Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 9/25/2010

Question
I am growing nepenthes highland and intermediates.

So I seem to be having luck with my plants on a reverse
day/night schedule. I turn my lights on from 9pm to 10-11am
and keep them shaded during the day. I had to do this
because my lights were blinding the room during the day.
They seem to be doing great except I just realized that
before this I had let the temperature naturally drop in my
house at night but now my lights are on at night so my
plants aren't getting very much if any temperature change
during the day. They are staying at a pretty steady
comfortable room temperature. Is this going to be an issue?
Do nepenthes NEED a change in temperature at night if they
are kept somewhere in the required temperature range?

Answer
Hi Adam,

You bring up a very good point.  We generally recommend nighttime temperature drops for highland Nepenthes because that's what they often experience in the wild.  However, it doesn't necessarily mean that the plants absolutely needs it to grow properly.  Overall, it depends on the species you're growing.  Ultra highland species tend to produce more pitchers with nighttime drops.  Other highland species, such as N. sanguinea, do fine without them.  

The point about growing these plants is always observing their growth and making necessary adjustments to the microclimate to achieve the growth you want.  So if you notice that the plants are not producing pitchers, then you may need to go back to daytime lighting to allow the temperature to drop at night.  That's what it essentially comes down to.  There's no hard and fast rule about growing in cultivation.  Our recommendations are starting points.  After that, it's a matter of fine tuning your growing conditions so your plants look their best.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin