Question
the small pitcher
Hello Christopher. I am happy to say that my Northinia order was successfully canceled and am now considering n x menarik (veitchii x rafflesiana) can this be adapted to low humidity. On another note my N. ventrata has recently produced an abnormally small pitcher. it has been producing only 2 inch pitchers for the past year. i have had it for 2. The pitcher sizes have been consistently small ever since i bought it. why is this i grow it under a compact florescent bulb it has adapted to low humidity and gets fed bloodworms every month. More importantly why did it open up one even smaller than the other 2 inch ones. My plant is just over 1 foot tall. Are they small because of the plants size or something else.
Thank you
AnswerHello Steven,
I am unfamiliar with N x menarik directly, however; from what I can find on the plant, it is said to be resilient and tough. Most hybrids tend to be quite robust and combine the best of both parent species. I would think that N x menarik would be adaptable to lower humidity levels, however; I am going to ask you to pose this question to the guys at Sarracenia Northwest as they have much more experience with a wider variety of plants than I do.
N. ventrata is a tough plant. There are several reasons why a Nepenthes will produce smaller pitchers. Drastic humidity changes can adversely affect them and cause pitcher formation to be slowed or even halted. Too little water can affect pitcher formation as well, occasionally causing pitchers to form with small hoods and little fluid within from my experiences. In addition, inadequate light can cause the plant to slow or halt pitcher formation and produce smaller, deformed, or less colorful pitchers. My first thought is that a single compact florescent bulb, regardless of intensity, is simply not large enough to provide enough light intensity nor coverage for a Nepenthes on its way to growing larger than a few inches tall. You might want to invest in some 40 watt florescent shop lights with the twin mounts for wide coverage for several plants and place the plants in the best window light possible. In my personal experiences, Nepenthes of up to 6-8 inches in height can survive in regular window light in a south window with minimal supplemental florescent light, but as they get larger, they simply need a greater coverage of light from all angles to grow properly. A typical compact florescent of 100 watt equivalence would provide about 2000 or so lumens intensity at 1 foot, however; is slightly more intense up close then a typical 40 watt tube simply due to all the tube in the compact being wound up in a spiral. It is good up close for small plants like Butterworts and Sundews of some varieties, but a larger plant like a Nepenthes would require far more compact bulbs around it to make up for all those extra leaves and vines that are outside the coverage area of the single compact bulb. To give you some perspective about lumens, sunlight in a desert would hit the Earth with well over 40,000 lumens of light at least, probably on a slightly cloudy day at that. A single compact florescent produces about 2000 lumens up close, a 40 watt cool white florescent tube provides 3000 lumens approximately. What I am constructing as of now for all my plants is a bank of 6 twin mount shop lights that will hang at varying heights over them so that they all are provided with the best overall coverage (a total of 36000 lumens if I find a butter zone for light intensive plants like Venus Flytraps and Sarracenias). I have a N. sanguinea that is trying to outgrow my room, sporting 4-5 foot vines, that I had to clip back to about 1 foot length. It is not producing the pitchers it used to now due to inadequate light (a south window and 12000 lumens of florescent light an inch from its top most leaves), so the new light bank will give it what it needs. This bank of lights is also in front of a window so that some additional light will enter and provide a little extra intensity as well. Since Nepenthes are partial sun plants, they could get by with less light than say a Venus Flytrap, however; they still need quite strong light. I would think that upwards of 12000 lumens would be good for your one foot tall N. ventrata with 18000 to 24000 lumens being the next steps up as the plant grows larger.
Nepenthes will produce ever larger pitchers as they age until they reach the maximum size for the species, then begin producing vines that will sport smaller pitchers at first, then larger and larger pitchers as each new vine ages and grows larger. You will eventually have a large Nepenthes that will have several adult sized vines with full size pitchers on them, and several younger vines with variable sized pitchers on them starting from tiny 1/2 inch to adult size pitchers. For N. ventrata, you can expect pitchers about 5 or 6 inches tall from older vines.
I hope this information helps you out.
Christopher
