Question

Big Pitcher  

Smaller Pitcher   Hello,
I have a nepenthes Spathulata x (maxima x (Tobiaca x Talangensis)). When I bought it from Leilani Nepenthes, it had a pitcher, around 7ish inches tall. I then moved the plant to a windowsill, and the next pitcher was only 4 inches. Here in Chicago, we have very consistent temperatures during the summer, so the temperature never drops at night, and I don't know how to make it do so. I water it when the top of the soil loses moisture. Humidity is around 40%. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks, ~Logan.

Answer
Unless you have a greenhouse to stabilize the growing conditions, you may need to accept slightly smaller pitchers.  I know that Leilani Nepenthes ships their plants from a greenhouse in Colorado.  I happen to know the growing conditions of the greenhouse, and they use misters and fans to keep the humidity and temperature as consistent as possible.  Outside of that type of environment, plants adapt by producing more cuticle, a waxy layer that reduces transpiration, moisture loss through the leaves.  This also affects leaf and pitcher size.

You're not doing anything wrong.  That type of change in growth would happen to us too.  In our greenhouse, we grow plants without misters because we want to ensure plants are well acclimated to grow in homes without any special setup.  The fact that you got a new healthy pitcher means that your plant is happy with its current conditions.  It's uniformly shaped and is brightly colored.  Your growing conditions seem perfectly fine and might be as good as it'll get without resorting to expensive grow chambers.


Good growing!
Jacob Farin