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Pitchers gradually drying up

Okay, this is the second time this has happened. Right now, I've got 2 pitchers on my plant(gubler hybrid) and a tendril. One pitcher is going to open in maybe a week or so, the other is dying. It starts when you see the pitcher is closed. Of course, I think"I must be humidity" so I give it some water and put a PBj jar over the plant. The next day, however, the pitcher has shut completely, and the lid turns brownish read and feels leathery. This has progressed down the picher so it looks like a N. x Ventratas coloration. If it follows the life of the last pitcher this will go all the way to the bottom of the whole pitcher will be dead by the time the next one is ready to open.


Is this normal for a plant to only support one pitcher at a time. You guy'z pics of even juvie plants like mine tell otherwise.



Any suggestions?
 
It is probably that your humidity is not high enough ALL THE TIME. Nepenthes require consistent or rather predictable conditions (humidity, proper temperatures and lighting) day to day, week to week, year to year to perform at their best. Moving a plant around, giving it more humidity, then less (adding and removing that jar), more light then less, hotter one day cold the next, etc. All these scenarios (and more that I haven't thought of) will set Nepenthes back and start their acclimation all over again. Even when put into my "proper" conditions it takes my new plants 3-6 months to start looking good and growing the way it should in my conditions.

Here are some FAQ's related to Nepenthes cultivation on my site, hopefully they'll help you out. Nepenthes FAQs
 
Hi Nflytrap

I live in south florida where you can usually keep Nepenthes outdoors but durring this winter I have been having the same problem with my x coccineas.  They are growing like crazy but they aren't growing any pitchers.  I agree with swords on the hunidity and temp flucuations because in the winter in south florida, the humidity is low and the temps range from 70-80s in the day and 40-60 at night.

Lenny
 
So I should give it a permanent home. Would a critter keeper work?
 
Neps are large plants. On average they seem to be around 2 feet (20-24 inches/50-60 cm) in diameter (leaf span only, not including tendrils and pitchers which can add 5-10 inches to the diameter). but some are much bigger than this even (my N. bicalcarata was 6 feet in diameter and N. truncata can be even larger yet when mature). You don't say what it is you have exactly so I can't tell you how big it will get or how fast it may grow. Maybe you can post a photo in this post here and someone can take a stab at guessing what you've got.

As far as a critter keeper (one of those tiny plastic boxes with the colored lids) it would not only be too small but not able to be lit brightly enough to grow a Nepenthes. Critter Keepers also have too many air slots in the lid to keep the humidity high. You will need at least a medium sized container (such as a 55-75 gallon aquarium) with the top almost sealed with bright lighting (4x 40 watt fluorescent tubes works good on a 55 gallon, I use six tubes on a 75 gallon aquarium). This will create a most basic nep growing area. If you want to grow your Neps well it isn't "cheap" to get into since you do have to make the extra effort to accomodate them.  Some people say you can grow and pitcher them on a windowsill and indeed a lucky few (a very few) actually can do it. The rest of us have to pay electrical bills for lighting, heating and cooling so our plants will be happy in our homes.
 
Okay, that clears that up. By the lighting, does the kind of bulb(Kelvin, watts, lumens, etc.) really matter? When this thing gets a little larger, I may see if I can find it a "more" permanent home(currently, its about 5-6 inches across, the tendrils and pitcher add a another 2 or so inches. I know I've got an extra ten gallon laying around, so that may be for starters.

As far as indentity goes, there is a picture of the plant farther down this forum....labeled as "Three pitchers later...little gubler nep". Some people have suggested N. x Mixta....

Whatever it is, Im guessing its pretty common.
 
The Kelvin rating (or quality of light) is of less actual importance than the intensity and quantity of light. Nowadays I use plain old 40 watt "Residential" fluorescent tubes sold in a yellow twin pack at home depot for like 2.99. They are basically the cheapest available and work as good as anything else, giving a clean bright white light which lasts for a good 8 months or so. I have spent the extra $$ years ago for the expensive bulbs (the GE Chroma 50's are about perfect in spectral quality if you want to use them) but are also about $6 per tube and really I don't see a difference to justify the cost. Those specialty plant grow tubes that give a dull blue are horrible and give off almost no light intensity in comparison to plain household fluorescents. I'm plenty happy with my results getting fast growth (on the fast growers) and colorful plants with pitchers on each leaf. I don't need much more than that to satisfy my nep mania!
smile.gif


I took a look but I can't help with that plant but N. maxima or the N. mixta hybrid (maxima x northiana) will do just fine in a warm humid enclosure with good light. The N. northiana (if you have Mixta or the more commonly available hybrid N. Mirana which is Mixta x maxima) may impart some slowness of growth but it will also add enormity of size. I have an N. Miranda which is about 4 feet in diameter with 10" pitchers and still isn't making a climbing vine with elongated internodes, so I've no idea how large it will get eventually before it begins to vine! Trent might help you on the specific adult/floweing size diameters of these two specific hybrids.
 
I've been fooling with growchamber ideas, but most of them will barely be able to support a 4 foot plant if my does turn out to be one. Not to sure how slow growth is supposed to be, though it does take a while for pitchers to mature. How many years dos it take to reach full size? The plant will have to wait for a few months however. Would turning the critter keeper over and giving it good light work for now?  

An idea

Either wooden posts nailed together(forming the shape of a tank frame) or a steel "cabinet" skeleton(first one sounds better, right?). The 2 walls would be covered with plastic wrap or maybe tin foil to reflect light, with the viewing one made out of a sheet of plexiglass. The back would probably be black. Top would be plexiglass. Im thinking of hanging the pot too, but Im not to sure if thats worth the risk of it dropping and spilling pitcher fluid all over the plant do to some clumsy move and whatnot.

From my moms point of view(without her say), something of this caliber will have to look nice enough to be viewed as an ornament instead of"oh, thats his stuff". LOL


Any suggestions....I think that this little Cp thing may turn out to become bigger than I ever thought it could be(a world opens as soon as you realize there are other Cp's besides VFt's)
 
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