Expert: Christopher Littrell - 11/11/2011

Question
Hello again Chris,I do have one other question.  I'm located in Florida and we are already beginning to get some colder nights.  My pitcher plants are hanging on my west side porch outside...from what I've gathered they don't like temps below 50, this is true?  I did read somewhere that it's possible to put them on the ground outside and cover them with pine needle mulch until the weather warms up...or I could just take them in and out during the winter.  Our weather here will still have some fairly nice warmer days.  I'm just not sure if moving them back and forth often is a good idea, their root system is very fine and fragile???  I'd like to do whatever is most natural and best for them, even if it means to have them covered for a couple of months. They are two different types of pitcher plants but I believe that both are in the nepenthes catagory.  (I have only recently discovered my green thumb and am still very young in learning)  Thanks for the advice.
Vickie

Answer
Hello Vickie,

If you have Nepenthes, they are tropical pitcher plants that need temperatures above freezing all year round. Most of the Nepenthes species commonly sold are relatively easy to grow in room temperatures, so bring them inside and place them in a well lit window and perhaps add some florescent lights over them to ensure they get enough light. A set of shop lights with 2 or 4 tubes of the 3000 lumen cool white 40 watt variety would be fine. Just monitor the plants and make sure they are growing well through winter until it warms over 50 degrees again.

In Florida, you could just move them inside on the days that your temperatures will fall below 50 degrees. Nepenthes are nt really fragile. I have repotted them with no slowing of growth. Their roots can be a little brittle, but they are not really all that fagile.

The mulch idea would be more likely used for Sarracenia North American pitcher plants which are winter dormant temperates. In very harsh winters, they can be placed in a more insulated spot with mulch so that their roots will not freeze solid. Tropicals are best just moved indoors so they will not experience the winter cold.

Christopher