Nepenthes are very touchy with water, or lack thereof. I'd say those pitchers are done for and won't be any advantage for the plant. But keep in mind, they're not so much "carnivorous plants" as "semi-carnivorous plants". They do photosynthesise and provide most of their own food from that. You could say trapped insects give them a "more balanced diet".

They are deader than doorknobs. Plant looks fine. Resume good care and its alright.

You can clip off those dead and dying pitchers any time.

I like how a drying Nepenthes will dry from the pitcher first. That leaves the left to still be strong and healthy.

So cut the pitcher as needed. I have noticed, though, that even pitchers which are 50% dry-looking like the ones in your picture, are still healthy-looking at the bottom of the pitcher...ie, they can still hold water and as such, bugs may still become trapped there.

So it's up to you if you totally want to get rid of them.

But not seeing any bugs in them is reasonable since I would hope your house is not swarming with the kinds of bugs that are attracted to the pitchers. You can also put some in there if you want.

During the spring and summer, once a week, I drop in a larvae or two of the black soldier fly. You can use any other bug that you find which the plant has no problems for digesting.

pitchers are parts of the leaves, modified leaves. They live and die like all leaves on any plant.

What I see in your photo is a plant, N x ventrata that has been kept to dry. In this case the plant pulls moisture out of the pitchers to survive. This kills the pitcher as has happened but the plant can live longer until the normal moisture hits the root zone again.

Most growers including myself leave a dying pitcher on until it is brown and then cut it back to where the leaf meets the tendril.

N. x ventrata pitchers last a fairly long time due to one parent being Nepenthes ventricosa. Even in low humidity these waxy pitchers will hold on about 3 to 4 months before fading out if the plant is kept properly moist. Some nepenthes pitchers are very delicate and last only a few weeks and will drop in a day if allowed to dry out. This hybrid is really forgiving and hardy. The plant looks good. New pitchers will grow.

This summer has so cool in the SF bay area,my Pitcher plant- about a twin vined 5' long never grew a single pitcher.

At least last year it grew a few new ones..not up to tropical or greenhouse standards,but still pitchers. This year? nada.

I have no pitchers. How do I promote my plant to make more? Its nice and green.

Bonnie,

Get some orchid fertilizer. Mix up one gallon at 1/4 strength of what the label says. Pour some into a spray bottle and LIGHTLY mist the leaves every 2 weeks. Just a light misting. This will induce pitchering.

I gave up on them. They are for greenhouses or warm humid summer climates. Mine grew a few miles of vine..no pitchers indoors and like I posted years ago...2 or 3 by late summer outdoors and not very red was the best it could do for my part of the bay area.

Mine did not pitcher for at least year or 2. I now placed in a southern window with lots of light and it is growing and pitchering here and there. My vines get tall and I clip, dip with root tone and started 8 new plants. Prefer to water them rain water and feed pitchers mealworm pupas. My plants very healthy and tall.

They do fine on leafy growth,but unless you have hot humid summers,they won't pitcher..or very few and small and probably might not even turn red.

But foliage it can do.

I have killed enough pitcher plants thru the years but now I kept 2 small plants alive, growing well, producing pitchers all over, and multiplying. Most advice are not to let sit in water. Believe me, my plants do sit on some water and doing great. I normally water from the bottom of the pot and to let them soak up as much as they need. Probably this way provides enough humidity to produce pitchers. With enough growths, allow me to experiment in producing new plants. I keep my mother plants indoor facing south with lots of light. As my new cuttings start growing, now they are in our tunnel entrance again facing south with lots of light. Although cuttings are still small, I see them starting to produce pitchers. I think enough light is most important. Now is a great time to save up rain water for their need. Note: if plant is growing too tall, try clipping and re-rooting them. This also encourage new side shoots and may be pitchers.

They are sitting on 1 - 2 inches of rain water. When water gets low, I will add more. These plants are challenging and not easy to understand. They are fun to grow when you succeed. Have fun and enjoy growing them!

There are Pitcher plants that can be grown outdoors that are native to tropical highlands. But those usually don't have colorful pitchers. I think most people buy the N.alata/ventricosa with deep red pitchers every summer...only to find California's low humidity summers AND COOL NIGHTS put the stop on red pitchers.