Question
My Nepenthes Spathulata is growing out of control. It is crowding my terrarium and I need to do something about it. I want to prune it so it stays small and bushy but I have no idea how to go about this. Can you help me?

Answer
Hi Stephen,

This is a difficult plant to grow in a terrarium because it's actually one of the larger species of Nepenthes.  Nepenthes spathulata is to Indonesia as Nepenthes truncata is to the Philippines.   It would be nearly impossible to keep this giant plant compact.  For this reason, we don't recommend growing Nepenthes in terrariums.  Growers are eventually faced with the challenge of having to upgrade the terrarium or acclimate the plant to lower humidity.

Nearly all Nepenthes available commercially grow well as houseplants in a very sunny south or west window.  So my initial recommendation would be to acclimate your plant to lower humidity and grow it as a houseplant.  This species is very robust and hardy; it'll acclimate well to your home provided you have the proper sunlight.

If for whatever reason removing the plant from the terrarium is not an option, you can cut of the first two nodes of the plant.  (A node is where the leaf attaches to the stem.)  By doing that, you'll cut off the growing tip, which will force the plant to produce more shoots near the bottom.  However, this may not necessarily keep your plant small.  You might end up with a large busy plant rather than a large vining plant.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin