Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 5/25/2011

Question
I bought a nepethes spectabilis from you guys years ago and the only pitchers it's ever had were on it when I received it. It had healthy looking leaves the last few years but it still wouldn't produce pitchers. I live in Montana and I just replanted my plant in orchid soil. I searched all over town for sphagnum moss but couldn't find any, the orchid soil said it was pearlite and sphagnum moss with bark so I think it's ok. It was in a slightly shaded east facing window for the first 2 years now I have it in a sunnier west window. I also bought orchid fertilizer for it but thought I should wait since I just re-potted it  Do I need more light or better water to get pitchers?  
Thanks for any help,
Teich

Answer
Welcome to the frustrating world of growing Nepenthes spectabilis.  We stopped carrying this species because it didn't produce pitchers for us as regularly as we liked.  While lighting is a key factor for proper pitcher development, this species also likes a good deal of ambient humidity.  Growers on the East Coast tend to have better luck growing this species because of their higher humidity during the summer months.  When we sold off our stock, one grower in Georgia showed me a photo of his plant.  Within a month in its new location, the plant had produced several colorful pitchers.  We were lucky if we could get one.  Our growing conditions just wasn't quite right to make this plant happy.  

So this might be a case in which you find a new home for the plant and switch to another plant that can better acclimate to your growing conditions.  Nepenthes sanguinea and Nepenthes truncata are often the most reliable plants that will produce pitchers in a wide range of growing conditions.  If you still want to grow N. spectabilis and see it produce pitchers, you may need to set up a controlled environment where you can keep the humidity above 50% during the day and 70% at night. Without a climate controlled greenhouse, I'm not sure how you would do this in a home.  Otherwise you can simply grow it for its red leaves.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin