It was love at first sight when I spotted this beauty from across the room. I'm familiar with pitcher plants in the wild, but not so much as house plants. What do I need to know to ensure she thrives? I have her hanging in my naturally-bright bathroom, which is moderately humid during showers. Share your advice/experiences please …
by Fearless-Mulberry-12
8 Comments
just being in a bright room isn’t enough. make sure it’s right in front of a window. and since it’s carnivorous only water with rain water or reverse osmosis water. it looks really cute!!
I hope you get some good advice, I’m afraid to get one. Following.
I had one alive for 5 years and it was about 4 feet long and just starting to be big enough to developed the “different shaped cups” (when they get big enough the pitchers change physiology to specialize in flying vs ground based critters).
All I did was water it with DI water, kept it in direct sunlight.
Used the moss it came with (which is bad for the environment but yeah), and then topped it up with silica and other inert things.
Also I found it started growing much faster when I hunt it lower and it like knew it had more room to climb.
So yeah- just buy a jug of “dionized water”.
You actually don’t even need to feed them really- or like the amount of naturally occurring bugs that exist in a house seemed to be enough; in the summer when I’d find dead bugs on the ground I’d scoop em up and feed them.
Also don’t dead head them.
Edit- also- in the winter I’d place cups of water around it, for humidity.
I bought one of these from Home Depot a few years ago and have had a lot of great luck with it!
It’s a Nepenthes Ventrata, and I’ve found it really easy to care for. I have one outside in indirect light (maybe it gets a little sun in the morning for an hour or two), and it grows like crazy and puts out tons of pitchers. I once moved it into the sun thinking it would like it, but the leaves burned. I either didn’t let it acclimate to the change in light, or it just didn’t like it- I’m not sure.
It put out some babies a while back, so I separated one and propagated it in my house under a Sansi grow light about 16″ away. It loves it there and regularly puts out pitchers. So what I discovered is that this variety likes light, but they don’t need tons of it, and definitely not full sun. Neither of mine seem to need a lot of humidity, either. I live in SoCal, and it’s pretty dry here in general.
The main thing is not to let it dry out. Mine live in spaghnum moss and stay relatively wet. I check both of them every couple of days, usually dumping a little water into the pot to keep it moist. This is not one of those plants that you let dry out, at least not where I live.
This is going to be controversial, and I know that it might not apply to everyone based on your location and access to water, but I give my pitcher plants tap water. Carnivorous plants usually demand distilled water or rain water, and that’s ideal, but I don’t have access to rain, and I’m not buying five gallons of distilled water every couple of months, so tap water it is. So far it seems fine. I may begin to see some effects eventually, so I’m keeping an eye out. I think Ventratas are particularly tough, so I’m hoping they won’t mind.
These plants have a lot of personality and are always fun to observe. Once they’re happy they grow fast, and the pitchers are so fun to watch plump up and open. I also take some gratification in feeding them pretty much any bug I happen to find. I can’t recommend these plants enough!
Good choice! Neps are probably the easiest carnivorous plant to grow. Care is very similar to tropical orchids with a few caveats:
– Soil or media needs to stay damp but not wet. Don’t let it fully dry out, but don’t sweat it if the leaves droop a bit. They’ll come back when you water.
– Use low-tds water (ideally under 50). Make sure it runs through the pot. Neps are less sensitive to minerals than other carnivores, but you still don’t want buildup. Get a tds meter for like $15.
– you need very bright light for pitcher production. Like right in a sunny window. A bit of morning sun is fine, but use a diffuser or sheer curtain to protect from hot afternoon sun.
– The varieties you find easily don’t have specific humidity requirements. Some Neps do, but you have to search those out. The common hybrids are well suited to indoor growth.
– If they’re catching bugs, no need to fertilize. If not, use an osmocote pellet or Maxsea at 1/4 tsp per gallon in the pitchers when they open. You can also use dried mealworms.
Check out /r/savagegarden if you have more specific questions. Lots of experts in that sub.
Do these eat gnats or require larger bugs? I have a gnat problem I’m working on resolving but wondering if these would help as well?
Do they need a certain amount of bugs to survive as well or can they do ok without.. Never owned a carnivorous plant so curious about them.
Mine hasn’t thrown out pitchers since I got it and it’s been under the brightest grow lights/in a humidity dome, I have no idea what I’m doing wrong 😭
I can’t look at these anymore without thinking of Animal Crossing.