Question
How is the digestive "juice" found in nepenthes pitchers formed? I noticed today that one of the formerly emptied pitchers had about half an inch of liquid in it, but I could not get a good look at it due to the pitcher's small size. The reason I am not sure whether it is "juice" or not is that we have been having huge amounts of rainfall as of late (Wettest City in the U.S.), and it is possible that bits of water collected over time in the pitcher.

-Justin

Answer
Hello Justin,

Nepenthes have glands along the insides of their pitchers that run up to 1/2 to 2/3 the way up the pitchers. These glands mostly produce sugars and benzoic acid (a preservative) at first, but when something is sensed drowning inside the pitcher, they begin producing digestive enzymes to break the proteins down into easily digested forms that bacteria can quickly break down into nitrogen for the plant.

Water does sometimes fall into the pitchers, however; Nepenthes typically absorb the water in order to keep the sugars, preservatives, and digestive enzymes from being diluted too much.

The easiest way to detect fluid in your Nepenthes pitchers is before they open. Just place the plant in front of a very intense light and you will see the shadows of drops of fluid collecting and dripping to the bottom inside the forming pitchers.

Christopher