Never ever pitcher forming ventrata

[little Nices]

Hi.
I have a Nepenthes x ventrata that formed "many" leaves (I did the stem cutting last year, July) but no pitchers at all! I know it's winter but other people' s cutting formed pitchers after 2-3 months. When is it going to form pitchers?

 

[elgecko]

What growing conditions are you growing the plant in?
Giving the plant good sunlight helps tremendously in pitcher formation.

 

[swords]

I don't know what conditions your plant is in but my N. Ventrata grow and pitchers profusely in the following setup:
Day temps 80-90*F Nights 70*F
RH 80% (pot sits on lighting grid over water resivor in large aquarium)
240 Watts of flourescent light (6 x 40 watt daylight colored tubes)
Also, make sure you are watering with pure water.

Poor water quality, not enough light and not enough humidity and to some species incorrect temperatures (or any combination of those) will cause your Nepenthes to not pitcher or even weaken and die eventually.

 

[little Nices]

Well, the lowest humidity for my nepenthes is 50% and it's usually upper 60%. I water 2-3 times a week with distilled water(moist all the time). But I think light is the problem, one bulb for multiple # of plant. Thanks for the advice.

 

[swords]

Unless it's a metal halide bulb then yes one bulb is likely not going to be enough. I would add at least a twin tube 4 foot shoplight from the hardware store, adding two of them would give you 4 bulbs (160 watts) and good lighting for small plants that are placed close. Higher humidity won't hurt if you can get it up more. Make sure the soil is draining real fast if you're watering that much as you don't want to keep the plant waterlogged in it's pot just moist. If it's been potted for a year (especially in a peat based mix) it may need a soil change as the potting mix can become toxic over time by becoming anaerobic in the center of the potting mix by staying wet longer as the soil decays.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

I consider lighting much more important than humidity. #1 cause for non/poor pitchering is insufficient light. My plants in the greenhouse make significantly smaller and less colored pitchers during the Winter than they do during the Spring/Summer. The biggest change is a major reduction in daylight hours and sunlight intensity. During the Winter temperatures are actually better for the highlands and humidity is much higher in the sealed greenhouse, but yet the pitchers don't even compare by a long shot.

Tony