FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Ok my alata is the 1st of 2 cp' s that I have. I am a newbie only having her since the 1st of June. She is in an east facing window recently moved to a different spit in the same window for better lighting as I was told this is why she isn't producing any pitchers even though she has tripled in size since I got her, for which I also had to repot her. I used Premier Sphagnum Peat Moss Tourbe Dr Sphaigne. She has been loosing pitchers that have been dying from the top of the pitcher moving back towards the plant I was told this is normal, however my question is this she has started turning black on some of those pitchers and has some black spots on 2 or 3 leaves. Is this normal? If not what do I Do? Please help this newbie out. She has only had bugs to eat, I live in the country with an abundance of natural food for her so no nothing other than distilled water has been given to her.

Unfortunately I do not have any south or north facing windows only east and west. This is why I moved her to a lower spot and added a light 5000k for now will be upping to 6500k when finances allow. The black spots on the leaf and a few of the pitchers us normal then?

I think the soil is the problem. I would use a mix of perlite and New Zealand Long Fibered Sphag moss, maybe a bit of orchiata orchid bark if you're wanting to spoil him . Pitchers are impermanent structures and I'm sure that if you change the media it will grow more.

Can No One answer my question? What is causing the black spots on some leaves and on some pitchers? I don't think it is the soil used as I used the exact same kind as she had when I originally got her. She has tripled in size so she is growing fine, their has been a lighting issue which is why I wasn't getting new pitchers. I have taken steps to correct this. Now the real question that has been asked is What are the black spots and what is causing them?

Someone had a very similar question to yours and this is the answer that was provided over at a pitcher plants forum/thread,

"The leaf spotting is normal for many Nepenthes species and hybrids. Certain species tend to do this more than others, and unless it gets to be really intense, its only a cosmetic issue. If you have ever seen pictures of Nepenthes plants growing in their native rainforests, you will see many examples of plants with spotty, marked-up foliage. As far as we know, it is a fungus (likely Cercospora) that Nepenthes have a relationship with which is neither beneficial, nor particularly detrimental, unless the foliage becomes severely damaged by it. You can suppress the pathogen if you wish by applying a systemic fungicide a couple of times a year, but this is generally not required. Your plant is very healthy and I wouldn't bother trying to suppress the leaf spotting. I've found that once a plant is fully adjusted to your conditions, the leaf spotting becomes reduced and may disappear entirely on its own. (Old foliage with spots already present will always have the spots -- I am talking about new foliage)." - paulbarden

If you'd like to read the thread, here's the link:
http://pitcherplants.proboards.com/thre ... hes-leaves