Question
Last year when i lived in Long Island and had my plants in the sun they were growing real nice my purple pitcher was real purple and my parrot plant was growing straight up with nice color. Now that I moved up to westerchester were I get sun for a few hours in the afternoon my purple pitcher is losing it's color and the leaves on my parrot plant is drooping with no color.can you tell me what's wrong.

Answer
Hi Sammy,

You actually answered your own question.  Sarracenia pitcher plants require full sun.  When the lighting is at optimal levels, they produce nicely colored, well-formed pitchers.  If the lighting is not bright enough, they produce long, lanky, less vibrantly colored pitchers.

Your plants are displaying the classic signs of not having enough direct sunlight.  Ideally they need six or more hours of direct sun.  

The only remedy for your plants is more sunlight.  Unfortunately, we are already in fall, daylight hours are decreasing dramatically and the first frost is on its way.  In your case, because the lighting is less than optimal during the growing season, you may need to overwinter your plants indoors in a sunny south window that receives direct sunlight.  I don't recommend this for Sarracenia and other North American carnivorous plants, but your plants might not have enough starches in reserve to make it through winter dormancy outdoors in your region.  Plants need to be healthy when they enter winter dormancy.  If not, they often don't make it through very cold winters.

In late spring, acclimate your plant for outdoor growing and find a spot that receives full sun.  

For more information about growing carnivorous plants, read our care sheets online:
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets

Good growing!
Jacob Farin