I live in north Florida and unfortunately don’t get any super bright light from my windows. I’ve had my Nepenthes alata for a few months now and I just don’t think he’s getting enough light or humidity, so I’m thinking of moving him outside to my porch (which does get bright, indirect light). But I’m still a little worried about it. Any advice/opinions? Ps, this picture is from a month or so ago and almost all of his pitchers have gone completely brown.
Nepenthes need at least 12 hours of bright indirect light (16 to thrive) Getting a 30/40watt grow light on a timer would be your best bet for the winter. The pitchers are going brown because your humidity is too low. They need to be 50+(and 50 isn’t great for thriving) you can get a cheap humidifier off Amazon to make sure you’re giving it enough. They do not like to be misted, that seems discourages pitcher growth ultimately and does little for humidity. Using a humidifier or putting it into a plant cabinet or a terrarium setting can also be an option. If your porch drops under 60 degrees do not put your nepenthes out there. Try putting it directly in a south or East facing window if you don’t want to invest in a light for it. If you have any more questions at all I do nepenthes health consults for free on IG @nepenthomancer. Make sure you’re keeping it in the correct substrate and that it’s not ever drying out because that can also kill off pitchers fast.
2 likes Thank you so much! Do you have any recommendations for a good (preferably cheaper) grow light?
0 likes SANSI clip lights are around 25$ on Amazon and convenient. There are lower quality lights for $10/15 but I can’t speak for their effectiveness like I can for the SANSI brand. Also, you can remove the pitcher once it’s brown all the way through the bottom it will be absorbing nutrients from it until then. Remember not to ever expose it to fertilizer in any way, and Anton is correct it will surely survive the winter without any pitchers at all so long as it doesn’t dry out and is getting some amount of light, and stays about 60f in temp. You got this!
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I agree with Nepenthomancer that it’s usually a lack of light and humidity causing this. It can both be due to seasonal changes and relatively recent acclimation to a new site. I agree that there are steps you can take (giving it a grow light, raise the humidity in its environment) to promote healthy pitcher growth this time of year too, but the plant will also in most cases not suffer much without the pitchers for a period either. They usually grow new ones on new leaves later on in spring/summer again 🙂
1 like Thank you so much, everyone!
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