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Carnivorous Plants/nepenthes sanguinea

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Expert: - 5/8/2009


Question

Nepenthes sanguinea
hi. I have question about my nepenthes sanguinea. I have that plant for year and half and now when it's time to produce new pitchers it is producing only leaves, but petals   on the end of leaves aren't developing. So I don't know what should I do to make leaves to produce pitchers. Last summer there were 4 pitchers but now the plant is like ''sick''

Answer
Hello Fran,

Nepenthes can fail to pitcher for a variety of reasons. Even though they are not full sun plants, they do require a great amount more sunlight than a typical ivy. I would suggest placing the plant in a window where it gets at least direct morning sun for about 4-6 hours a day and plenty of strong light the rest of the day. Insufficient light is the main cause of carnivorous plant failure/death in the home.

Since you have had the plant a while, humidity is not going to be a concern unless the plant recently experienced a humidity change that was drastic and lower than a previous humidity the plant enjoyed. If it has been in the same place and has produced pitchers before in that room, it is likely that it is not humidity.

If the plant did not capture any insects with its previous pitchers it might be suffering from nitrogen deprivation. If the plant did capture at least a few insects, it will be fine in that area. If it has gone for many months without pitchers, I would at least use a water soluble orchid fertilizer for foliar feed ands spray it or wipe it on the leaves once every two to four weeks in a 1/4 to 1/8 weakened solution. Never apply strong fertilizer to your Nepenthes leaves and never to the root system. Once the plant is starting to produce new pitchers you can stop manually fertilizing and let it capture the odd fly or roach again, manually supplying a few insects occasionally if needed.

Make sure the plant is potted in a fast draining mix of one part sphagnum peat, one part orchid bark, and one part coconut husk or one part sphagnum peat and two parts perlite. and repot once a year into new soil mix. Make sure that the soil mix has no fertilizers added as many companies make products that are premixed with fertilizer.

My bet is that you have insufficient light issues. Increase the light length and intensity and your problem should be solved. If the windows do not provide sufficient light, you might want to invest in a bank of 40 watt florescent shop lights to hang over your plants. At least 6000 to 12000 lumens, the 4 foot cool white tubes are 3000 lumens usually, will do. If you use a 2 tube light setup it will produce 6000 lumens at about one foot. Place it at 6-8 inches from the plant and keep it in the window. I have a N. sanguinea that I provide 12000 lumens of florescent light for that is also in a window that receives sunlight from the south for about 4 hours a day. Without the florescent lights it does more poorly and hardly pitchers with just window light. When you have pitchers forming, you can tell if the plant is getting enough light if its pitchers and even leaves develop pinkish and or orange colored spots. If they are just green or barely develop coloration, it needs more light.

Christopher

    Questioner's Rating
    Rating(1-10)Knowledgeability = 10Clarity of Response = 10Politeness = 10
    Commentthank you very much.. this was really wonderful answer.. once again thanks


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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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