4 year old Nepenthes Ventrata is all vined out. Need trimming advice.

[Tman]

I've had my plant for 4 years now, and it kind of got a little neglected and was allowed to vine out when it reached that stage. It now has 4 vines: an 18 inch one, a 16 inch one, a 7 inch one, and a 9 inch one. All of them have lost the lower leaves and the stem has gone woody in that lower area. The point I would want to cut them all back to is in that woody stem leafless area. I am thinking about doing each vine one by one. They are all the same plant and my hope is that 1 vine can be cut back and be supported by the rest until it grows new leaves (if it will that is) and once it gets grown decently I go for the next. Is this a sound plan? Does anyone have a better idea?

Also, the longest 2 are the ones that would be ideal to have the plant's major growth be as the shorter ones kind of came out at a shallow angle.

 

[mylesG]

please post pics id love to see it

 

[Tman]

No pictures. Sorry. I live with my parents while attending college. The only camera I can get is their's. It's memory card is jammed full and my dad doesn't seem like he's willing to unload it anytime soon. Nothing on there can be deleted either.


Edit: I took some pics with my laptop's webcam. Not the best but it'll have to do......... Looks like I can't share them after all. I have no idea how to get them onto here.

 

[Whimgrinder]

Is it still producing pitchers??

 

[Tman]

Is it still producing pitchers??

It has produced a pitcher here there, but isn't growing any at the moment. The vast majority of leaves grow a tendril but never a pitcher.

I just noticed 2 more little guys coming out of the middle of the plant. They are in a nice position and would make a nice new base for the plant should something go wrong.

 

[hardy]

Cutting the vines one by one rather than all at once sounds like a good idea to me. It'll prevent massive dieback of the roots. Well ventrata is a sturdy plant, but you know, just in case...

 

[Tman]

Will it grow leaves from the cut area if I cut it below all the other leaves? Meaning cutting it in the middle of the woody stem.

Edit: also, is it best to just let a single stem grow or do multiple stems not hurt it? I can't seem to get the plant to make any more pitchers. I think maybe it's spread itself out too much. I have it in a second story south facing window in my house so it gets plenty of light. That brings up another thing. I am not sure what I should do with the cuttings. I could root them, but I fear I lack a good place to put them to get adequate light. I have some north facing windows they could sit by, but the light would be all indirect. I don't know if it would be enough for them. I can't use CFL bulbs as I live at home while attending college and my dad won't let me use a lamp for any plants.

Second Edit: After looking over the plant picture thread I think I had a wrong idea of how a nep should be. I always thought I was supposed to prevent it from vining out and that it would bush out and bulk up. I think I was wrong. Unless trimming the vines back would make the plant grow more pitchers I think I would be better off making a circle of posts around the edges of the pot and making a big spiral around them with the vines to keep it neat and contained.

 

[carbonetc]

In my experience it's difficult to get new growth out of a woody stem. You'd be more likely to get a basal from the base. When I have a long woody section I tend to just cut it off and making cuttings from the green portion. If I get a basal, great, but one of the cuttings could just be added to the pot later on if I don't.

You could also let the vines hang down below the rim of the pot (downward instead of upward) to encourage basals before you cut.

I would suspect lack of humidity for your lack of pitchers, which would also cause early leaf loss which leaves you with long woody stems.

 

[Tman]

yeah, the air in the house is quite dry. averages 50-60% humidity. I don't have anywhere humid to keep it, and I'm in Minnesota where we are entering fall so no more humidity outside.

So a nep can't produce pitchers without humid air? Why is that? Would misting the plant remedy that issue? If so, how often?

On another note, I decided to not trim the plant and started training it around several posts I made by bundling bamboo skewers (the kind for food. We've had them for years but never use them lol!). It worked out quite well. It is only wrapped around half the perimeter or the pot for now. I used zip ties to bundle several skewers together for strength and this enables me to add more to lengthen them as needed. To tie the plant I used some twist ties made for tying plants and loosely fastened the plant to the posts with them.