Expert: Christopher Littrell - 7/22/2007

Question
About 3 weeks ago my Nepenthes ventricosa flowered. I asked some people if the wanted pollen and no one seemed interested (I wonder why haha) so I decided to cut it off to allow more energy to go back towards the growth of the plant. But it seems the opposite has happened. The plant seems to be growing slower now that the flower has been cut even though no changes to its growing conditions were made. The flower was cut as close to the plant as I could cut it and is slowly being assimilated into the main stalk of the plant by a newly emerging leaf. Could the plant just be waiting to heal over its old wound before resuming growth? This is my first Nepenthes flower so I suppose this could be normal but I just wanted to ask to be sure.

Thank you so much for your help,
-John Paul

p.s. the answers that I have received in the past were just what I needed and I thank you for your time yet again!


Answer
Hello John,

Since it has only been three weeks, it is probably as you surmised that the plant is still recovering from expending energy trying to flower. Since the stalk was cut, the plant should get back into it's normal growth pattern soon. One thing that might help is a couple of insects in it's pitchers to give it a boost of fertilizer. Among all carnivorous plants, Nepenthes seem to reap more benefit from insects than the other species. You should see it return to normal growth in a few more weeks regardless so long as it's other environmental considerations are stable.

Good job with getting your Nepenthes to maturity and flowering. That can be a feat even with experienced growers.

Christopher