Question
Hello, A couple years ago I bought several Nepenthes plants from you guys and, I am very happy with them. None have died, And several have multiplied. I have them in sphagnum peat and they seem to like it guite well. They are in terrariums, I only water them with rain water and I use florescent lights.

The only food they get is bugs, Now, I was going to adjust my timer for the lights, And I see that one of the Spectabules' Plants is going to bloom, Should I leave the timer alone, Or, Go ahead and reduce the timers, On time? I am not so interested in making seed as much as I don't want the plant to suffer, With winter coming up just around the corner and all. Thank You Nils Rudd

Answer
Hi Nils,

Nepenthes are equatorial plants, so they don't need a drastic change in light hours as temperate plants.  We recommend 14-16 hours during spring and summer and 12-14 in fall and winter. So it almost doesn't matter what you do with the timer.  As long as it's on for 12 hours, your plants will do just fine.

If your Nepenthes is flowering and you have no interest in pollinating it with another Nepenthes flower for seeds, cut off the flower stalk.  (You need another Nepenthes that's the opposite sex to produce seeds.)  This will give your plant more energy to produce it's wonderful pitchers.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin