers naturally brown and die back during this rest; remove them once fully dead.
• Repotting: Repot when the low-nutrient potting mix begins to break down or the root system fills the pot, using fresh carnivorous-plant mix suited to the genus.

Common problems with Sarracenia 'Juthatip Soper'

• New pitchers stay soft and green with little colour: The plant needs stronger direct sun. Increase sunlight gradually.
• Pitcher tips brown and mineral deposits appear on the surface: The water contains too many dissolved minerals. Run rainwater, distilled water or reverse-osmosis water through the pot and replace the potting mix if mineral build-up is severe.
• Pitchers wilt or stop developing while the potting mix feels dry: The rhizome needs a steady water supply while the plant is growing. Refill the tray with low-mineral water and water the pot thoroughly.
• Aphids, scale, mealybugs, slugs or snails damage new growth: Remove larger pests by hand where practical and use a treatment labelled for carnivorous ornamental plants and the identified pest, following the label for repeat applications.
• The rhizome becomes soft or black: Decay has reached the rhizome. Cut rotten portions back to firm healthy tissue with a clean tool, discard the rot and replant healthy rhizome sections in fresh low-nutrient potting mix.

Keep Sarracenia ‘Juthatip Soper’ away from children and pets

• Keep this plant away from children, cats and dogs.
• Its effects after chewing or swallowing are unclear, and plant material can still cause an upset stomach.
• Contact a veterinarian or medical professional if symptoms develop or do not settle.

Why is it called Sarracenia?

Sarracenia commemorates Michel Sarrazin, a French-Canadian physician and naturalist who studied the plants of New France.

Carl Linnaeus established the genus Sarracenia in 1753 in Species Plantarum, page 510; Joseph Pitton de Tournefort had proposed the name.