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Carnivorous Plants/nepenthes gracilis

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Expert: - 4/26/2009


Question
Hi! I bought a nepenthes gracilis last week, and it had 2
pitchers. Some websites say that nepenthes gracilis needs high
humidity to pitcher, but I can only grow it outdoors. And the
humidity is rather low(about 30%). So will my nepenthes
pitcher?

Answer
Hello Tan,

N. gracilis is a relatively easy species to grow. It should be able to adapt to lower humidity with time. The key is, where the plant was grown before it was sold and what conditions it was kept in there as opposed to the conditions you have it in now. If the humidity is drastically lower where you are growing it now you will need to help the plant adapt to lower humdity. If you obtained the plant from someone that grew the plant open pot in lower humidity it will not need to adapt and can just be placed in a partial light area.

Use a clear plastic bag and place it over the plant as a humidity dome. Make sure the plant received only filtered sun so it does not burn or overheat with the bag over it. Every three days you can punch about half a dozen 1/4 inch holes in the bag. After a couple weeks the bag should no longer hold in humidity and can be removed. The key is to create a high humidity environment around the plant at first and then gradually lower the humidity over many days until the environment equalizes with the new environment intended for the plant. Once the plant adapts to its new environment it will pitcher so long as it gets enough light, water, and insect prey.

Christopher

Carnivorous Plants

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Christopher Littrell

Expertise

I am capable of answering questions about the most common carnivorous plants found in cultivation. I have no personal experience with Byblis, Drosophyllum, Aldrovanda, and Heliamphora. I have not cultivated gemmae forming pygmy sundews nor tuberous sundews. For information regarding those aforementioned species, I would suggest contacting other experts. I can answer questions regarding most species of Nepenthes, tropical and temperate Drosera, Mexican Pinguicula, Sarracenias, and Dionaea. I have some limited experience with growing Utricularia, Cephalotus, and Darlingtonia.

Experience

I have grown carnivorous plants off and on for about 27 years. I have made the same mistakes and suffered the same mishaps that many growers make as they attempt to separate the myths from the realities of growing these plants. Currently, I am successfully growing a variety of tropical sundews, a Nepenthes, several Venus Flytraps of varying ages, and Sarracenias. I have been successful in stratifying Sarracenia seeds and providing artificial dormancy requirements for my temperate plants when needed.

Education/Credentials
I hold a Master's degree in Educational Psychology. Over my lifetime, I have constantly read books involving the growing conditions of carnivorous plants. I hope to incorporate the educational aspects involved in psychology with teaching other people how to cultivate carnivorous plants.

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