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Carnivorous Plants/nepenthes pitcher plant

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Expert: - 9/4/2009


Question
My plant is potted and is putting on new leaves but the pitchers are hard and dry

Answer
Hello Patricia,

When pitchers fail to form and take on a dry hard appearance, they have either been given too little light or have experienced too great a humidity change too quickly. Give the plant more light, but not direct sun, just patial sun or 12000 lumens of florescent cool white light 6-8 inches from its leaves will suffice. If you think the plant suffered a humidity drop, place a clear plastic bag over it and punch half a dozen 1/4 inch holes in the plastic every three days until the bag no longer holds in humidity and can be removed. This will give the plant a slow acclimation to lower humidity levels over time.

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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