Question

The top of my plant   I've had this pitcher plant for almost a year. I've repotted it once so far (probably in the middle of the summer) when it completely outgrew it's original pot, and it was doing great until maybe a month ago when the leaves started turning yellow, and some of them have red dots.

It's currently potted in a mixture of silica sand and shredded sphagnum moss in a hanging pot (doesn't sit in water, gets watered with the garden hose unless it rains). I'm in orlando so for the past few months (up until last week) the temperatures were mostly steady with the highs in the mid 80s and the lows in the high 60s to low 70s.

It gets maybe half an hour of morning sun, partial shade in the middle of the day, and 2-4 hours of full sun in the late afternoon (right before the sun sets). To me it doesn't look like anything is getting burned, but of course I might be wrong considering I'm asking for help.

There's not a lot of damage to the leaves other than a few old tears, and I don't see any obvious evidence of bugs or anything.

Also the picture was taken with my phone and actually makes the plant look better than it does in person.

Answer
Hi Aeron,

Overall the plant doesn't look like it's in all that bad a shape.  Sometimes when Nepenthes are getting a bit more sun like this they will take on a more yellow color, and that's not unusual.  The same can be true for the red spots.  What I would do is get a hand lens and look carefully at the leaves, especially the undersides to make sure you don't have Thrips.  Thrips are hard to see as they are tiny long bugs that suck plant juices.  If you see some, you'll need to treat for those.  They can cause the red spotting.

If you're not already, I would also try giving the plant a weak fertilizer.  Use a good quality orchid fertilizer at 1/4 strength applied to the leaves and soil once every two weeks.  Continue to top-water the way you already do.  If you have pitchers on the plant feed it a few bugs if it hasn't caught any.

Let me know how it goes.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com