nepenthes ventrata stopped producing pitchers

[Jhunt]

My Ventrate has been growing in a grow tent since it got too cold out side for it. I put shrimp pellets or one pellet of Osmocote plus into each pitcher. The plant is growing like crazy, but it hasn't produced any pitchers on the new growth in months. I'm using a 300 watt LED light for the plants in the tent.

Would the lack of natural sunlight be preventing it from making new traps?

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[Odysseus]

First off, I have EXCLUSIVELY grown CPs indoors since 2003. Off and on. So my experience is great and weak simultaneously. I can say what works for me but I have also never had enough growing space for a Nep to be as big as yours so you have a new situation for me. So wait for other replies, but here is my best diagnosis for now.

I don't know enough about LEDs to say whether 300 watts is enough light. But as is the case with Nepenthes, enough light is critical to growing pitchers. Especially on a ventrata, which is such an easy Nep to grow, it has to be the light change. Everything else looks fine.

Now WILL IT grow pitchers with that 300 watt LED light? Possibly. It might just be taking some time to adjust to the new conditions. How long has it been since it has been switched to under that light?

Hmmm you did say months. It must not be adjusting and just needs even more light.

I wonder what others will say but my diagnosis is more light. But take my word as a vote. Get a majority before you feel like you found an answer.

Good luck!

 

[tdubs]

First off, your post helped me confirm that the Nep i bought from a local garden center is indeed a Ventrata. It was from a non specialized source so of course it wasn't labeled. I'm not sure if this will be helpful, but here's some info about my setup that is having decent results.

I got it in May, it lived outside and fed itself well until late september / early october when i transitioned it inside. I put it into a grow tent and it continued producing pitchers for several weeks, slowed down a bit in early december, and is now starting to produce pitchers again. Here's my setup:

* AgroMax OTD84 LED light @ ~18 hours daily
* temp and humidity are basically unmanaged.
* decent ventilation

I haven't fed it anything other than a random stink bug or ladybug when they appear in the house, but I do mist the plant at least 2-3x daily. There are a handful of other CP in there and some wet LFS so the humidity is probably decent.

Seems like 300W LED & a grow tent would be a plenty good habitat. What kind of lighting cycle are you on? and how's the humidity?

 

[Jhunt]

First off, your post helped me confirm that the Nep i bought from a local garden center is indeed a Ventrata. It was from a non specialized source so of course it wasn't labeled. I'm not sure if this will be helpful, but here's some info about my setup that is having decent results.

I got it in May, it lived outside and fed itself well until late september / early october when i transitioned it inside. I put it into a grow tent and it continued producing pitchers for several weeks, slowed down a bit in early december, and is now starting to produce pitchers again. Here's my setup:

* AgroMax OTD84 LED light @ ~18 hours daily
* temp and humidity are basically unmanaged.
* decent ventilation

I haven't fed it anything other than a random stink bug or ladybug when they appear in the house, but I do mist the plant at least 2-3x daily. There are a handful of other CP in there and some wet LFS so the humidity is probably decent.

Seems like 300W LED & a grow tent would be a plenty good habitat. What kind of lighting cycle are you on? and how's the humidity?

My lights are on for 12 hours a day. I suspect that humidity might be a issue after reading your response. I only mist it once a day as I was afraid mold would form on the plants. I have all the vents open on the tent to get airflow inside, but now I'm thinking I should buy a small clip on fan to go inside.

So I learned I need to increase my lighting, increase humidity, and increase air flow.

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[tdubs]

I'm going to be getting a small clip fan as well for better circulation. It can get pretty dry in here during the winter and I'd like to generate some airflow without having to open the vents and reduce the humidity. I'm pretty sure the slow-down was caused by me letting it get too dry when we were away for a long weekend. The leaves just looked a little different / less shiny, just less healthy looking, and the growth points slowed way down. I ended up taking them for cuttings (results TBD). One of the vines I cut actually started two new growth points immediately. I'm just hoping to keep it going until I can put it back outside in late spring.

This was a really good starter plant to get me back into growing CP. I did such a great job last time around that I'm, uh, starting over again many years later. This time I'm trying to be a bit more thoughtful and not just buy plants because they look cool....and then think that I can re-create conditions that exist in a mountainside in Borneo :hopelessness: Babysteps....

Anyway, from my admittedly limited experience it seems like humidity is more of a driving factor than feeding with my Ventrata

My lights are on for 12 hours a day. I suspect that humidity might be a issue after reading your response. I only mist it once a day as I was afraid mold would form on the plants. I have all the vents open on the tent to get airflow inside, but now I'm thinking I should buy a small clip on fan to go inside.

So I learned I need to increase my lighting, increase humidity, and increase air flow.

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[Odysseus]

Humidity is important but not AS important as light. Your tent sounds great for humidity. You need a hygrometer to test it, but I would go light first and not worry about the humidity unless the plant is now in MUCH LESS humidity than it was outside your home.

As for my conditions for my neps, I DO have higher humidity and high light. I am going to share some images hoping that it helps understand my setup.

My lights are on from 6am to 8pm so 14 hours right now. I will ramp up to 16 hours in the spring. I could already be at 16 hours right now but I like watching movies without my lights on.

My Highland neps would be happier if I gave them more of a temperature drop at night and would mist them at night. Instead I just close my lid more and the humidity rises to nearly 90% at night and then I prop open the lid during the day so it settles in the 70% area. In my picture I had not yet opened my lid today since I have been gone all morning.

My lights are a four T8 bulbs in a four foot long fixture from Home Depot that is mixed two 6500K bulbs and two 3000K bulbs. Plants have only been growing in here since Thanksgiving weekend. So early still but pitchering like crazy. They are all going to outgrow this space soon enough. You should also note that I have the entire tank surrounded with mirrors to really make use of the light and keep up on loss. I think that makes all the difference honestly.

Current Nepenthes Tanks

My Highlands. Everyone of these is a N. ventricosa or a cross with a ventricosa

N. aristolochioides x ventricosa

N. singalana x ventricosa and a pure N. ventricosa

N. hamata x ventricosa

Example of a tank I had active a few years ago that fit a larger N. ventrata and N. ventricosa

Closer shot of N. ventrata

My point is simply that light is key and in my experience it looks like humidity was higher too. My plants had no trouble adapting and pitchering especially a ventrata I rescued from Lowe's which I should admit that I also killed along with all those plants in that tank in a bad heat wave in the summer in my garage office...sigh I could not get the AC to work in that place without a much more expensive setup and I sadly watched the plants wither. My wife at the time was not going to have the plants in the house...it was a sad summer.

 

[hcarlton]

Any change in conditions can make a Nepenthes stop pitchering for a while, even the bomb-proof "ventrata." Just bringing it in for the winter may put it off for a couple months as it adjusts, then it will start pitchering again. Many Nepenthes also simply stop pitchering in winter as shortened days equal less light (this can be remedied by increasing artificial illumination of course, but note: wattage means zilch, though I'd say 300 watts is going to be a ridiculous blemish on your electricity bill. Light "temperature" also doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot unless the plant is getting specifically wavelengths it can't use aka those in the green and yellow spectra; lumens is the important part, the actual light output strength; preferably well over 2,000 lumens, though most shoplight fixtures even exceed 3,000. Most strong LED fixtures are plenty enough). Humidity also certainly isn't a concern especially with this plant, as it can adapt to pitcher in just about anything except outdoor desert humidity.

 

[zcons]

From my experience, every time my conditions change suddenly (either humidity drop, temperature, or lighting) my plants take a month or two to adjust and in those times they do not pitcher and the old pitchers die off. This is normal for the plants and they even experience this in the wild too.

Odysseus, those plants look great! The setup seems quite nice and I am a bit jealous
If you are looking for a bit of unsolicited advice, I might suggest removing the water trays at the bottom of the neps' pots as proper drainage tends to be more important than the extra humidity or water they would get. If you keep them in the tank then the humidity will be plenty high. As long as you water them from time to time, you should not need the tray.

 

[Mysteriou$]

My Ventrate has been growing in a grow tent since it got too cold out side for it. I put shrimp pellets or one pellet of Osmocote plus into each pitcher. The plant is growing like crazy, but it hasn't produced any pitchers on the new growth in months. I'm using a 300 watt LED light for the plants in the tent.

Would the lack of natural sunlight be preventing it from making new traps?

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Your pitcher looks great and fine to me. My swamp pitcher grows in soil and it produced many traps when I stopped fertilizing it. I agree that pitchers need some drainage. North American Pitchers may not need too much drainage.

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