Hi all, Please see photos of my Pitcher Plant showing how unhealthy it's become. Firstly, all its "pitchers" dried out a short while after I got it about 10 months ago, and I cut them off - since then it grew lots of new stems and leaves, but no pitchers. Do you know why that is? Secondly, which is most concerning, it is drying out from the bottom of the stems (see photo). This started happening a couple of weeks ago. What might the reason be? (My own guess is I wasn't diligent with watering it for a little while) Is there a way to revive it? Thanks!
I'm not sure what plant you have. There are many things called pitcher plants, but this is definitely not the Sarracenia genus that I have seen often enough in southeast US wild bogs. Maybe it's in Nepenthes genus, although seeing a plant stem of this length is disconcerting to me. I'd describe Nepenthes spp. as having a rosette of leaves with the pitchers pendant from leaf tips. Is that descriptive of your plant when you first got it? This decline of your plant sounds like a combination of three things, but it's just a guess. One, too dry. Two, not enough intensity of light. Three, seasonal decline. I suspect there is a rhizome that needs rest before starting up again in the spring. The water available to bog plants in nature is always available but not always saturated. So bone dry is a no-go. Bog water has no chlorine of course, and is generally acidic. If you have a cedar water lake or stream nearby (that's the tannic brownish water), you might want to dip a gallon of it every month or two to rest at room temperature for watering. I'd make sure this plant is trimmed back to maybe two or three leaves per green stem, anything brown taken off, and potting medium moist to semi-dry. It should continue to have some light, but that's not critical at this point. It will be in late winter, though. You may have to supplement. Even here in Florida, my carnivorous plant acquaintances use supplemental light indoors. Also controlled humidity which you could improve with a cloche.
Thank you for your input - very helpful pointers indeed. I believe my plant is Nepenthes spp (please see photo of the first day I got it). The three possible reasons you noted for the decline all make sense to me. I will prune it, and watch water and light levels and observe it till Spring - hopefully it will rally...
I think it might be a seasonal light thing. Mine started taking over my east-facing window and wrapping itself lovingly around other plants. Pitchers big enough to swallow a mouse. (And I've been tempted, but the mice are making themselves scarce.) Now its behaving just like yours. I've repotted it once- last year- in peat moss. I use tap water, but for irrelevant reasons it (the water) sits in an open container for at least a day. And I've cut away all the brown stuff. I grew a cutting for a gift for a friend, and I've got another cutting started. I'm not worried and I don't think you should worry either. Now let me see if I can post a photo...
I'm I'm having trouble posting a photo of what it looks like right now. Funny that the first photo was quite a quick upload and this one, taken tonight just won't go. Guess I'll have to describe it: It looks just like yours.
Thank you, pinenut! Your experience up in Whitehorse is a revelation. Do you need to use a greenhouse in the summer for tropicals?
I had to chuckle a bit there thanrose. Hardly any of my stuff would survive a winter if they weren't right here in the house. Nothing tropical would make it through the summer in my greenhouse. The extra daylight would be good, but the fluctuating temperatures would be a killer. Ah. Here it is. Nepenthes after its haircut. Cheers
Thanks pinenut! I was so depressed before, but now with the post haircut photo, your confidence in the plant bouncing back to glory days, and the idea of making cuttings I'm so happy this is not the end for my beautiful plant. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Well, I was getting worried there for a while. It took a heck of a long time, November to June, but it seems to be coming back. I fed it a mosquito yesterday. It still looks pretty scraggy, and the cutting, while still alive, is slow in developing. I'll post a photo as soon as I remember where we left the camera. How is yours doing?
Mine looks happy again! I cut off the brown stems and all through winter, slowly but surely, it grew tiny new stems and now the grow rate is much faster. the only strange thing is, its not growing its pitchers back... I'm concerned it won't have all the food it needs. I'll post a photo later as well. Any thoughts on the vanished pitchers?
That's just what mine did. Little proto-pitchers that didn't develop, then gradually bigger pitchers that weren't opening. Then I went away for ten days and whatever my neighbour did worked. Now that I think of it, all my stuff flourishes under her care. There might be a lesson in here somewhere.
