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Help reviving my unhealthy pitcher plant

Hey Forum,

First time poster here from Melbourne AUS. I may need some guidance getting my plant back to her former glory.

I have had my plant (Bella) for about 4 years now (healthy pics attached from about 12 months ago.)

We recently moved home and the change in environment has left me with a very sad looking plant. (Unhealthy pic attached). Our new apartment doesn't have as much sunlight, and is cold on the balcony. The plant used to live outside all year round very happily, but under clear plastic roof/cover where she received a bit of direct sunlight.

Can someone give me some advice about where to put the plant in Melbourne location? Does it need full sun? Does it have to be inside? Is the lack of pitchers and browning leaves partly seasonal? I'd rather send her to my mum's place to live than kill her!

More info:

- we are in Autumn here and it's about to get cold, but no frost.

- no pitchers on the plant currently.

- brown patches on her leaves.

- usually the plant loses some pitchers over winter and grows loads of new ones in spring.

- plant is now almost my height. I was planning on doing a cutting but worried that's a bad idea in this health.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers
 

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Welcome! I wish it was under better circumstances.
Could you tell us what the temperature range was at your old place vs. the new place? How about humidity? Some Nepenthes can definetly sulk with a sudden shift in their environment.... Were all those leaves healthy and green before the move and the yellowing happened all together?
 
Some browning and lost pitchers is normal when you move a plant from one place to another. I'd probably avoid leaving the plant outside if your temperatures fall below 8C.
 
Welcome! I wish it was under better circumstances.
Could you tell us what the temperature range was at your old place vs. the new place? How about humidity? Some Nepenthes can definetly sulk with a sudden shift in their environment.... Were all those leaves healthy and green before the move and the yellowing happened all together?
Hey adnedarn,

Thanks for the welcome and quick reply!

Melbourne's temp range is about 5C (41F) to 40C (104F). At my old place, I kept the plant in an outdoor corridor with a plastic roof, which you can see in the 'healthy' pics. This would have protected it from the cold somewhat. The new place only has an exposed balcony which gets sun, but also wind.

Humidity should be the same.

The lower 2 leaves were browning a bit before the move (which is normal), but the others have definitely browned since. A couple of healthy pitchers have browned since too. Right now there are only the top 3 leaves that look green.

After reading your comment and Grey Moss's, I'm thinking she might need to move inside, right?

If so, I may need to deal with her height! Fully extended she is 5 feet. Any tips for that?

Cheers
 
Yeah, I bet the sudden shift allowing for cold at likely the very low end (as said above by Grey Moss) of what that plant would like is what has caused it's decline. Nepenthes can generally do pretty good inside, even if you have to add additional light to get them to be happy and pitcher. As far as dealing with the height, you generally don't want to clip it unless you're ready to accept that if your cuttings fail you may not have a plant. The base of the plant will not always sprout new growth. Typically people wait for a basal shoot to get at least a few decent leaves before cutting off the vine for cuttings. Some have said that allowing the vine to lay on the ground or lower than the pot can help encourage a basal shoot. Not sure if that's based off of any proof or actual trials though. A 4' florescent shop light standing up 1.5' or so from the plant will probably give it enough light along with being by a bright window to get it happy and pitchering. Expect a period of acclimation though, where pitchers may not form. So give it a chance to acclimate and recover before assuming what you're doing isn't working and changing it.
Good luck!
Andrew
 
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