FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

A few weeks back i treated myself to a new nepenthes. It came in a small plastic container pictured below and for the first week i moved it into bright light every day and sprayed it twice a day. Then a few days later i believe it developed minor sunburn on the newest and largest pitcher and very sunburned on the leaf that it was connected to . I then immediately moved it into my bathroom which gets loads of indirect sunlight. A week or so later the smaller pitchers on the bottom of the leaves developed brown lips however these were there when i bought the plant. I also don't know what breed it is as the label didn't say. Any feed back on what i should do with the plant would be greatly appreciated.

I believe you may have Nepenthes Ventricosa or Ventrata or perhaps a hybrid of such. I'll let others pitch in with their input. I'm not a pro on identifying varieties but am pretty knowledgeable regarding care. Several questions/suggestions come to mind: I'll start with most important..

Light: Your Nep needs light, light, light. If its inside however, doubt it's getting the light it needs through your windows. Do you have grow lights? I'd suggest T5 LED full spectrum lighting and you don't need to spend a lot of $$. I didn't. I found 2ft long hanging light for $35.99 through Amazon at: 
 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072J2T878/re ... ZBbJW0YCQG and made my own stand with 1/2" PVC piping, 2 elbows, 2 T connectors, 4 end caps, one coupler all for under $10.  

Water: what are you watering your Nep with? Use only distilled water, rain water or (if you're fancy) reverse osmosis water. Tap water is full of minerals which will kill your Nepenthes plant!

Soil and drainage: what soil do you have it planted in? Standard planting soil is no good. I use Long fiber sphagnum moss (LFSM) from New Zealand. You can order through reputable suppliers of carnivorous plants. This is not run of the mill sphagnum moss for sale at your local nursery. Make sure it's New Zealand LFSM. It holds the water but allows good drainage. Neps like to be damp but hate wet feet if that makes sense. Does your planter have adequate drainage holes?

Temperature: your Nep is a tropical pitcher plant. If it is a Ventricosa or Ventrata or a hybrid then it's a Highland Nepenthes which means it can tolerate night temps a little cooler than Lowland Neps but still not too chilly. I keep my Highlands at mid to upper 70s daytime to upper 60s at night (it's Winter here) with my Lowlands slightly warmer.

Finally: my Neps hate change (like their owner. Lol!) some varieties more than others. Some adjust fine when they arrive, others freak out and the pitchers shrivel up, but they eventually send out new pitchers. If they need a little TLC I'll move them to my "Nep hospital" (my Terrarium). Knock on wood, haven't lost one yet. Anyway hope this helps. It's a ton of fun and very addictive so enjoy the journey.

There's more info on feeding, etc, but will save it for another post.


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Thank you for your reply.

I believe that my nepenthes is getting enough light as i recently got a skylight fitted to my bathroom. Currently i'm not using the bathroom however because I am repainting the doors. I chose the bathroom because it is light and steamy after a shower.

The potting mix that it is in is just what it came in. I believe that it is sphagnum and dirt.

I have been watering it with tap water that has been put in the fridge to remove chlorine.

My main problem with buying everything is that I live in New Zealand so everything costs a ridiculous amount of money to send over, but i can get cheap sphagnum moss.

Actually you're lucky to be in NZ as NZLFSM is sometimes tricky to get. If you can collect rainwater, that would be great for your Nep. Still concerned about tap water as it's the minerals (not just chlorine) that harms these plants. Can you have your water tested as a nursery?

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