Expert: Christopher Littrell - 2/7/2010

Question
Hi there! I live near Houston, TX and have the perfect temeratures and humidity for growing lowland Nepenthes outdoors. However, I'm unsure of what to do with the plants once winter rolls around and the temps fall below 70. I guess my two options are 1) investing in a small greenhouse or 2)bringing them indoors for the winter. I'm afraid the plants wouldn't fare well with the lower humidity in the house. What has been your experience with the growing lowland Nepenthes outdoors and which of the options would you recommend?

Thank you in advance!!

Jennifer

Answer
Hello Jennifer,

I have never had an opportunity to grow Nepenthes outdoors as of yet. I tend to live in areas in which the climate, or the children, would cause too many problems with that option.

You can bring them indoors and place them in a window with a large tray of water and other plants around them. Growing together near a tray of water like that would increase the area humidity by as much as 10-30 percent in my experience, particularly if you have 6000 to 12000 lumens of 40 watt florescent shop lights over the plants. The lights increase the temperature by 5-10 degrees and cause the water to evaporate faster, increasing the humidity as well. Place the plants on a table or shelf with the lights mounted overhead and a sheet or curtain draped around the entire setup and the humidity will not be affected at all by central air.

I grow all my Nepenthes indoors and most of the house has a humidity range of about 30%. The room I have the plants in has a humidity of about 55% due to all the water trays and plants, pots of soil, and slightly higher temperatures. So far as the water tray, the Nepenthes, of course, should not be resting in the water tray, only near it or over it with the pot not actually in the water as standing water too close to Nepenthes roots can cause root rot.

You can also simply adapt the plants to lower humidity before winter by placing a clear plastic bag over them and moving them indoors. Over several weeks (it should take 2-3 weeks), punch half a dozen 1/4 inch holes in the plastic every three days until the plastic is unable to hold in humidity, then remove it. The plants should then be adapted to lower humidity in your house.

Christopher