Question
My Bellii
Hi
First I'm wondering if it's common for the pitcher of a bellii to be the same size as the leaf? I've heard that they have some of the smallest pitchers of any nepenthes so it makes me wonder why they would be the same size as the leaf. It may just be because it's a baby I really don't know. It almost makes me think it could be a merilliana though. I attached a pic so you can see for yourself.
Secondly I have a question about my drosera binata multifida. I got it form you guys a few months back and it's been growing great up until now. It put out it's first multifork leaves recently and now it's kind of just stopped growing much and started putting out smaller growth. I'm thinking it may just be resting a bit after putting out a bunch of growth and waiting for some of the old to die off before it put's out new but I'm not sure. I hope nothing's wrong with it cause I thought it was a good sign that it started putting out multiforked growth.
Thanks for you're help
AnswerHi Cecil,
It's normal for very young Nepenthes to have seemingly large pitchers for the size of its leaves. Think of it like babies. One of the reasons why we think babies are cute is that their eyes are disproportionately large to their faces. As babies mature, their faces get larger, but their eyes seem to stay the same size. This is true with Nepenthes. They will produce pitchers that look big for the size of the plant, but as the plant matures, the pitchers will begin to look proportionate to the plant, according to the species.
With your sundew, make sure it's getting lots of sunlight. This species should be grown in near full sun conditions. During the summer months, I sometimes grow my mother plants outdoors in full sun. Lower light conditions is a common reason why this species produce smaller leaves or stops growing altogether.
If you have your plant under artificial lights, find a way to move the plant closer to the light source to increase the light intensity.
Good growing!
Jacob Farin
