Question

The smal one  

The bigger one   Hey Plants experts.
Hello I'm from Denmark, I have a few questions for you.
I have 2 kinds of Nepenthes, I'm not sure of what kind they are.
I bought the big one in the local plantschool, for about one and a half month ago, I bought the little for about a month ago, on ebay. But they won't make any new pitchers. The bigger one is in a west faced windowsill and the smaller one is in a hanging pot on the balcony also west faced. they are having 3 hours of direct sunlight, and 2 hours of indirect sunlight. I water them every third day, with distilled water. so the soil is moist, but not wet. I hope you can help me. BTW we love your site here in Denmark.

Sincerely.

Answer
Hi Mikkel,

Thank-you for sending the pictures.  This always helps.

This location looks bright enough.  Not enough sun is usually the reason Nepenthes don't produce pitchers.  You may have some other factors happening here.  The first is that it just hasn't been that long since you got your plants.  Give them a bit more time.

I'm a bit concerned about your containers for your plants.  Metal is usually not good, especially for carnivorous plants since the acid nature of the soil media can degrade many metals causing them to release.  This is especially problematic with zinc (galvanized) or copper containers.  Switch to either plastic or glazed ceramic.  Also, do you have drain holes in these containers?  If not, that is really not good for Nepenthes.  You will surely develop root rot over time from the water accumulation and lack of oxygen to the lower section of the container.  Be sure your new containers have drain holes.  

Hope this helps.  I'm glad you and other folks in Denmark enjoy our website.  I wish it were easier to ship plants to the EU.

Good Growing!

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


Hej Mikkel,

Tak for at sende billederne. Det hj鎙per altid.

Denne placering ser lys nok. Ikke nok sol er normalt grunden Nepenthes ikke producerer kander. Du har m錽ke nogle andre faktorer, der sker her. Den f鴕ste er, at det bare ikke har v鎟et s?l鎛ge siden du fik dine planter. Giv dem lidt mere tid.

Jeg er lidt bekymret for dine beholdere til dine planter. Metal er normalt ikke godt, is鎟 for k鴇鎑ende planter siden den sure karakter af jorden medier kan nedbryde mange metaller f錼 dem til at frigive. Dette er is鎟 problematisk med zink (galvaniseret) eller kobber containere. Skift til enten plast eller glaserede keramik. Ogs? har du dr鎛huller i disse beholdere? Hvis ikke, er det virkelig ikke godt for Nepenthes. De vil sikkert udvikle rodbrand over tid fra vandet ophobning og mangel p?oxygen til den nedre sektion af beholderen. V鎟 sikker p?dine nye containere har dr鎛huller.

H錬er det hj鎙per. Jeg er glad for at du og andre folk i Danmark nyde vores hjemmeside. Jeg ville 鴑ske, det var nemmere at sende planter til EU.

Godt voksende!

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