Question
Hello! My Asian Pitcher plant, which is growing in a pumice rock garden which I purchased from you almost two years ago, has yellowing leaves from the bottom up. There are no bugs on the plant that I can see. The plant is in a south facing window sitting in a Tupperware tray-type container alongside my sundew plant, which is thriving. I recently changed the rain water, as the old water had a lot of algae in it. During the change, I discovered that the sundew plant has sprouted several small plants on the pumice rock with the Asian Pitcher! Can you please tell me why my leaves are suddenly (within the last three weeks) turning yellow? I gave the plant a "manicure" and trimmed off the dead and dying pitchers. Could I be overwatering? That's the only thing I can think of, although the plant has been in the same container since I got it. The container is no more than two inches deep and I keep it about half filled with rain water. The rock is not splitting because the roots have gotten too big. The rock is also covered with moss and I trimmed off a couple of ferns that were growing out of it. Thanks in advance for your help. I love my plants!!!

Answer
Hi Rochelle,

This actually sounds very normal.  It sounds like lower leaves are dying off with age.  Also, as days begin to get shorter older leaves and pitcher will begin to die off.  As long as new leaves look good, all is well.  It's unlikely you're overwatering in the rock garden unless you have the rock super deep.  If you only have an inch or so of water in the tray, enough to keep the rock hydrated, it's just the right amount of water for the plant.  Sundews growing on the rock is also a good sign.  

If you get a chance, send me a photo of the rock garden.  I can make a much better assessment that way.


Good Growing!

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