Question
nepenthes alata
Hi there. I stumbled across this website and found it very informative and useful. I recently acquired my first ever nepenthes plant. This will be my prize plant if I can take care of it. First of all, I'm from Australia and I live in Melbourne. The weather here can get very hot in summer and very cold (sometimes minus 0 degrees) in winter and in term of humidity, I don't think it's that humid in summer, although we can get days where it is very humid. Currently we are in the early summer and getting a lot of rain and the temperature is quite cool in the early 20 degrees. Anyway back to my questions. I bought a beautiful nepenthes alata (1st picture) from a nursery and I think it's quite a young plant as it is grown in a 5cm pot. There are 2 developed pitchers, one with the lid still closed and many little pitchers forming. The question I have is that the small pitchers (see picture) seem flat and dried and I was wondering whether these pitchers are dead or do they just look like that at early stage? Also another question I have is that one of the developed pitchers (see picture) seems to have dried up and scrivelled on the top part of the pitcher. I was wondering whether this is normal or the pitcher is dying due to suppen change in environment from the nursery. The other pitchers are healthy. One final question is, can I repot this plant into a larger hanging pot or wait. It just seems that the pot it is in at the moment is too small. Or alternatively how do I know it is time to repot? I can get the right potting mix from the nursery. Sorry to ask so many questions. This is my first nepenthes plant and I really like this plant and therefore want to do what I can to make it grow beautifully with many pitchers. Thanks for answering my questions in advance.
AnswerHi Eden,
Overall Nepenthes hybrids such as your plant (I suspect this is actually Nepenthes x ventrata, an alata x ventricosa hybrid.) are sturdy plants and easy to grow. The typical life of a pitchers is to start out like the little one at the bottom of your pitcher, it develops in about a month and opens, then begins to brown from the top slowly as the pitcher reaches about a month in age. Pitchers are primarily grown during the longer days of spring and summer, and pitcher production usually ceases during winters in temperate climates. Visit our caresheet pages at http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets for basic information on light, water, soil mixes, repotting, etc...
A couple more specific answers to your questions. Repot when the plant seems way too big for the pot. Nepenthes don't mind being a bit root-bound, so only repot about once every two years. Hard to say if the nursery knows what is the correct potting mix. Generally speaking, Nepenthes like a mix that drains quickly, but retains moisture well. It also needs to be low in nutrients. We use coconut chips with sphagnum moss. Many mixes will work, and we have a couple listed in our care directions. Just don't use regular potting soil. It has too much fertilizer.
Once you've read our general care directions, feel free to come back here to all experts if you have additional questions.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
