I’ve had my pitcher plant since mid-October, and she was doing really well and was full of other pitcher leaves. I decided to lend her to a close friend of mine since their house had a fruit fly problem and I wondered if my plant would benefit from some protein, and so I set her up at their house for about two weeks in December. But on one of the last days before I brought her back to my house, we had a big snowstorm overnight, and my friend told me that the next day the plant suddenly started browning— their kitchen window wasn’t super well insulated. The plant was moved to a warmer room afterwards.
It’s February now and my pitcher plant still looks the same way she did when I got her back in December. I trimmed some of the dead pitcher tops off but I’ve been keeping her under a 12-hour grow light and watering every 2-3 days and there’s still no growth. I know pitcher plants are tropical plants, but surely the shock of the freeze should be over by now?
Is there something I’m missing or should I just continue to maintain my usual schedule? I can’t see any “liquid” inside the pitcher plant. What can I do to encourage some growth?
by HyperfocusHell
3 Comments
It’s possible that the cumulative effects of moving the plant in the winter time to the new location and the cold shock at the window put it into some sort of dormant state – most pitcher plants people collect live in tropical highland mountains so they do experience some seasonality, and therefore probably slow down their growth or go through metabolic changes in response to adverse conditions.
If you’re sure it’s not declining any further (ie no more die off of pitchers), I think the safest thing to do is to just keep doing what you’re doing. Spring is around the corner and your house/apartment will warm up naturally on its own, and that warming/increase in humidity might be the trigger it needs to ‘wake up’ and start putting energy into growing new pitchers.
Many carnivorous plants go dormant in winter – I suspect that’s what has happened here, triggered by the colder environment. It’s generally recommended to allow them a few months of dormancy each year, it’s a chance for them to rest and renew themselves.
Just trim back any dead or brown bits, and keep it well watered in a bright place. It should start putting up new leaves in a few weeks, once it ends its dormancy.
I put mine in a terrarium and it got much better. It was turning brown and drying up.
https://preview.redd.it/yii1re44y6ie1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=007b015811b00cf81ce4a54e7bc35861bd423f21