Question
pitcher
"I have a pitcher plant and it has like 4 big pitchers with
openings big enough for bugs, and then like 7 tiny
pitchers. some of these babies are brown on top (zoom in on
pic). The only reason i kept thse on is cuz i thought the
lant would need them for photosynthesis, and i didnt want
to put the plant into shock, however, i also think maybe
the plant is putting energy into keeping thse small less
useful pitchers alive when it could be using energy into
making new useful pitchers, or upgrading the existing, or
to put up a flower..also are those pitchers even useful
because if i cut them off thered be room for new growth"
AnswerHi Matthew,
Those baby pitchers are from last season, so it's perfectly fine to trim them off to make way for new growth. However, if this were my plant, I'd simply leave them because they'll eventually dry up and fall off as new growth emerges. Besides, it's very tedious to trim off those particular leaves when you have larger ones. So it's really up to you if you want them there or not. In general, cut off a leaf when you can't stand looking at it anymore. Watch our video podcast about this, Ask the Carnivorous Plant Guys #5:
http://www.cobraplant.com/podcast
Good growing!
Jacob Farin
