Question
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I purchased this pitcher plant from Sarracenia Northwest and I live in Oklahoma. It sits in an east window. I water with distilled water with no fertilizer. The leaves used to produce pitchers and stay green even when the pitchers shriveled up. Now, the leaves are turning brown and withering while still producing pitchers. The plant has also started producing these long, thin leaves from bulbs at the base. Is there something wrong with my plant? I'm sending an image. Please let me know if the image doesn't upload. Thanks!
AnswerHi Debbie,
Your plant actually looks fine. What's happening is it's getting more sun and developing the classic reddish color that this plant does in bright light. The plant you have is Nepenthes X"miranda". Since you bought it from us it should have had a red tag with its name when it came in the mail. This is also a good example of why you want to save those nametags. :)
Your other plant is more of a mystery. It looks like a perennial flower bulb of some kind. Unless someone in your own household has been having some fun here's my best guess of what happened. We usually mix up big tubs of media when we pot up plants. It's possible that a bird came buy dropped seeds or a bulb from our nearby garden. It simply got scooped up and planted with your Nepenthes.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
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After reviewing the photograph, it looks like an orchid. We have many orchids in our greenhouse, and it's likely one of them flowered and set seeds. I've had one other customer that had an orchid growing from seed along with his Nepenthes. It won't harm the plant at all, and both can live in the same course, airy mix. If you want, you could also give both plants a low dose of orchid fertilizer. Use 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water. Apply the solution to the soil, and use only enough for the solution to drain through. Do this once a week during spring, summer and fall.
Good growing!
Jacob Farn
