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How to Get Bigger Pitchers?

Nepenthesis

Formerly known as Pineapple
Any of the long-time growers of many Nepenthes know the answer to this? For example, a clone in one person's care might make smaller (but healthy) pitchers than a plant in someone else's care. Is this due to fertilization? How much food is caught? Temperature? Light?

Any information on this would be cool. :)
 
Yep.






It can be all of the above, it can be down to light, temps, humidity, watering, food, fertilization, or it just is unhappy since the move. Some plants never perk up after shipping even though they ought to.
 
My plants have made much larger pitchers if they are well-watered during the formation process. High humidity helps a lot, too.
 
happy plants make larger pitchers. no one reason or magic go-to. thatd be way too easy :p growers with some of the largest pithers around give credit to the growing conditions being on point and keeping the plants healthy.
 
badger milk

Omg XD

My plants have made much larger pitchers if they are well-watered during the formation process. High humidity helps a lot, too.

Yeah, I guess that's also a major factor. But given that humidity is high and the plants are very well watered, what would be the next step? ???

happy plants make larger pitchers. no one reason or magic go-to. thatd be way too easy :p growers with some of the largest pithers around give credit to the growing conditions being on point and keeping the plants healthy.

There's definitely nothing else that would contribute to it? Not even feeding or fertilization, or maybe even growing medium? ???
 
iv looked at alot of threads where the big boys are asked for their "secret" to the giant pitchers. the inquirers are disappointed to hear that the answer cannot be bottled and sold to them haha


if there were one thing then we would all be doin it :)
 
If you could elaborate on your question I might offer some thoughts. Are you asking why the same plant (clone) of similar age and size in one persons care makes pitchers which are noticeably smaller? Or a particular plant had larger pitchers and while the plant has grown larger the pitchers have declined in size? Or a particular plant is producing pitchers that seem smaller than they should be for the size of the plant? Or are you asking what it takes to produce pitchers that you are capable of losing your slippers in?
 
I find these important:
Proper light
Proper humidity/moisture
Proper media mix
Proper temps
Regular insect feeding (personal opinion)

Notice that all the above are efforts at replicating their natural conditions.
If anything above isn't proper, your plant won't produce as well.

I've found this stuff less important:
I flip flop between drip trays under the pots and no trays. I go a few months with, then a few months without.
I used to swear by Maxsea feedings every two weeks. I've skipped that for almost six months now, still growing massive pitchers
I used coffee once or twice on a handful of neps. I wasn't impressed.

I used beta pellets for almost a year. I've switched to freeze-dried mealworms and my plants/pitchers seem happier. The large pitchers (7"+) see 5-8 worms when they open, and another ~5 worms every 7-10 days. I have yet to lose a pitcher from "over-feeding" using the meal worms.

Happy growing.
 
  • #10
- If a plant isn't genetically hard-wired to produce jumbo pitchers, then its not going to make "lose-your-slippers-in-it" sized pitcher no matter what you do. Some plants are genetically coded to produce their largest, best pitchers only when they have reached a certain stage in their life cycle, so in some cases, that will mean waiting years for pitchers like the ones Sam and Geoff and Rob sometimes show photos of. Growing Nepenthes is a waiting game, in case you haven't noticed. You can't rush success.
- optimize the growing conditions! You know what Nepenthes like, so the question is, how close to ideal are your growing conditions? Many growers don't have the option to provide perfect conditions, because they are limited by their living situation or budgetary limitations, and so they have to opt for "as close as I can get", and when you compromise on some of the key factors, the results will be a compromise also.

Provide as much light as is optimal for the particular species/hybrid. Not every species likes full sun exposure, but some love it. Not every species thrives in shady conditions, but some demand it. Study, ask questions and make an effort to engineer the best site for each individual plant. As Geoff has intimated, there is no "secret recipe" for monster pitchers. You can't just fertilize a plant with everything you can find and expect horse-sized pitchers, all of the small details add up to have a significant impact. If you compromise on temperatures, light quality, humidity, soil quality, and nutrient availability, the results are going to be less than ideal.
 
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