Well, I can't say something else isn't causeing this but if it's primary light source is outside, yes, it could be the winter period causeing it to make smaller or no pitchers.

Also, from what I've been told, warm mist units, if you add salt to them, can also add salt to the air and that can hurt the plant.

I got a ventrata in early January and it came with 6-8 inch pitchers too. Nice big hanging basket... so on and so on... now that its warming up it's starting to produce pitchers, and they aren't as big as the old ones yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aracknight's Deadly Delights

They don't go dormant. Sounds more like shock... but 6 months seems 2-3 times longer to remain as such. Provide 12 hours of daylight, with 4 or so direct light and slightly moist media (water 1-2 times a week)... and wait.

Thanks for your feedback. My ventrata is sat in a south facing window in a hanging basket, where it receives as much light as spring can offer. I use tap water in my humidifier and presumed that as the water evaporates any chemicals normally found in the water would be displaced by this process. Although, saying that, as I'm not at home during the day to mist my nep there appears to be a residue on the uppermost leaves. Possibly salt?

Since the emergence of spring there are shoots emerging. I collect rain water for the misting but to my surprise, a colleague of mine suggested that the salt in roof tiles will contaminate the water. Should I stick to VFT's, drosera & sarracenia? They appear to be a lot less trouble to grow

I'd say that every residence has its own particulars with collecting rain from the roof. I've been doing it for a year now. To my perception, it hasn't led to problems.

VFT's & Sarracenias are best when kept outdoors. As to sundews, they vary widely as the best approach. It depends upon which sundews you get or have and what you have to offer them. Many can grow at sunny window sills, open tray method. Which would you like to cultivate?

Hi Petiolaris. I agree, I've used collected rain water collected from my roof on my other carnivorous plants and there seems to be no ill effect. On this basis I think i'll continue to do so.

My collection consists of 1 VFT. I did have two, only one appears to have survived the winter. I think because it was left outside in a water tray and quite wet, the plant rotted & died. The other still has many traps from last season and is emerging from dormancy.

I also have a few drosera capensis standard and alba form. Recently I purchased some aliciae which, as with all carnivorous plants amaze me. I've found small flies stuck to the flower stems! I thought only the leaves captured prey.

I'm waiting for pitchers to form on a moorei x. Apparently the can reach over a meter tall. I also have a medium size Farhamii & Sarracenia psittacina black flower Yellow River. I am forever having grief from my partner due to the number of these I currently keep indoors, but the kids love them.

Hello organic_trickster,

Nepenthes are actually easier plants to grow from my experiences. All of the previous suggestions were quite useful.

Environmental changes do wreak havok on Nepenthes, but some are quite adaptable and can get used to what you have set up for it. It could be any number of conditions from light photoperiod and level, humidity changes, soil mixture, chemical reactions in the environment (water and soil) particularly copper (like some fungicides) and salts. Any of these that change too quickly, like humidity, temperature, and light, or build up gradually, like salt, fertilizer and minerals in water, and copper or other harmful substances, can inhibit pitcher production and cause dieback in the plant.

The thing to consider is to try to mimic the conditions the plant was initially grown in, which might have been different from what it grows in in the wild, so that you can then change those conditions slowly over a course of weeks to the normal conditions in your home. Perhaps contact the grower and ask them what light, humidity, temperature, and other conditions they grew the plant in and consider what conditions it is in now. Next, look for chemicals and pollutants in the environment affecting the plant. You might not recognize them at first, but if you have it in the kitchen, check any sprays and chemicals you use in the kitchen for any sign of toxicity for plants, particularly carnivorous plants. The leaves should not build up residue, so that is suspect. I would suggest weaning the plant off of the humidity over several weeks until it is living in regular house conditions, giving it strong, indirect sunlight and clean distilled or rain water, and checking for insect pests that chew on plants.

If toxins are not the issue, no pests are found, and the plant is getting what it needs, then it should start growing normally in a couple of months.

Keep us posted on how the plant does and what you find to be the culprit causing chaos with your plant.

Hi Mutant hybrid,

Thanks for the advice, very useful.My Ventrata has started to developing tendrils which don't look to be drying out like others before. I will try your advice though anyway and let you know how I get on.

Many thanks

Hello organic trickster,

I'm certainly no expert on carnivorous plants, but I have just been reading up on a range of potential problems with Nepenthes in several forums and books and compiled some of the main difficulties here.

I have had great luck with my Nepenthes sanguinea and I hardly do anything except give it some distilled water twice a week, mist it once a day, and give it a small insect every couple of weeks if it does not capture anything itself indoors.

It's setup is as follows, 4 40 watt flourescent tubes of the shop light variety 5-6 inches above the leaves, 5 inch pot (it is still just a young plant), Nepenthes mix of peat moss, bark, and coconut fiber, distilled water (no salt), temperature about 65-78 Fahrenheit according to season, light photoperiod of 12-16 hours according to season, and humidity is whatever my apartment provides in southeast Texas zone 9 with central air. The grower I acquired the plant from had already hardened the plant off for low humidity in Oregon and provided the Nepenthes mix. As I increased the photoperiod of light it sped up pitcher production.

If the tendrils are starting to look better on the Nepenthes, it sounds like the plant is starting to adapt itself to your house environment. Hopefully it will begin to produce pitchers again.

Hi Mutant Hybrid,

I wish my ventrata was as low maintenance as the sanguinea, maybe it will be in the future once acclimatised to it's current environment.

One question regarding the potting medium, mine came in a hanging basket which appears quite compact considering the size of the plant. Do neps have a small rooting sysytem, or should I consider repotting? I'm a bit unsure considering it finally appears to be taking off and may disturb current growth. I would post a picture but I'm not sure how to?

From various websites, some suggest feeding neps fertilizers directly to the roots or leaves, during growing season. I was always of the impression this would kill carnivorous plants?

Hello organic_trickster,

Nepenthes are a vining plant and seem to have a very small root system that is quite fragile. That said, they really do not live in their roots, so breakage and some damage to the roots is not all that much of a problem, however; too much damage, or rotting from fungal and bacterial attack, can kill them. Each year, just repot it in a slightly larger pot and take a look at the root system to see how big it is so you can judge how big a pot you may need next time. Each repotting, just use new Nepenthes mix, about one third each of peat/orchid bark/coconut husk or peat with two parts perlite. They like lots of drainage so that their soil is just moist, but never waterlogged and gives good air ventilation to their roots. Make sure the new potting mix is fertilizer free and contains no minerals or salts.

For fertilizer, some people use fertilizer on their plants and some don't. I simply do not use fertilizer as I choose to do things the natural way. If carnivorous plants live in nutrient poor conditions, then I let them catch insects as their fertilizer. You can fertilize Nepenthes with orchid fertilizer, particularly the blood meal. Only apply it with a damp cloth or cotton swab to their leaves lightly each month or so and only in very dilute solution... less than 1/4 or even down to 1/10th solution. It is very easy to overfertilize a carnivorous plant. Better to give just a tiny bit than too much as you might not get another chance. I have never given fertilizer to my Nepenthes, just flies, ants, and beetles. Of course, they need pitchers to eat, so there is the conundrum. It really is up to each grower's discretion and taste.

From what I know of N. alata X ventricosa, they are just as adaptable as N. sanguinea. It is probably just that your plant was not pre-adapted to your environment when you received it. Mine was hardened to a lower humidity than what is in my zone and in my home and received more light in my setup than it had previously, so if I move, I will have to check the conditions and make sure that my Nepenthes is adapted slowly and carefully.

I think your Nepenthes was just suffering from low light photoperiod and low humidity shock, so that combination took it longer to adapt to. With increasing light and adaptation to lower humidity, your plant will probably start growing normally again.

Regards.

I'm not doing anything sophisticated with this setup an N. Judith Finn & N. ventrata (alata x ventricosa). It's just sitting in the bathroom window, in a planter, mixed with peat, sand, LFS, and pine needles. I water them ~once a week and didn't even give them compesatory lighting for the fall/winter months. Consequently, they stopped pitchering for ~4 months. I haven't even provided foliar nutrition. But for some strange reason, the ventrata acted like a temperate plant, awakening from dormancy (which it shouldn't have) and did this:

Before:

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After:

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Hi Mutant-hybrid,

I agree, there is also some kind of satisfaction to see these, and other carnivorous plants turn the tables on insects, rather than using fertilizers. I have a binata covered in flies as it's now warm enough to leave outside. The flytraps are also starting to produces a few more traps, followed by Sarracenias which have flowering stems. I just wish I could see them all in full glory now.

Re-potting doesn't sound as drastic as it does for moving the plant to another location. This acclimatising regime appears to be for the patient. However, judging on the pic Petiolaris has posted it seems well worth it.

Hi Petiolaris,

Wow, firstly I'm amazed at the icy weather you had, it the sort of picture I'd imagine on a Christmas card. Winter in England was quite mild, we had about three days of snow in total and as usual, the country ground to a halt because of a bit of bad weather.

What really surprised me was the flower on you nep? I've never seen one prior to this but maybe I'm being a complete newbie? Thinking about it, how else would the plant reproduce? VFT's flower as do other carnivors, so why not a nep. If mine ever do I will post a pic. By the way, could you tell me how to post pics?

Many thanks

I had to work at it to find out how to post pictures too. First, find a good free picture download site, I use allyoucanupload.com. Just load up your pictures to them and use the section that states "link to original picture" and "for forum and message board use" and "primary." Copy that line and you will get this kind of link:

[URL=http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002596430646750016][IMG]http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/12519/2002596430646750016_rs.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

You will only need the second half of this link and can delete all of it except:
http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/12519/2002596430646750016_rs.jpg

Type in img src="" and paste your link between the quotation marks. Next add around the entire code line to activate it. That is, the goes at the very end of your link after the end quotation mark.

When you preview the message, you should see the image like this:

{{gwi:548552}}

If you right click on the image here, you can go to the properties menu and see the pic link there.

Common problems occur when one simply forgets a part of the code or deletes something that should have been there, like part of the link.

That is good ole' Western NY weather! Trust me, the Nep is on the inside of the window! It freaked me out to see that flower stalk. I couldn't believe that I had conditions favorable for that, especially since it only getting light that shone through the window and tenps around 70.

Anyways, I use Photobucket and they make it easy for you by providing 3 types of links, depending upon what type of format is being used. I also had a teen show me how to do this! Anyways, they give you a URL link, an HTML Tag, and an IMG Code. It is the HTML Tag that is clicked that will work in the Message box. The forum provides where you can opy and paste the URL link, where it reads - Optional Link URL:

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc313/trickster_1968/29032007007.jpg
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc313/trickster_1968/25102007077.jpg
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc313/trickster_1968/25102007076.jpg
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc313/trickster_1968/25102007075.jpg
Hi Petiolaris & Mutant_Hybrid,

I don't know if you'll remember my previous conundrum with my nep. Well, as you can see from the pictures I've finally uploaded some photos. The first picture is my nep when it was sulking and not producing any pitchers for a good six months. The second photo shows it now pitchering galore.

Unfortunately since I brought it inside before the frost I've noticed brown patches on some of the leaves and even some pitchers(3rd photo). Help, is this now a cruel twist now that the plant is pitchering, only to die from some nepethes hating virus?

I also noticed a black residue similar to sooty mold on some of the leaves. The majority of it I've just wiped away with a damp tissue, but it's more difficult to get to in the creases where the leaves are attached to the vine.

Your advice would be much appreciated?

Many thanks in anticipation

Organic_trickster

Hello Organic_trickster,

Good going with getting the plant to pitcher, it looks great.

Those spots do look like a form of mold or infection. Is it actually doing damage to the leaes and pitchers? If not it is probably just a surface dwelling mold that can be cleaned off with soapy water on a paper towel. If it is sooty mold, it is feeding on the sugary nectar that the plant produces.

If it is causing damage to the plant, you can use a variety of fungicides like physan, consan, neem oil, sulfur powder and so forth. Just make sure it is water based (never soap based, the soap they use in those breaks down into fertilizer) and does not contain copper in the ingredients. Copper will stunt Nepenthes pitcher production and could harm the plant. Someone else might have some other good suggestions that have worked for them.

Just FYI, Photobucket has the HTML Tag type of automatic copying and posting to this format type. Otherwise, we have to copy and paste elsewhere to see them.

{{gwi:549131}}
{{gwi:549132}}
{{gwi:549133}}
{{gwi:549134}}

Petiolaris,

Now that I've followed the instruction correctly you can view the pictures.

Mutant hybrid,

It doesn't appear to be doing much harm to the plant but is unsightly. It looks like it's in the plant tissue and the pitchers are full of wasps it's caught late autumn. I will try to find the British equivalent to the products you've suggested and post some pictures if it survives, now I know how to.

Kind regards

Organic_trickster

Good job with cultivating them in hanging baskets!

so, is it better? i cant tell from the pix if this is before or after.

Hi nepenthes ceasar,

It's not better yet, although the last picture is rather deceptive. It does appear lush & green. However, it still has the browning which is more prominent in the 2nd & 3rd photos.

I have applied fungicide as directed by mutant hybrid and it does appear to be getting better. It is now hanging in my kitchen as it's far too cold for it to be sat outside, and I've also re-potted it. Hopefully all this change will not stop my nep from pitchering again.

I have noticed that on the brown almost dead looking parts of the vine, small leaves have started to sprout. I will post some more pictures in the spring provided it survives.