I'm growing the seeds from last year, although only 1 has survived my attempts to keep them alive.
this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2024
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I grew them as a kid too, but had no idea how to care for them. Now, I've managed to keep most of them alive for more than one year. The blooms are always great because it tells me they've got what they need. My favorite part of the blooms is trying to get the seeds to sprout. No luck this year, but I'm optimistic
I would love to have them again, but no space for them (apartment life). The last venus flyttap I've grown I had to give away when I moved back to ana apartment. I guess one could do the grow lights and etc, but that feels like too much work. I was lucky enough to live in a humid subtropical climate when growing up, so when I found out how to grow them it got pretty easy!
But I never had a pitcher plant flower, I'm jealous! And never have I grown them from seeds, so you're on another level!
Have you ever seen false vivipary on a venus flytrap?
Excited for any photo updates when they come!
Thank you! I've had a lot of failed plants before, but I think I found the right balance for most of them. I'm still learning on the newer ones, but it's fun learning their likes and dislikes.
I haven't seen false vivipary, but from what I looked up, it looks like an interesting quirk!
Pitcher plants are by far the easiest to grow in my experience as they are extremely tolerant of most temperate regions and some species even require a light freeze to go dormant. As long as their roots are soaking in either distilled water or rainwater. If you keep them indoors, you'll need to feed them seldomly and put distilled or rain water in the pitchers if they dry up.
I'll be sure to post pictures when they come out of dormancy. They look pretty pitiful right now
Yeah, don't disturb as they hibernate and get their beauty rest. I was under the impression that Sarracenia doesn't do well indoors as it needs bright light, but I have also heard that if any of the genus could be grown in a bright windowsill it is Sarracenia purpurea - the one you have, right? Even then, I have a northeast facing window so I don't know how luck I would be.
For years I had a Nepenthes growing indoors, but when I moved I decided to give it to my mother-in-law. And lucky her, it actually flowered under her care. And unlucky me, I didn't get to see it!
Yeah, purpurea is one of the ones I have. They do need a lot of light and if you keep them indoors, they need to be fed regularly. You can keep most in the window sill, you might just need to supplement their light with with a grow light bulb. The hardest ones to keep indoors I've found is fly traps. Only because I've either had to feed them live bugs I caught around my home or simulated live prey when feeding them dead bugs.
Nepenthes is really new to me and I am so nervous when changing it's location for the seasons. This will be the first spring I've had it, and it's been indoors all winter. I'm trying to harden it for natural sunlight, but I'll need to do more research on theor habitats. Did your nepenthes have trouble with sun hardening?
I've never kept my nepenthe outside (never had a space for it outside) so I've never had to harden it. But I imagine it is like any other houseplant. Keep in the shade for a couple of weeks or so before bringing it to bright filtered (if not full) sun. Even if you do that, you may still scorch a leaf or so. It is what it is sometimes. The scorched leafs may just turn deep purple, but may not fall off.
I know there are some YouTube channels that talks about Nepenthes. I don't remember their names, but you can definitely find some better tips on hardening your Nepenthes.
I have actually recently gotten my Nepenthes back, but I don't have a sunny south facing window for it. So I'm a little afraid. It still has its flower attached, but the flower and the leafs are starting to brown
Some good news though for you, is that I've found Nepenthes, at least the ventricosa I believe I have, to be tougher than I originally thought. So I doubt you'll kill it immediately. Even if it isn't well taken care of, it will keep on for years. What I've found, and this is anecdotal based on one plant, is that even if it is unhappy and wants to shed its mortal coil, like some cruel joke it will make a new baby sucker and devote it's energy to growing the new sucker while the original stem stops growing (and may die). Then the cycle of plant samsara continues with the new stem over the next few years. I'm sure my Nepenthes would love to snuff it, but it just keeps fighting. I imagine if it were better taken care of then the suckers would form but the main stem wouldn't die.
For me, I think the problem is light and not using distilled water. And maybe nighttime temps as I will discuss below.
Some other pointers. There are two types of Nepenthes. Highland and lowland (some are a hybrid of the two types). Highland likes the temperature to be lower at nighttime, maybe around 50 or lower sixties. Imagine a habitat of a cool misty mountaintop in the jungle. Lowland plants like the hot temps day and night. Both like the high humidity.
I would mist mine occasionally, and also place it on top (not in) a tray of pebbles filled with water. It may not have actually increased the local humidity, but it made it easier to pretend.
Also as the stem gets longer the pitchers that form will look different, and the tendrils will want to wrap around objects to secure itself. These are the upper vs the lower pitchers.
Good luck with your Nepenthes! They're fun and weird little plants. I love them, and wish I had a better space for it.
Keep hexbear updated!
Thanks for the advice! That's a bummer your nepenthes isn't doing well, but from your description, it sounds like its a tough plant to kill
That's interesting about the upper and lower pitchers, I didn't know they would have different leaves. Its getting pretty tall already, at least 3-4inches since I got it. Im getting it a hanging basket for it, so hopefully the upper leaves will use the cords to stabilize. I'm excited about learning this plant's specific needs, and for sure I'll keep Hexbear updated.
Good luck to you and your nepenthes!