Question
QUESTION: I acquired a bare root cutting of N.Alata (exotica plants D form)about 6 weeks ago. I potted it in a 6" pot with a mixture of long fiber sphagnum, orchid bark and peat moss which I water with rain water. At first I put it into my mini greenhouse to jump start it's growth. A few days later one of it's leaves opened but after that it completely stopped growing. After about three weeks I decided to remove it from the greenhouse because I thought it might be too warm in there for it. I put it near a south facing window and it gets about two hours of direct sunlight and indirect sunlight for the rest of the day. Since then the growth point has dried up and turned brown, but it's existing leaves still look okay. The humidity is about 35% so I mist it up to four times a day, but that doesn't seem to have helped. I'm not really sure what else I can do. Is there any way to save my plant? Thanks for your help.

ANSWER: Hi Mark,

Given that the existing leaves still look OK, the plant itself is probably OK as well.

Before I get into what might be going on with your plant, I'm going to assume that when you talk about the growth point has dried up, you're talking about the growth point on the tip of the leaves, the part that develops into a pitcher.  I've read your questions several times, and I was unclear about the phrase "one of the leaves opened."  I wasn't sure if you were referring to the very tip of the plant where the vine grows and elongates, or the tip of each leaf that develops into a pitcher.  The tips of leaves turning brown is a more common problem, so I've gone ahead and made the assumption that this is what you're referring to.  If I'm incorrect in my assumption, please write back with either a more detailed description of the problem or a clear photograph of your plant.

With that said, there are two common factors cause the tips to turn brown. The first is changing humidity.  Nepenthes alata is a very adaptable plant and will readily grow in a variety of growing conditions.  Among collectors, this species is sometimes referred to as a weed because of its robust growth.

However, if you constantly change its environment, then it will need time to change its cellular physiology to the new environment.  The growing tips that develop into pitchers are quite sensitive to environmental changes.  It will adapt to lower humidity, but it will do so only if it develops in lower humidity.  If you go from high humidity to lower humidity, then you the growing tip is at risk of drying up.

Unfortunately, misting the plant doesn't help unless you mist the plant every half hour.  The mist is only temporary and will quickly evaporate.

The other reason that the growing tips dry up is lack of sunlight.  A sunny south window is fine for this species, and I too have grown many Nepenthes in a south window.  The lighting should be adequate, but if you can increase the direct sunlight exposure to three or four hours, your plant will appreciate it.  I grow this species on the top shelf of my greenhouse where they get practically full sun throughout the day.  But given the highly adaptable nature of this species, it will also grow well in partial shade.  Just avoid full shade.

So for now, my only suggestion is to be patient.  Leave your plant alone.  Avoid changing its environment.  Already in a few weeks, your plant had its environment changed three times.  That's too much change for any plant, so just keep your plant in the south window for now.  It may take a month or two for it to fully acclimate.  Once it does, you can look forward to an abundance of pitchers.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: What I mean by growing point is the center of the plant where new leaves form. The leaves it had on it when I got it are fine but the new leaves that are forming are small, dried up and brown.

Answer
Ah, thank you for the clarification.  This is indeed a different situation.  There are a couple things that could be contributing to this.  First, the growing tip might simply be damaged when the plant was shipped to you.  This sometimes happens, and I've received Nepenthes with the growing tip damaged from other growers.  It's a bummer when it happens.  On the plus side, it encourages the plant to produce side shoots.

The other thing that could cause malformation of new growth is that the soil is too wet.  You've mentioned that you're using sphagnum moss, peat moss and orchid bark, but you didn't mention the proportions.  If I were to use these ingredients, I'd use 1 part sphagnum moss, 1 part peat moss and 4 parts orchid bark.  Both sphganum moss and peat moss retain water, while the orchid bark improves drainage and aeration.  Nepenthes grow best in soil that provides a lot of aeration since they are somewhat epiphytic and terrestrial.

If you're using 1 parts of each, the medium will retain too much moisture and may reduce the amount of oxygen that gets down to the roots.

Since the existing growth still looks good, give your plant more time to acclimate to your south window.  Avoid changing its environment.  If other parts of the plant start showing symptoms, then we'll know that the problem is systemic, in which case, we should look closely at the roots and soil.  If the problem is confined to the growing tip, then we can assume that the tip was damaged during the shipping process.  In either case, watch your plant for now.  If you see other parts of the plant deteriorating withing the next week or two, write back and upload a clear photograph of the plant as a whole and a close up of the parts in question.

Finally, you should also contact the original grower about this situation.  I'm not sure how the plant was grown or propagated, and this information might provide more clues about what's going on.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin