You should grow Sarracenia outside all year long if at all possible. If your humidity is at least: above 30% most of the time, and winters don't dip below 0º F for more than a few days at a time you can. Just make sure you keep them in acceptable soil and winterize them if necessary. You need to have at least cool winters for them, or room in the fridge for winter storage.

Soil - Carnivorous plants evolved to eat bugs to make up for the nutrient poor acidic soil it naturally lives in. Regular dirt or potting soil kills them fast, and never use fertilizer. Use 50% Sphagnum peat moss and 50% perlite. You can mix in 25% long fibered sphagnum moss and/or use it for a top dressing if you like. I like using it for a top dressing with Sarracenia. Make sure you get pure Sphagnum peat moss, you don't want Miracle Grow or any other chemicals mixed in with it.

The majority of small pre-moistend peat bags are contaminated. Get the dry sphagnum peat moss that comes in bails. If a bail is to much for you we sell smaller quantities in the Web Store section. Or click HERE to go directly to Soil.

Planting -When you plant your Sarracenia make sure you don't bury the growth points. You only want the roots and lower portion of the rhizome beneath the soil. The back of larger rhizomes can be deeper if needed to keep the pitchers growing vertical. I fill the pot about half full, depth depends on what is needed to accommodate the particular plant you are planting based on root length, then I hold the Sarracenia over the pot in the area I want it and at the finished height I desire. Then I finish filling the pot while holding the Sarracenia suspended where I want it. Slightly pack the soil down and finish filling to desired level. Gently water to settle the soil around the roots, add more medium as necessary.

Light - These need lots of light, at least 6 hours of direct sun. Growing outside is highly recommended. Fluorescent lighting can be used for smaller plants. If fluorescent is the primary source of light use four 40 watt cool white 4' bulbs within 14" over the plant. Economical shop lights work well for this. Put the light on a timer to go on and off with the sun. It will be very hard to grow good looking mature Sarracenia under artificial light without some help from the sun.

Humidity - If all of the other requirements are met this is not a big issue except in the driest of climates (below 30%). If one of the other elements are lacking humidity can take up the slack, to a certain degree. 50% - 65% humidity is ideal but they can acclimate down very well.

These are very hardy plants and best grown outside. Anyone but those in the driest and coldest/hotest climates can grow these outdoors year round. Just don't plant them in the ground unless its in a container to hold their special soil, and even then keep the top of the container above ground level. If winter temps in your area drop into the teens or colder for weeks at a time please read the winter care area.

This winter (05') came in pretty fast and being as busy as I am I did not get the Sarracenia winterized at my house. I wanted to try a pond with Sarracenia and other carnivorous plants. It worked well, a bit tough to keep water in from time to time though. At times I would loose 5 gal a day or more due to evaporation. Since this was a trial to see how I would like it I just set it up on my deck. Fast and easy :-). This spring I think I am going to place it in the yard as a bog garden. Anyway . . .

 
This is what it looked like in the fall, app. 3 months after initial plantings. Yes, I should have started them in the spring. This was a late idea. Most of the water has been allowed to evaporate away to prepare for winter. The pond is kept full of water during the summer, midway up on the pots. The pots sit on crates in the summer to keep the top half of the pots out of the water.

I took the plants off the crates and sat them on the bottom of the pond. This provides a little protection from the cool wind. Suddenly winter hits, ice/snow and temps down to 1º F. After the first snow I covered the pond with black plastic to at least provide some protection

 
There was already 8" of water in the bottom when the freeze hit. Another inch of ice and snow were added during the first storm. These plants are sitting in ice, covered in snow, and in near zero F. temperatures, sub-zero wind chill. I un-cover them on days that reach 30º F or more.

So far they are doing great. Once we get a 40 degree day or so and the ice melts I will drain the water, wrap the pots with bubble wrap and put around an inch of pine needles on the top of the pots. They will only be covered with plastic during storms and when temps drop below 22º or so. Now imagine how much abuse they could take planted in a decent size bog and mulched!