Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 10/29/2010

Question
hi guys,
i have all your dvds and the ebook, which are awesome by the way. i recommend them to all who submit here.
but my question is, how much light is too much for nepenthes?
i have a mix of highland and intermediate a in a ssw window (zone 5-6), through the summer they were getting 4 1/2-5 hrs direct sun with bright light the rest of the day. they seem very happy. i noticed today that the sun had dropped so much that there is 6+ hrs of sun coming in now. the plants look fine at the moment, but as winter rolls in the light will increase a bit more. is that too much?
thanks for the time

Answer
The amount of lighting depends on a couple factors: species and temperature.  Some species can take a lot of light, while others prefer less.  The warmer the temperature, the higher the risk for leaf burn.  So cooler temperatures are better when growing plants in direct sunlight.

You don't need to worry about providing too much lighting in your climate.  As we progress into fall and winter, your window will be slightly cool, so your plant will tolerate the higher light levels.  In fact, you might have more pitchers during the fall and winter than in spring and summer.

The main thing to watch for is leaf burn, large brown patches on the leaves.  However, in all my years of growing Nepenthes in a sunny south window, I've never seen it happen during fall or winter.  It mostly happens in my west window during the summer months.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin