Expert: Christopher Littrell - 4/13/2008

Question
hi! i have owned numerous kinds and species of carnivorous plants. today i bought 3 nepenthes coccinea for about 20 bucks. I have tried doing research on the Internet but haven't been able to find any specific information on caring for this plants. I was wondering if you could give me some info. on growing it. thanx!

Answer
Hello Stacey,

In general, N. coccinea is a popular plant that is easy to grow. It prefers warm temperatures around 75-85 degrees. Often, people try to simulate high humidity, however; many Nepenthes species (like many carnivorous plants in general) can adapt to low humidity if it is done slowly. If your plants came pre-adapted to lower humidity you should have no problem at all growing them open pot. If you know that the nursery you bought them from grows them in a greenhouse or with domes, you will need to slowly adapt the Nepenthes to low humidity by using a bag or dome over the plants and gradually punching holes in the cover every three days or removing the cover by lifting it a little every three days until it looks like Swiss cheese or has been lifted enough to allow air to circulate freely (several inches). After about two weeks the cover can be removed and the plants grown open pot. It is generally some of the harder to grow species from the ultra-highlands that really require high humidity and temperature changes to grow well.

Othert han that, your plant will enjoy partial sunlight like under a large shade tree or in a good morning (east) or south facing window. Windows cut back on ultraviolet radiation, so have little chance of burning your plants. You can also grow Nepenthes under 12000 lumens of florescent shop lights of the cool white or true daylight variety or of the compact florescent bulb types if the leaves of the plants are within 4-8 inches of the lights.

Water the plants with mineral free water just like your other carnivorous plants and never fertilize their soil. Culture them in Nepenthes mix, like coconut fiber, orchid bark and peat moss in 1/1/1 mix. That mix drains well and yet holds just enough water for Nepenthes. Never use a tray of water under the plants for a long period of time as they can suffer root rot from standing water. Just top water them and let the excess water drain out, then remove it and water another Nepenthes with it until you are out of excess water. If you go on vacation for a few days you can place some water (no more than 1/2 inch) in a tray under the pots to keep them moist, but make sure you do not do so constantly and do so only if they are in tall pots.

Other than that, they should take care of themselves by catching their own fertilizer. You can give them an occasional insect every few weeks just in case, but they generally attract so many flies and ants that they get more than enough fertilizer on their own.

Christopher