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Mystery Nepenthes not pitchering

  • Thread starter Rick
  • Start date
Hello,

I am new to the forum but I hope that I can find some help.

About 2 months ago I bought a nepenthes without a tag at a garden store.
It also had no pitchers so I have no idea about the kind.

However, during the last 2 months it has only been vining without a single pitcher developing.
It is growing like mad, and also producing a basal, but this one also is not making any pitchers.

It is standing on an east facing balcony, where it gets the full morning sun, and during the day half sun.
The medium I put it in is mainly spaghnum moss, a bit of orchid bark and some perlite.

I keep the substrate moist at all time and mist it 2 times a day. (destilled water)

Since it is growing very well, I was wondering if a nepenthes doesnt produce pitchers at all during this stage or maybe it is still transplant shock ?
I live in Holland, but lately the weather has been quite warm and sunny.

Any help is appreciated!
(I am a bit worried since my Nepenthes Alata that is hanging next to it is doing amazingly well)
 

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:welcome:
Is the Nepenthes above it also new or have those pitchers grown since it has been placed in this area?
 
The Nepenthes above it is a month older and I placed it there on day 1, but when I bought it it also already had several pitchers on them.
It seems to be doing really well in that place though, and it is positively FULL of wasps.

So the conditions at this place should be fine, and the only difference seem to be that the big one is vining, but not pitchering at all.
 
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Step one, stop misting. This only causes humidity spikes and temperature fluctuations that can both stress the plant out more than it already is from being moved. Step two, be patient. If the plant is developing good leaves, isn't being sunburnt, and has color as seen on the stem, then it's still acclimating. These a plants that work on months-long timescales at the minimum, rather than the days or weeks people are used to with many houseplants.
 
Perfect!
Yeah I was just hoping that even though it is vining, it will eventually still grow pitchers.
But I guess I have to be patient and just keep an eye on its health, and keep my fingers crossed that after a few months they will come!

Thanks for the response.
 
Sometimes neps don't pitcher. Can be a season thing, or it wants more light (different plants have different needs), or it is putting its energy elsewhere or something else. I often have plants that will stop pitchering for a while, then resume. Other plants don't pitcher well on vines (think ampullaria). If it is otherwise healthy, just continue to give it good conditions and wait it out. Usually, I forget about the plant and then weeks or months later I happen to look at it and there's a pitcher! 2 months is not a long time for a nepenthes. Particularly after shipping and/or transplant.

I don't know about misting being a problem. My plants pitcher just fine with a misting system (not directly sprayed on, more to create ambient humidity and a microclimate), others say misting is a bad idea. My guess is that if you want to mist, it needs to be consistent. Twice a day misting does pretty much nothing. Not sure it creates much of a problem either, but for nepenthes, at least in my limited growing experience and with using misting, it is more about creating a microclimate than dosing them with this humidity or that temperature or whatever light inconsistently. You want to give high humidity, you are better off installing an intermittent misting system that ups the ambient humidity for the plant around the clock or to some sensible frequency like say more humid at hight, less so in day. Aim to make the area humid rather than wet the plant.

Similarly (as an example, not your situation) if you want to give better light, it is better to move them permanently to a place with good light or install lights on a timer than to move them around chasing light or switch lights on and off manually, then give erratic hours or forget, etc.

The idea is to create conditions that the plant can count on. Not give items off a list in a way the plant can't "predict" or "expect" - for lack of a better word.

(Edited to add: Think of it like raising a child. You can't be aloof and only be affectionate once in the morning and once in the evening, right? Much better to either be an affectionate parent, or be a reserved one consistently, so the child understands your behaviour and style of relating... )

Or get rid of the misting altogether and let it acclimatize to what it has.

But most importantly - and i don't know if you do this - DO NOT MOVE THE PLANT. The plant is not an animal. It likes to grow in one place and adapts to the light and conditions it gets in that place. Simply turning the plant around so the opposite side now faces light can make it waste energy trying to adapt to the direction of the light again. Just don't move it at all once it is where it should be.
 
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