Planta
Volver a Carnivorous Corner

Hey ya’ll! I’m getting my first carnivorous plant (nepenthes) in the… | Carnivorous Corner | Comunidad de Planta

Baby Hankers

Hey ya’ll! I’m getting my first carnivorous plant (nepenthes) in the next few days and I’m so beyond excited to feed it all the bugs in my apartment 🤣 I’ve been doing a ton of research and I’m feeling rather lost in it all. Some people say they’re super easy and others say it’s the most temperamental plant. I usually buy discount plants so this is the most expensive plant I’ve ever added to my collection and I really don’t want to mess this up. My main questions for now: If my pitchers arrive empty should I fill them 1/3 of the way with distilled water? I’ve heard mixed advice on this. I’d like to get a prettier hanging planter for it as well, is something self watering recommended? I know they like a lot of water but can get root rot so I wasn’t sure if a self watering planter or one of those watering globes in a traditional planter would be better. My apartment isn’t very humid but I was thinking of hanging the plant over my fish tank (not in the water though), would that be enough humidity or should I look into a humidifier? Sorry for the long post but I’d appreciate any advice!

3 Me gusta 8 comentarios

8 comentarios

  1. nepenthomancer

    Please do not feed it all the bugs in your apartment. Over feeding pitchers will inevitably cause them to rot. Especially if they don’t have any nature fluid in them, which they won’t. It is up for debate whether or not to fill the pitchers. I’d say 1/4 of the way with distilled/RO water ONLY and it will increase the chances that your pitchers will survive after travel. Do not ever give your nepenthes tap water. If it comes bare root please only plant it in clean long fiber spagnum moss and chunky pearlite. Do not use self watering pots, do not let it dry out. You will be probably watering 1-2 times a week depending on the size. You will need to do rapid acclimation with a plastic bag if it’s coming from a nursery in which you will spray the inside of a plastic bag large enough to seal the plant in and then leave it sealed under its lights for at least a week and then open the bag and a little at a time every week until week 4 you can probably take it all the way out. I will add pictures. Because it is winter you will most likely need to be supplementing both light and humidity. Make sure the bulb is at least 30-40 watts. Get a hygrometer for cheap off Amazon, if it stays below 40% humidity you will have bad luck with keeping pitchers. Like I said don’t feed the pitchers with bugs unless they’re already dying naturally of age. Windowsill nepenthes on YouTube does a great job of explaining why we do this. If you have any questions I am always available for nepenthes care and free health evaluations @nepenthomancer on IG.

    1 me gusta
    • nepenthomancer

      I forgot the pictures of bag acclimation lol

      0 Me gusta
    • nepenthomancer
      Adjunto 1 de 1
      0 Me gusta
  2. nepenthomancer

    Natural fluid* it’s important for me to explain that the water you add will only keep the pitchers it comes with from drying out, it will not be able to digest with just this water in the pitchers nor will the natural fluid replace itself after it is dumped. Fortunately nepenthes don’t need bugs to live, the most important things are high light, constant moisture with water that’s less than 60ppm (distilled, RO, rainwater), and humidity at the very least over 40% for healthy pitchers. Hygrometers are only like 8$ on Amazon and save a lot of trouble. They keep track of temp too, almost all cultivars of nepenthes will be unhappy under 60% except for some specific highland types. It’s also important to know whether or not your nepenthes is a highland or lowland variety, as the humidity and temperature they prefer can be better dialed in with that knowledge.

    0 Me gusta
  3. Lacha

    I keep mine in a self watering pot and it is thriving.

    1 me gusta
  4. Evan

    I recently got into carnivorous plants. I would also look into some care preferences for the species of Nepenthes you got. My first one has been struggling to grow. I recently found out that it’s a Nepenthes that really doesn’t like a lot of light (maybe that just means direct sunlight but it really doesn’t get a whole lot tomscarnivores.c0m/resources/nepenthes-interactive-guide/ I guess I can’t put a link in here so I changed the o to a zero in com Go to that website and type in your plant. It will tell you what kind of temperatures it likes. I’m learning that the minimum temperature they prefer is about 5 degrees warmer than my max. When I started suffering a little more and designating a rainforest room to them they started growing better. Highland Nepenthes need (or at least want) a 10 degree drop at night which works for me but I’ve read in forums that people struggle to get them to grow and then when they give them that temperature drop they take off.

    1 me gusta
    • nepenthomancer

      Keeping highlands in a windowsill on a heat mat that feeds turned off at night and lowlands in a greenhouse cabinet is a good way to facilitate the proper temperatures easily. I doubt there would be too much light for any species in a south east facing window unless you live in the high desert though. Be so careful because even cultivars that don’t want a ton of direct sunlight will fail to hold pitchers if they get none. Toms carnivores and carnivorous plant resource .com are both great resources. 💙

      0 Me gusta
  5. Evan

    And the hardest part about a new Nepenthes is patience. You can pretty much assume the leaves and pitchers you get are just to look pretty. The growth after that will be adjusted to your environment and the new pitchers will actually be able to eat

    0 Me gusta