16 replies to this topic

[martyp]

Hi all,

I bought a generic garden centre Nepenthes hybrid reduced in a hanging basket for just £5 a few years back and have (due to having no greenhouse) been keeping it hanging from the curtain rail in the living room (south facing but not exposed to direct sunlight). I try and spray it as often as possibile as I know the humidity in the house is quite low and it has grown really big in the last couple of years. The problem is it's producing tons of leaves but the pictchers never grow. I know this is a very common problem people have, I have another much smaller Nepenthes in a terrarium on a south facing windowsill in the bedroom and that produces tons of pitchers no problem.

I've also tried hanging it outdoors now and spraying it regularly, I'm not sure if full sun might be worth a try? I thought the warmer days and cooler nights at the moment might be better for it possibly? I also hang it out whenever it rains...

A bit of a clumsy way of growing a Nepenthes I know, I did also notice the leaves have got a bit of a reddish tint to them since putting it outside...

[manders]

Marty, i know the feeling of frustration when they grow and never or rarely pitcher!  Especially this year everything is way behind normal with all the weird weather we've been having.  It sort of depends what plant your growing what the problem might be, a photo would help.  Your right its usually either not enough humidity or not enough light or both.  That doesnt mean they all need high humidity, things like ventrata pitcher ok in typical houses as long as they get some sunlight.  Miranda, gentle etc are also not so demanding on humidity and they usually pitcher on sunny windowsills.  If its a garden centre hybrid, i would try increasing the light as you have done, i'm not a fan of putting neps outside as it usually slows down their growth, i've tried it with quite a few and rarely had a decent result, maybe down south it works better.

[martyp]

manders, on 30 June 2012 - 10:51 AM, said:

Marty, i know the feeling of frustration when they grow and never or rarely pitcher!  Especially this year everything is way behind normal with all the weird weather we've been having.  It sort of depends what plant your growing what the problem might be, a photo would help.  Your right its usually either not enough humidity or not enough light or both.  That doesnt mean they all need high humidity, things like ventrata pitcher ok in typical houses as long as they get some sunlight.  Miranda, gentle etc are also not so demanding on humidity and they usually pitcher on sunny windowsills.  If its a garden centre hybrid, i would try increasing the light as you have done, i'm not a fan of putting neps outside as it usually slows down their growth, i've tried it with quite a few and rarely had a decent result, maybe down south it works better.

Many thanks manders, I just checked the label on it says "Nepenthes allata" (alata) so nothing that exotic I'm afraid. Supposed to be an 'easy' one isn't it? It's still in the same pot as when I bought it. There's three flies sat on the leaves in the picture, if only the plant knew what it was missing out on by not having pitchers! :)

[manders]

Probably a ventrata, theres a lot if incorrect labels being used.  It looks healthy enough,  probably just lack of light is the main reason.

[martyp]

manders, on 30 June 2012 - 14:03 PM, said:

Probably a ventrata, theres a lot if incorrect labels being used.  It looks healthy enough,  probably just lack of light is the main reason.

many thanks manders, I'll see how it is after some more sun time. Is a pinkish tinge on newer leaves in the sunlight normal or could it mean too much sunlight?
It was in the kitchen for a little bit which is fairly dark (north facing) so that may not have helped it much.

[manders]

martyp, on 30 June 2012 - 14:32 PM, said:

many thanks manders, I'll see how it is after some more sun time. Is a pinkish tinge on newer leaves in the sunlight normal or could it mean too much sunlight?
It was in the kitchen for a little bit which is fairly dark (north facing) so that may not have helped it much.

Pinkish / reddish isnt a problem at all.  Yellow or bleached is too much sun, probably quite hard to give a ventrata too much though, if it has time adjust.  The north facing window would not be enough, east/west would be better, south might need a little shading but maybe not, once it was used to it.

[Richard Bunn]

I rescued a garden centre plant too a couple of years ago and each year it gets better and better.  I bought it as a little experiment to see if I could grow a Nepenthes.  The first summer I kept it in my polythene greenhouse on the sunny patio. In the sunny bathroom window for the winter. I then moved house and it's been in my very sunny living room window since. Turned out to be a Ventrata of course. In the spring I put it in a hanging basket (along with the other small Nep's I'd bought, glabrata, ventricosa, sibuyanensis and jajacquelineae) and it's doing great.  To be honest they don't get misted very often as I always forget.  I try to remember to do it when it's a hot day but that's it. Light seems to be more important, and staying moist without being waterlogged.

[martyp]

Many thanks both, I'll hope that the lack of light was the problem and will see what happens now then. Shame though it has tons and tons of plain leaves without the pitchers now. I might give it some orchid focus as well as I've not given it any fertiliser before either.

[Richard Bunn]

I've never used commercial fertiliser directly into the roots. I use it as a foliar feed instead, mainly as that's what all my books say. I do, however, use cold (properly brewed) coffee to the roots. The trend for doing this is growing about as fast as Starbucks and Costa.  There's a thread here all about it plus I found some info and kept it (can't remember the source) which I've quoted below.

Quote

Take regular uadulterated black coffee drink(no sugar and or cream), then make sure its room temp, then pour in pot until well drenched….
What I do next is, I leave this for 3-4 days(to give Nep a chance to absorb) then I flush with RO water. Do this once a month, then alternately, I foliar feed with orchid fertilizer, the week I dont do coffee treatment, then 3-4 days flush with RO, then watch your Nep grow…..

And if you grow your plants under artificial lights, do this treatment all year. If you grow in windowsill, then stop treatment during winter months due to lack f light.... Good luck

[martyp]

Richard Bunn, on 01 July 2012 - 01:42 AM, said:

I've never used commercial fertiliser directly into the roots. I use it as a foliar feed instead, mainly as that's what all my books say. I do, however, use cold (properly brewed) coffee to the roots. The trend for doing this is growing about as fast as Starbucks and Costa.  There's a thread here all about it plus I found some info and kept it (can't remember the source) which I've quoted below.

Sounds great, I'll give that a go. I have regular granulated coffee or I have this high powered coffee with guarana...! I don't imagine the latter would have the same impact on plants as it would on humans so I might just give it regular! :)

[mobile]

I agree that it looks like it could be Ventrata, which is a very common garden centre plant. I rescused one from a 'We've nearly killed it, so you can have it cheap' garden centre shelf. It was in poor condition when I got it, with all the pitchers dying, but now it grows like mad and pitchers on ever leaf. In fact, I have to cut it down every year, as it gets too tall. I have it growing in my kitchen, in a south facing window. I never spray it and frequently forget to water it, but it is so forgiving.

Richard Bunn, on 01 July 2012 - 01:42 AM, said:

I've never used commercial fertiliser directly into the roots. I use it as a foliar feed instead, mainly as that's what all my books say. I do, however, use cold (properly brewed) coffee to the roots. The trend for doing this is growing about as fast as Starbucks and Costa.  There's a thread here all about it plus I found some info and kept it (can't remember the source) which I've quoted below.

I use commercial fertilizers such as Orchid Focus or Ionic Grow as a root feed on Nepenthes. I suspect that Nepenthes get nitrogen from cold coffee and the reason for an observed improvement in growth or colour is because many cultivated Nepenthes are nutrient starved... just my theory though.

[manders]

mobile, on 01 July 2012 - 11:30 AM, said:

I suspect that Nepenthes get nitrogen from cold coffee and the reason for an observed improvement in growth or colour is because many cultivated Nepenthes are nutrient starved... just my theory though.

I'll second that.

[Richard Bunn]

martyp, on 01 July 2012 - 11:13 AM, said:

Sounds great, I'll give that a go. I have regular granulated coffee or I have this high powered coffee with guarana...! I don't imagine the latter would have the same impact on plants as it would on humans so I might just give it regular! :)

No not the latter. The former provided it's the proper kind you brew rather than instant.

[Phil Green]

The above is all sound advise, so I won't repeat or contradict any of it.

I will add, that constantly moving Neps around is not a good idea and will also stop them pitchering. They generally need stable conditions so that they can adjust to them. I now grow almost all of mine indoors (without any spraying or misting) - but in the past, I did hang several outside from Spring to Autumn and only bring them in when night temps were going below 10C.

Bright, but not direct sun all day, is generally best. The spot in your photo looks fine, so I sugest hanging it there and leave it to 'just get on with it' - remembering to water it, if it ever stops raining. Don't worry about spraying. (Although being in the soft South, I have no idea how cold or dry it is 'up North' )
Neps can handle direct sun once adjusted (the leaves which grow in them conditions), but direct sun would probably fry all the leaves produced whilst in the house.

But even indoors by the window, it should eventually start to pitcher if it is 'left alone'. Keep moist, but not wet.

Good luck. They are fantastic plants - once to get to grip with them.

[martyp]

Phil Green, on 01 July 2012 - 20:57 PM, said:

(Although being in the soft South, I have no idea how cold or dry it is 'up North' )

Many thanks all, the plant seems to be looking good and has a lot of pinkish tinge to the leaves now from the sunlight, the leaves did look a little pale before so it looks nicer now. I also can comment on the comparison between the soft south and up north as I grew up in Kent and moved here about 10 years ago. Whenever I go home it starts to pour with rain when you get close to the West Midlands! Also a fair bit more chilly up here I'd say, my parents have palms in their garden which I planted and where they are by the sea they seem to do much better than they probably would up here! Had like -12C here a few times and my parents have barely hit about -4 or -6C.

Certainly has been a great chance to collect and store rainwater, I ran out last year and had to get some from the canal! The plants didn't seem to mind at all after I had removed the bicycles and shopping trolleys! :)

[manders]

Phil Green, on 01 July 2012 - 20:57 PM, said:

The above is all sound advise, so I won't repeat or contradict any of it.

I will add, that constantly moving Neps around is not a good idea and will also stop them pitchering. They generally need stable conditions so that they can adjust to them. I now grow almost all of mine indoors (without any spraying or misting) - but in the past, I did hang several outside from Spring to Autumn and only bring them in when night temps were going below 10C.

Bright, but not direct sun all day, is generally best. The spot in your photo looks fine, so I sugest hanging it there and leave it to 'just get on with it' - remembering to water it, if it ever stops raining. Don't worry about spraying. (Although being in the soft South, I have no idea how cold or dry it is 'up North' )
Neps can handle direct sun once adjusted (the leaves which grow in them conditions), but direct sun would probably fry all the leaves produced whilst in the house.

But even indoors by the window, it should eventually start to pitcher if it is 'left alone'. Keep moist, but not wet.

Good luck. They are fantastic plants - once to get to grip with them.

Phil, mate, only a southerner would say the midlands is 'up north', the clue is in the name...

[mobile]

manders, on 07 July 2012 - 21:42 PM, said:

Phil, mate, only a southerner would say the midlands is 'up north', the clue is in the name...

It's all relative... it's 'down south' to me