Question
Hi, I purchased an N. 'Miranda' from you guys which is doing quite nicely. I am wondering, how long can I leave it in the pot that it came in? It has grown several new leaves and a very nice pitcher so getting water to the soil mix is getting to be a bit difficult. Also, do you have any recommendations on re-potting techniques when the time comes? I am afraid that once it grows several nice pitchers that it will be difficult to handle and I don't want to damage it in the process. One last question if you guys don't mind, do the pitchers need to be partially filled with water or does the plant secret its own juices into them? I would like to feed it a bug or two once a month. Thanks in advance and appreciate all the info you guys give.

Answer
Hi Guillermo,

You can leave it in the original pot for a few more months still.  They actually don't mind being a bit root-bound.  You can repot anytime, however.  It's a bit of personal preference.   There's no harm in doing it now if you just want to get it in a bigger pot and be done with it for awhile.  We just don't recommend frequent repotting with Nepenthes the way you might do yearly with Sarracenia.  Nepenthes take awhile to recover from repotting.

When you repot, massage the pot to loosen up the soil media.  Be sure to have your new pot ready to go with some media in it already.  You can get two spoons and put into the pot to lift the plant straight up.  Set it into the new pot, then fill in media around it and water it.  Done.  You may need some to help you to pull off the old pot while you lift it.  A watering with Superthrive can help get the plant through transplanting faster also.

Filling the pitchers with water is just a stop-gap measure used to help preserve the pitchers in plants that have been shipped.  A healthy plant produces it's own fluid in the pitchers.  Adding a little occasionally is fine since rain would do this also.

Good Growing!

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