Is there something wrong with my Pitcher plant?
I got this tropical pitcher plant about a month ago and the leaves have been browning. It’s been getting around 15+ hours of a grow light per day, I only use distilled water, and it sits in a little tray of it being its little yet. Are there any other things I should be doing or things to make it healthier? #cpclubthursday #PlantsMakePeopleHappy #PlantAddict #GrowLights #PitcherPlant #help
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have you used a light meter app to check how powerful the grow light is? personally i’ve found some are pointless and others are great. i would also look into the amount of light your plant thrives in. Other things, how are the roots? are you watering too much or too little? are they strong and healthy or browning and mushy? i would personally repot slightly bigger if the roots were established enough and check the light strength.
@raysplants I have not yet, but I do have different settings the to grow light, I usually have it on full brightness. The water dish is usually halfway full, I try to refill it often but sometimes I forget and it runs out, that may be a problem. I haven’t checked the roots but I will. Thank you for the recommendations!
@reese.rae i’ve personally never heard of filling the water dish, but rather i would just water the top of the soil, and any excess would flow through onto the dish to stay away from the roots? If it’s mostly always been in the water dish with it filled, i would feel the soil and check if it’s wet, as you may end up with root rot with it in a lot of water. I don’t have this specific plant, or heard of using the dish as the way of watering, but if it’s all okay then i would just check the roots and see how it goes! I would suggest checking the grow light strength though. The apps are free and very helpful. I hope your plant does well and thrives!!!🌷
@reese.rae nepenthes do not like to sit in water constantly like other carnivores such as VFTs. I water mine every three days and mist 1-2 times per day to keep the humidity up. Mine are in a carnivorous plant soil and sphagnum moss. It is normal for leaves to brown over time but yours may be “sunburnt”. They thrive on bright dappled light, not direct
I think you might need to reduce the frequency of watering, and also keep the tray dry. It looks like the roots might be suffocating with too much water. And also, try and see if you can get it some sun, if that's possible. Just one or two hours of indirect or daped sunlight, like you would see on the forest floor. It will take at least a couple of weeks for it to recover, so you'll need a little patience with this baby before it gets back to its normal state.
@reese.rae so i have over 10 nepenthes. They can be fussy. It depends on if its a highland, lowland or intermediate. They all have different needs.
Highland lives in mountains and such, needs warmer in humid temperatures during the day and need lower temperatures in the evening. Lowland, usually close to the ground, need high temperatures in very humid conditions. Intermediate means they can tolerate both or just be okay in a household humidity.
So humidity is probably a factor. Tgey def need lots of strong but filtered light. The Light source needs to be at least 6 to 7 inches away from the top, so it doesn't scorchThe leaves. I would Take it out of the tray of water. They do not like wet feet, but they like a moist soil. If you're worried about the moisture level, what you can do is put it in a self watering pot with a cotton string from the water to the soil, but I would keep the bottom of the pot away from the water. Or bottom water at least 10 mins 1 or 2x wk depending on the moisture of soil. Also, sometimes, if they don't get enough humidity, make sure that the little pitchers have half a inch of water inside them. Fertilizing the pitcher's only with a seaweed based fertilizer. But using 1/4th tsp to a gallon. And i use a dropper to add a full drop to pitchers. That's what i do. Most likely looking at your plants, it is a humidity problem plus wet feet.
Highland lives in mountains and such, needs warmer in humid temperatures during the day and need lower temperatures in the evening. Lowland, usually close to the ground, need high temperatures in very humid conditions. Intermediate means they can tolerate both or just be okay in a household humidity.
So humidity is probably a factor. Tgey def need lots of strong but filtered light. The Light source needs to be at least 6 to 7 inches away from the top, so it doesn't scorchThe leaves. I would Take it out of the tray of water. They do not like wet feet, but they like a moist soil. If you're worried about the moisture level, what you can do is put it in a self watering pot with a cotton string from the water to the soil, but I would keep the bottom of the pot away from the water. Or bottom water at least 10 mins 1 or 2x wk depending on the moisture of soil. Also, sometimes, if they don't get enough humidity, make sure that the little pitchers have half a inch of water inside them. Fertilizing the pitcher's only with a seaweed based fertilizer. But using 1/4th tsp to a gallon. And i use a dropper to add a full drop to pitchers. That's what i do. Most likely looking at your plants, it is a humidity problem plus wet feet.
@shopofhorrors thank you, I’ll have to get a humidifier sometime soon. I did take the water out of the tray and started top watering.
@reese.rae Great advice above especially @shopofhorrors and @Amateurbotany. Keep in mind they are tropical and therefore jungle plants which grow on trees so you need to try to mimic their conditions. Looks like the dead leaves are the oldest (lowest) ones so this may not be a major concern provided the rest of the plant is growing but humidity is a primary need for development of pitchers etc. check out my old posts at #cpclubthursday about Nepenthes conditions and humidity etc
@Seymour i haven’t gotten a humidifier yet but it’s been doing better and is growing some new pitchers
@reese.rae growing pitchers is a great sign! They only tend to grow pitchers when conditions are good 👍