FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Does hard water cause nepenthes to not pitcher? I received a ventricosa cutting from out university greenhouse and 3 new, large leaves later... no pitchers. The mother plant is huge, it is truly a bush with multiple flowering vines, but it also has no pitchers. Whatever pitchers it has had in recent years were not reminiscent of an adult plant but rather a small baby plant. The mother has been getting hard watered for about 4 years now.

Would the hard watering of the mother plant effect my cutting? Are there ways to take a cutting from this plant that would avoid problems (like water propagation to flush out the minerals)?

Thanks

In my experience the most limiting factors for pitchering are sunlight & air humidity. If the plant gets too few light, it won't pitcher. Likewise, if the plant is in a place with low humidity it won't pitcher (35% or less make it too dificult, I learned that in the hard way). You should be a bit more specific about the conditions you are growing your plant besides the water quality. Despite the fact that nepenthes tolerate tap watter for awhile (I used to water mine with that), undoubtly it is much better to use distilled water to avoid mineral build-up in the soil. You should consider changing the potting mix to be sure, because that will affect your plant sooner or later.

Considering the cutting, hard wattering the mother plant shouln't affect the capacity of your new plant to pitcher if you provide the propper growing conditions to it, and try to use only distilled/rain water.

I agree with the fist comment post , more likely you are not giving your cutting the correct conditions , they are not house plants !! and should not be treated so,. they are in-fact tropical vines , that like large amounts of sun and high humidity , hard water is ok , but rain water is all ways best or RO water .

J

I realize they aren't house plants but I have heard that ventricosa's are notoriously easy. Other nepenthes I have in my collection have no troubles in my current conditions. All I was wondering was that if health issues caused by hard water could be passed down to cuttings. I would assume that the health of something coming off of a plant would be dependent on the health of the mother plant. The leaves in the greenhouse on the mother plant are stained white with hundreds of burned out tendrils, I saw that and guess hard water and was only wondering how that may effect a cutting. I will say however that the greenhouses conditions are fairly poor.

I have the cutting, and all my plants in 55-65 % humidity and they may be getting too much light as many of my plants are still trying to flower. Day time highs are around 73 F and lows are in the mid 50s F.

Hi ok , your question seemed to indicate you were not well versed with nep's growing conditions and etc !!so sorry about that house plant comment !
Venticosa comes from the Philippines and found from low land condition to highland conditions , and over many years or cloning and crossing you really never know what your going to get unless the suppler is 100% sure of the stock he or she carries and most probably would not even know or bother to know that info ,so its possible you have a plant that may need one of those conditions to do well !! over the years to many to remember i have found that ventricosa need more light that most nep's and very good humidity best in the 60 to 80% range and inter mediate temps are usually best for them , they are very prone to pests like mites ,usually first to get infected , it dislikes any cold , and usually dose best in temps steady about 20c to 30c day and 10 to 15c nights .
as far as the white on the leaf of the mother plant its salt build up from hard water and evaporation see it a lot , over long periods will catch up with that plant,and affect its growing, if you get it you need to clean of the white residue build up as soon as you notice it . avoid it where ever possible. the burnt tendrils usually indicate low humidity rather than to much sun , mine get all most direct sun most of the day , and love it , less sun more problem with ventricosa ,
your cutting will do much better in min of 70% sun light for as long as you can supply it al day is best, good humidity 60% and good clean rain water ,would put all your cutting in live sphagnum moss if possible , it will help with its growth , and keep the sphag in tightly packed it helps with the root growth too
a pic of one of my cuttings with 70% sun and 70% humidity and misting with rain water , my green house is 27 & 1/2 m long and 5 m wide too and about 500 +++ neps in there as well !! I do about 200 to 400 cuttings a year ,just a point if your going to use tap water dont use live sphag moss as a medium as the tap water will kill the live sphag moss , !1 a good reason why you should not use it as well !!
hope this info helps
J