FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I have bought Nepenthes hookeriana a couple of days ago. Most of plants were in bad condition, yet, this Nepenthes seemed fairly OK. Well, it did have a couple of brown patches on a few pitchers and leaves. I thought, it could be some kind of Iron based fertilized they gave it, since it started to get pale. Now, a few days later, I hoped it will get better, but the brown spots seem to be growing. These are not old leaves, in fact, these are two of the recent leaves. The youngest one unfolded completely just after I brought the plant home. Would it be better to remove the infected parts of leaves and traps or should I just leave it alone? Anyone knows what could be the cause of it? Can I do something to help the plant?

Thank you in advance!

I looks like it's just adjusting to its new environment. My Ventrota did the same thing when I brought it home. You may lose a leaf or two and a few pitchers but it should be fine. You could bag it and adjust it slowly to lose less or nun.

What sort of conditions are you growing this plant in?

60% to 68% humidity, 16 hour light cycle, temperature at night 22°C, day 26°C.
Humidity is so high, because I have a lot of pepper seedlings waiting for spring to finally come.
New leaves seem to be unfolding normally and juvenile traps on new leaves are growing. I even think it is getting a bit greener, it was yellowish on new leaves when I bought it.

That's not really high humidity for a lowland hybrid. It will probably adjust to 60% humidity in time. It would appreciate warmer daytime temps and perhaps less light.

If you don't make any changes, it will likely be fine. Just keep an eye on the new growth.

I'm worried for it then, because I doubt I'll be able to give it much more than 50% humidity during the winter, during summer, perhaps even less (and more during the night).
It's supposed to be quite a robust hybrid which would tolerate whole range of growing conditions. I'll see how it goes. It's my first Nepenthes.

Regarding humidity - the store where I bought it had dry air and had almost no light. According to what I have seen they did to VFT and Drosera plants, they watered and possibly even fertilized them. It could be that the damage was already done earlier and it needs some time to recover. Seems that way, because it all looks it is growing faster every day. This night another leaf almost completely opened. I think it may be OK. Just in case, I have ordered some Nepenthes substrate to plant it into new soil. It also has several smaller plantlets growing under the largest one, so I might end up getting a few more plants.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Like you mentioned, it's a tough hybrid. I grow a few of my windowsill Neps in much lower humidity and they're fine.

My best guess is light burn. I've grown N. x hookeriana at room temperature and ambient humidity and it did just fine, though now that I'm growing it at higher temperatures, the pitchers are much larger and more colorful. It has always been very light-sensitive though.

If you're worried about fertilizer, give it a very thorough flushing with distilled water. Neps are more resistant to TDS than other CPs, though, it should be okay.

Nimbulan, how much light does it tolerate in your experience? Can it adapt to take full sun for at least a couple of hours, or is it better to keep it somewhere where it only receives indirect light?

About flushing, I did that first thing when I brought it home. I always do that. I'm also keeping it a bit dry for now. I only mist it once daily with rain water. It was soaked wet when I got it and it doesn't seem it dries out easily. I really need to change the soil.

Most lowland plants like shadier conditions. So nimbulan may be right, light burn

I've only had this particular plant under LEDs so I can't comment on how much sun it can handle. I had some very pale leaves with high vein contrast like your first picture after I got it, but never experienced the browning edges. I always kept it in a pretty low light location in my grow area though.

So, it's best to keep it in a low-light place like an orchid. I'll experiment a bit. There are at least 3 plants in that clump growing tightly together. If they all have roots and survive the transplantation, I'll keep them in different conditions and closely watch the results. Thanks again for all the feedback.

Just a quick update...

The spread of red spots have stopped. It no longer resemble as if the leaves would be covered with rust, and it turned red, seemingly dry, red patches. I was afraid it was some kind of rot that would spread all over. It dried out and they don't seem to be affected by it.

Traps are getting more green colour, and red specles are also getting nicer. First the veins got darker green, now it looks like it's going to spread all over the plants, except for the damaged traps and the chlorotic leaf. Leaves are also a lot greener already.
Looks like it was false alarm.