Question
I was looking at my N. Alana and noticed that the ends of the tendrils has shrunken and turned brown, to the point where one broke off in my hand.

I water it about 3 times a week, it has the recommended soil mixture, sits in an eastern window that gets about 3 hrs of sun due to a garage about 10 feet from it, and has a flourescent light above the window to augment the window light.  I use the dilluted orchid fertilizer once a week on them.

What caused this, and are they dead before they can even form?

Answer
Hi John,

Do you mean Nepenthes alata?  This plant is a very easy plant to grow.  If you purchased it from your local nursery or hardware store, it is actually a hybrid, Nepenthes ventricosa x alata.  The plant is unfortunately mislabeled as Nepenthes alata.  The actual species is difficult to find and is rarely sold.  

This hybrid was chosen for mass production because it is extremely easy to grow and propagate.  Problems associated with this plant are fairly easy to fix.  Whenever the tendrils start turning brown and soft, we can assume that something systemic is going on.  Unfortunately, those are damaged tendrils and will never develop into pitchers.

Based on your description of your growing conditions, there are three potential problems.  The first is the watering and soil.  You mentioned that you're using the recommended soil mixture.  Make sure you identify exactly what it is because there isn't really a consensus among growers as to what type of soil to use.  Furthermore, the soil recommended by the growers who mass produce the plant isn't always appropriate for Nepenthes.  I've seen everything from regular potting soil and African violet soil to straight peat moss.  

Ideally the soil needs to be low in nutrients and well drained.  We use a mix of 3 parts coconut husk and 1 part sphagnum moss.  This mix has some water retention, but allows for maximum drainage and aeration.  Because this soil mix dries out quickly, we have to water our Nepenthes 2-3 times weekly, and almost daily during the summer.

So if you're not using an extremely airy mix, you may be over watering, which can lead to root rot.  Usually the first symptoms of root rot is tendrils turning brown and soft.  So cut back on the watering.  Even with a peat-based mix, you should get by with watering once a week since peat moss holds on to moisture very well.

The second issue is sunlight, or the lack there of.  Sunlight is crucial for pitcher formation.  Three hours of direct sunlight isn't enough for this plant.  Fluorescent lights can be an ideal complement to a low light windowsill, but the lights need to be fairly strong.  They need to be about 40-80 watts and about 6-8 inches above the plant.  If the wattage is lower than that and the lights are much further away from the plant, your lights are not strong enough for this sun-loving plant.  Either find a different window that gets more sunlight or use stronger fluorescent lights.  You don't need anything fancy.  The typical shop lights with cool white tubes will do the trick.

The other issue is fertilizer.  You can use fertilizer, but you should only use it when your plant is getting sufficient sunlight.  If you're adding it to the soil, you should stop fertilizing altogether.  By adding fertilizer to the soil, the plant is getting the signal that it doesn't need to produce pitcher because it's getting nutrients through the soil instead.  

The proper way to fertilize Nepenthes is by spraying the plant with a very low dosage of orchid fertilizer (1/4 teaspoon per gallon).  The solution is lightly sprayed onto the leaves.  It should never be added to the soil.

So to encourage your plant to produce pitchers again, change the soil, increase the light levels and stop fertilizing altogether.  For more information about growing Nepenthes, read our care sheets online:
http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets

Good growing!
Jacob Farin