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Problems pitchering

I need some help.

My aristo, jac, and hamata are putting out new healthy leaves for growth but pitcher production has stopped. Does it look like a heat issue, humidity issue, or a lack of sunlight?

They were fine up to December....

neps.jpg
 
Lack of pitchering to me usually indicates a lack of enough humidity,
however seeing as these are highlanders
and you have not indicated at all what kind of environmental conditions you are giving the plants,
it is a bit hard to suggest anything else...beyond a general lack of humidity,
as I said.

Another bit of info that may help people make a determination, is also knowing
how long you have had these plants, and/or if you recently changed their conditions.

(No matter what else you may hear, I would likely push up the lighting & humidity anyway.)
Most people don't realize the impact good humidity has on pitchering,
and from the pics, your plants don't look like they are "colored-up" to a big degree,
so increasing the lighting can likely safely be done anyway, to the benefit of the plants.

Good luck.
:water:
 
I'm a newbie at this still, but for some odd reason, my N. ventricosa x talangensis won't pitcher. Given, I've only had it for a little over a month, but the truncata I got with it has already put out a leaf and starte to create a pitcher. My humidity is 90% and the temperature shifts between 64 and 78 from day to night. What I'm trying to get at is that maybe there will be no apparent reason for them not to pitcher. My plant is growing like a weed, twice the rate of my x Ventrata that is nearly three times the size. It just doesn't make sense. It could be some weird reason, like the potting medium, what you're watering with, feeding or even air flow.

Think back to when they stopped pitchering. What did you change? Even something as simple as the weather could be a clue.
 
I'm gonna say it looks to me like BT has their plants on a windowsill, depending on where BT is the winter sun may be greatly diminished and thus be causing your lack of pitchers. The moss looks pretty good for open air and the tendrils don't appear to have dehydrated so the humidity might be OK (likely it's not ideal though I do see an older pitcher on the hamata). There would be no harm in adding a supplemental light and creating higher humidity environment for it. As Paul said, both will be of a benefit.

Pineapple N. talangensis is a difficult one to pitcher anyway and it likes cold night temps to do well and yours don't get very cold at all so I'm not surprised it's not behaving. N. truncata is much more flexible on temps.
 
I'm gonna say it looks to me like BT has their plants on a windowsill, depending on where BT is the winter sun may be greatly diminished and thus be causing your lack of pitchers. The moss looks pretty good for open air and the tendrils don't appear to have dehydrated so the humidity might be OK (likely it's not ideal though I do see an older pitcher on the hamata). There would be no harm in adding a supplemental light and creating higher humidity environment for it. As Paul said, both will be of a benefit.

Pineapple N. talangensis is a difficult one to pitcher anyway and it likes cold night temps to do well and yours don't get very cold at all so I'm not surprised it's not behaving. N. truncata is much more flexible on temps.

Oh... Well, crap. I guess it will love my greenhouse whem I move it out there. :)
 
Pineapple N. talangensis is a difficult one to pitcher anyway and it likes cold night temps to do well and yours don't get very cold at all so I'm not surprised it's not behaving.

Definitely this. I've had my little talangensis since last June, and its just now making me a little pitcher (which hopefully will inflate all the way now). It seems to take its dear sweet time adjusting to your growing conditions.
 
This is one time where my color deficiency gives me the upper hand! The newer leaves look a lot lighter than the older ones, so it's probably not enough light/long enough photo period. Feeling the leaves will help. I've noticed they're a lot softer when not given enough light.
 
Definitely this. I've had my little talangensis since last June, and its just now making me a little pitcher (which hopefully will inflate all the way now). It seems to take its dear sweet time adjusting to your growing conditions.

So how cold do they like? Or better yet, how cold can they get without adverse affects?

Sorry for hijacking the thread... But the OP's plants contain a few ultra highlanders, so it kinda fits in with the discussion. :blush:
 
My HLers get 65-75*f days and 40-50*F nights year round even in summer (with AC) right now they can get down to 40*F overnight and nobody complains. Some of those like N. vogelii who like it warmer grow a little slower at these temps but two of my N. lowiis popped out their biggest leaves yet and the temps are are their coolest.

I realize that's difficult to do for folks in warmer climates without relying on expensive cooling measures (AC) but it appears to be a metabolic need of these plants to get the steep cooling at night. I've had HLers burn out (or nearly so) in warm conditions because they don't get these mini-dormancies every night. They just grow and grow getting smaller and smaller instead of larger but this can be stopped/reversed by moving to cool HL conditions. So that's why I myself prefer to err cooler on HLers especially since many are not so cheap.
 
  • #10
Agree whole-heartedly!
Illustrates the point a seem to always bring up,
one size doesn't fit all,
so even amongst the few "groups" we designate of H.L./L.L. & Intermediate,
each plant will have its own unique preferences for temperature, humidity, lighting, etc.
So not all Highlanders want exactly the same conditions... hence one of the reasons that
one plant may be doing better than another, even though they are from the came "group".

As mentioned also, some plants grow faster than others, or have their own strong points too.

It is for this reason that actually growing plants and learning their language & what they are telling you they need, is the best way to master the hobby. (Like oh! my leaves seem anemic...! I need light, food, cooler or warmer temps, etc.)

Without knowing someone else's conditions, (like lights, temps, efforts at humidity, etc.) how thcan others hope to guess what the causes of the problems are? Especially if we have to guess what the conditions are too!

And I agree that the lighting could be boosted a bit, although the middle plant seems to be greener than previous leaves on it... likely new plants (less than 3 months old) or new conditions. As far as humidity, the plant pots, leaves and trays look bone dry to me!

(See how we have to think like Sherlock Holmes in order to figure out the conditions too, as they weren't provided. This is so common for so many people to do here!
Indeed, at least a picture was provided this time, so we are ahead of the game compared to most!
By the way, don't people read up on plants & how to care for them... if not before, but at least right after purchasing them? Especially expensive ones!

Well again, good luck. Swords & others have given a lot of good info. Bottom line is, you can't grow plants well, if you don't give them the conditions they want & need. With many plants, close is not good enough! They need what they need!
 
  • #11
I've had two issues be the primary cause of my plants not pitchering: not enough light, and adjusting to conditions. Regarding the seconds point, after I first recieved a spectabilis, despite being in ideal conditions (correct temps, good humidity, excellent light) it took 15 months to make its first pitcher. Once it did, it did so consistently.

In your case, I bet once spring rolls around and light increases you'll start seeing some pitchers.
 
  • #12
Sorry for omitting information about the ambient conditions. I did not think that they were particularly out of the ordinary for the requirements of such species.

Daytime conditions reach 70, nighttime conditions drop to 55.

Sunlight is afternoon, direct sun in the windowsill. Direct sun is for most of the afternoon.

Ambient humidity is around 70%.

I live in the southern hemisphere so we just entered our summer phase. The light has increased, and it is warmer than in the winter. January and February are the warmest times of the year although we have had a very mild summer this year. March and April will see the temperatures start to drop again.

I've had these three with me since August and I have not moved their location or changed the setup. That is why I'm puzzled about the halt in pitcher production.

Each of the possible causes is puzzling. My light has increased, if anything, and I believe heat stress is exhibited in the form of smaller and smaller leaves which is not happening here. Humidity has not changed.
 
  • #13
Sorry for omitting information about the ambient conditions. I did not think that they were particularly out of the ordinary for the requirements of such species.

Daytime conditions reach 70, nighttime conditions drop to 55.

Sunlight is afternoon, direct sun in the windowsill. Direct sun is for most of the afternoon.

Ambient humidity is around 70%.

I live in the southern hemisphere so we just entered our summer phase. The light has increased, and it is warmer than in the winter. January and February are the warmest times of the year although we have had a very mild summer this year. March and April will see the temperatures start to drop again.

I've had these three with me since August and I have not moved their location or changed the setup. That is why I'm puzzled about the halt in pitcher production.

Each of the possible causes is puzzling. My light has increased, if anything, and I believe heat stress is exhibited in the form of smaller and smaller leaves which is not happening here. Humidity has not changed.

70% should be okay for most neps, but I read that ultra highlanders like Hamata enjoy saturated conditions where water condenses on their leaves overnight. Hamata is a less demanding ultra highlander, as I believe it was ranked by Nepenthes University at an intermediate care level. The humidity might not have to be as high. Try putting a bag around it and see if that cheers it up humidity wise. Other than that, everything seems fine, but lighting could definitely be higher.

Good luck. :)
 
  • #14
Conditions seem good enough to me. I'd just leave them be and not mess with them too much. Just be patient and they should get back to it. Neps are fussy, so if one has issues, you mess with it, and then it gets more issues, and starts this feedback loop of sorts haha. I've found the best thing to do when conditions are good is just leave them alone.
 
  • #15
do you have them under grow lights or natural lighting?
all of my nepenthes have generally stopped producing pitchers due to lack of natural sunlight
they are growing, but not pitchering. i am not worried, im sure they will resume when the light comes back.
 
  • #16
do you have them under grow lights or natural lighting?
all of my nepenthes have generally stopped producing pitchers due to lack of natural sunlight
they are growing, but not pitchering. i am not worried, im sure they will resume when the light comes back.

No worries, this is natural. My Lowlanders are making mini leaves due to the lack of sunlight and extreme heat.
 
  • #17
Thanks for all the advice. I guess this means I should just leave them alone and see if they pick themselves up in a couple of weeks. I can do that! :)
And if I really want to mess with things, then I go out and look for artificial lighting, or find a way to increase light on the windowsill. Seeing how we've gone from winter to summer, here in the southern hemisphere, I'm not going to do that yet since the light levels have actually gone up.
 
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