Darlingtonia californica is found in mountain seeps in northern California and southern Oregon and in sphagnum bogs in coastal Oregon. It is generally associated with serpentine soil although this is most likely because it can tolerate the otherwise toxic minerals and the potential competitors can not. The typical Darlingtonia environment is a mild slope with water flowing through but it may also be found on protected dripping cliff faces. The slopes may be any exposure from hot sunny lowland south facing to cool highland north facing.

You would think that with the wide range of exposures in the wild, the plants would be easy to grow. For most people they are not. What all or almost all the wild locations have in common is cold spring water constantly flowing through the habitat. It is believed the difficulty growing the plants in captivity is keeping the roots cool during warm weather. It also matters where the seeds came from. Seeds from moderate elevation mountain seep plants may be more tolerant of less than optimal conditions outdoors. Seeds from coastal plants may do better under lights or in cooler conditions.

Darlingtonia seeds need a damp cold stratification for 4 weeks before they will germinate. If you plan on keeping the plants in a terrarium for an extended period, you may start the seeds at any time. For plants to be kept outside it is best to start the seed in the fall if you plan to keep the seedlings under lights the first winter or plant in late winter if they will be put outside in late spring. If you live in an area where Darlingtonia can be grown outside unprotected year round, consider starting the seeds in pots outside during the winter.

For seeds to be started indoors or in a greenhouse, the seed should be stratified in the refrigerator. The method that uses the least space in the refrigerator is to place the seeds in a small plastic bag with a few large pinches of damp chopped sphagnum moss. Keep the seeds in the refrigerator 4 weeks. The seeds can be directly planted in seedling pots but they do need to be stratified one way or another.

There are a number of methods you can use for germinating and growing seedlings. Since the plants will spend 2 to 4 years in the seedling pot it is best to use a pot and soil that will last that long. A good soil mix to use is 60% finely chopped or screened sphagnum moss and 40% coarse sand blasting sand. Finely chopped live sphagnum works great at first. However the moss may grow and overgrow the seedlings. Peat moss will also work but it tends to sprout a nasty kind of dry moss, cyanobacteria, and mold. Cyanobacteria can be a problem with dried sphagnum too. Use a forceps to remove the colonies if they develop.

Sow the seed on the surface of a few mm of finely chopped sphagnum moss or spread the moss and seeds from the stratification bag on the top of the prepared seedling pot with your planting spoon (yes, old dinner spoons and knives are useful). Don't bury the seed more than a few mm. Place seed about 5 mm apart. I prefer to grow the plants under lights for a few years and I put the pots into zip-lock bags for most of that time. It is best to have the pots under 100% humidity or to spray them with water regularly until the seeds germinate. Please see Sowing Seeds Step-by-Step for more details on starting seeds.

Darlingtonia don't need as much light as Sarracenia but they do need lots of light. Unfortunately, unlike Sarracenia, it appears soil fertilizing Darlingtonia is counterproductive. It appears the plants are not able to utilize nutrients in soil. This could be how they survive in otherwise toxic soil in nature. They also have so little leaf surface foliar feeding is difficult. I do not know how to speed up the process of getting mature plants from seeds. Harry Tryon who lives where Darlingtonia grow naturally grows hundreds of plants in plant trays but still needs 4 years to get plants large enough to distribute.

Once you do get plants large enough to pot out individually, the kind of soil you use depends on temperature, whether you have a greenhouse or have the plants outside, what kind of water you have, and what is convenient. In the wild I have only seen Darlingtonia growing with the roots completely submerged in "guk", sphagnum, rocks, or gravel with water flowing slowly through it. The key here is flowing water. In captivity that is hard to do. I have seen mature Darlingtonia growing nicely in pure live sphagnum moss not sitting in water but watered every day. I have also killed Darlingtonia in live sphagnum. Harry Tryon uses a "kitchen sink" mix of 5 parts chopped long fibered north American sphagnum moss, 2 parts peat moss, 1 part fine orchid bark, and 3 parts pumice. I use 2 parts chopped Chilean sphagnum moss to one part coarse sand blasting sand. We both use large, tall pots sitting in a few cm of water, and top water every day.

I can not emphasize this enough: top water the plants regularly. Many members put ice cubes of pure (distilled or reverse osmosis) water on the soil surface every day during hot weather. Others pump cooled water into the pots or keep the pots in deep trays of water. What ever you do, larger pots will be a more stable environment. Air temperatures and humidity are not major issues as long as the roots are cool.

As much as possible try to grow your plants out doors or in a cold greenhouse. Darlingtonia can take being frozen solid if they are fully dormant. If you live where it freezes hard for a weeks at a time, the plants will need protection in a cold greenhouse, cold frame, garage or a deep layer of pine needle mulch to limit freeze/thaw cycles.

-- John Brittnacher with help from Harry Tryon

For more information please see:

About Carnivorous Plants: Evolution -- the Ericales Carnivores

How To: Darlingtonia Vegetative Propagation

Meyers-Rice, Barry (2001) Color patterns in Darlingtonia. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 30(4):100-103 ( )

Mellichamp, T.L. Editor (1978) Botanical History of CP II: Darlingtonia (Botanist's Corner). Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 7(3):82-85 ( )

Brownfield, Jennifer (1985) Rearing Cobras. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 14(3):78-80 ( )

Sheridan, Phil and Bill Scholl (1993) Notes on some Darlingtonia californica Torr. bogs. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 22(3):70-75 ( )

Darlingtonia californica seeds above a 1 mm grid.