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Carnivorous Plants/My baby pitcher is dying- what do I do???

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Expert: - 4/4/2011


Question
I purchased a Judith Finn Nepenthes several months ago and it has been thriving. But now the baby pitcher it has grown is brown and dead like. The larger pitcher is healthy and gets a steady supply of insects- but not enough to overwhelm it. I have not fed the young one yet as its flap/lid has not opened. The small plant is in a pot with a semi large hole, allowing it to drip excess water into the cup it is placed in. It does not sit in the water. Only the very tip of the leaf and the pitcher of the immature plant is affected and brown. Do you know what could have caused this, if I should cut off the dead pitcher and if there is any hope for pitchers to come?

Answer
Hello Erin,

Unfortunately, I do not know enough about the growing conditions of the plant to know what occurred to cause the pitcher to abort. This does typically occur in Nepenthes for a number of reasons though.

Humidity changes, particularly drastic drops in humidity or constant environmental changes in temperature and humidity can cause Nepenthes pitchers to die off.

Insufficient light is another consideration and is often the most likely cause of pitcher failure in Nepenthes.

Send me a followup with information about what kind of environment your Nepenthes is in and what chemicals, if any, are used in its vicinity and I might be able to pinpoint the cause of the problem.

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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