Expert: Christopher Littrell - 5/5/2008

Question
QUESTION: I have a few questions, the first one is when i bought my Asian pitcher it had a few pitcher cut off, will a new pitcher   grow back from the same leaf, and my second question is my red leaf cape sundew, spoon leaf sundew, and my lance leaf sundews are not producing any dew even when theres five florescent lights on them.

ANSWER: Hello Sammy,

If your plants are just bought they will take some time adjusting to your home. This could take a couple weeks, so be patient.

Nepenthes (Asian Pitcher Plants) make only one pitcher per leaf if your lucky. Some species make one for every leaf and some only generate a single pitcher a year on random leaves. Pitchers will last several months before drying up and needing to be cut off. Cut the old pitchers off after they have browned all the way to the tendril, which could take a long time if there are fluid and insect matter built up in the bottom of the old pitcher. New leaves should show a new tendril with a swollen tip that grows bigger daily. That signifies a new pitcher beginning to develop. This is helped along by sufficient light and no drastic changes in humidity and temperature beyond the plant's tolerance.

Your sundews also need plenty of light to produce dew and red color on their tentacles and leaves. The Lance Leaf will need only partial light through an east or south facing window. The Lance Leaf, Cape, and Spoon Leaf sundews as well as the Nepenthes would all do well in 10000 to 12000 lumens of florescent light 4-5 inches above their leaves. Use 40 watt cool white or true daylight shop light tubes that come as 4 foot long tubes. About four would give you a minimum of 12000 lumens of light. Leave the lights on for 16 hours a day. You could place most of your plants in a sunny window and use the florescent lights as a supplement too. The Lance Leaf will need less light than the other plants to do well and can be burned by too much ultraviolet light... it can never adapt to full sun. The Cape and Spoon leaf sundews can and some Nepenthes can adapt to very bright sun too. For now I would keep them all in a good south window with the florescent lights over them and keep the Lance Leaf where it only gets a few hours of morning sun with the added florescent light... mine does great in those conditions. If you note any buringin, step the plants back from the window a bit and keep the florescents on them. Over a couple weeks, step the plants back closer to the window as they toughen up. Once you see good bright red color on your sundew tentacles and leaves and on your Nepenthes pitchers, you have just enough light to make them flourish.

Christopher

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hey, I just have two quick questions. First off, my red leaf Sundew is all brown now, and I don't know what to do about it. My second question is, what does buringin mean in the sentence: If you note any buringin, step the plants back from the window a bit and keep the fluorescents on them.

Thanks,
Sammy

Answer
Hello Sammy,

I am not sure what happened to your Cape Sundew. It could have been shocked by a drastic change in humidity or temperature or might have been in bad conditions before you bought it.

Sorry about the misspelling there. I forgot to use the spell checker and was probably distracted when I wrote that. I was intending to warn you about watching for any burning from bright sunlight on your plants. If your plants have not been in good light for a while they might suffer leaf burn until they adapt. It is generally not fatal except with Lance Leaf Sundews.

Christopher