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By Carnies
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Posts:  1380
Joined:  Mon Oct 26, 2020 4:48 pm
#415646
Chef - I mean Your Majesty is correct, if the plant is happy where it is, it is happy. But if you want pitchers maybe fertilize or move it someplace MORE sunny but not in direct sun.
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By ChefDean
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Joined:  Tue Sep 18, 2018 12:44 am
#415659
Dragonslayer126 wrote:I don't know why you are saying that they won't pitcher because they're taking too good of care. I've never once heard of that phenomenon. Even with the most experienced growers, the plants still need pitchers for nutrients.
No, they don't. Plants, by their very nature, can make all the food they need via photosynthesis, with other nutrients being taken up by the roots to be used as needed. Carnivorous plants have evolved to live in nutrient poor soils, and developed carnivory to supplement their nutrient need in the event that they cannot photosynthesize enough. Key word is supplement.
If the plant wasn't making enough energy through photosynthesis, and also had no other means for nutrient uptake (ie. forming pitchers), then it would not have lived this long otherwise. If the plant is struggling, then it will gamble and expend energy in an attempt to capture more nutrients. It will only do what it "needs" to do to survive, nothing more.
Of course you don't know my background, but I guess you could dismiss my decades of experience with plants of all stripes (I grew up in a farming and ranching family), my years of experience with carnivorous plants specifically, as well as my ongoing degree in Biology if you'd like, I can't force you to be correct.
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By lemon
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Joined:  Fri Apr 22, 2022 6:46 pm
#415781
HisImperialMajesty wrote: Fri Jul 01, 2022 3:27 pm Of course you don't know my background, but I guess you could dismiss my decades of experience
Hey, no need to bring out the cannons. :) It's just unusual for less experienced growers to hear that no pitchers means the plant has ideal conditions for growth. Every care tip on Nepenthes I've read or watched said that if your Neps aren't pitchering you're doing something wrong: too little or too much light/water, too cold or too hot, not enough humidity, not enough or too much fertilizer, etc. It's great to learn something new here. So, what would you recommend to Steve30215 if he wanted his plant to start producing pitchers?
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By ChefDean
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#415784
That's not what the OP was asking, he asked what he was doing wrong. In my opinion, he's not doing anything wrong at all. That the plant is still alive and so large after two years of him growing it is proof to that. Plus, the other growers commenting on how nice the plant looks also attests to the OP not having done anything wrong. My "bringing out the cannons" was in response to the Google expert, quoting what he has read online ("Everything on the internet is true." - Abraham Lincoln), vs my decades of hands on experience with a wide variety of plants. I'm not saying I'm completely right, as it's just my opinion to the question asked. But, if I'd agreed with Mr. Google expert, then we'd both be wrong.
Another thing to consider is that a small plant (like when the OP got it two years ago), under the same conditions as the OP's plant, will probably produce pitchers as it will have fewer and smaller leaves. Fewer/smaller leaves means less square footage/surface area, which translates into less photosynthesis. It will have more of a need to supplement photosynthesis with captured prey.
If the OP had asked how to get it to produce pitchers, after reading about the current conditions, I would have suggested starting by lowering light exposure. Less sunlight means less photosynthesis, which means it's not making as much food. In South Atlanta, and without knowing the layout of his place, that might be much easier said than done. I didn't read anywhere that he had been fertilizing, but my second suggestion would have been to stop fertilizing. In my personal experience with Neps, chemical fertilizer is almost a sure fire way of causing them to not produce pitchers. Again, if it has enough, it's not going to try for more.
However, if the plant starts to detect a lack of nutrients somewhere due to less light or less food uptake, less than it's basic need, it will make an attempt to correct that. That's when it will expend energy to attract the bugs by growing pitchers.
A capensis won't likely wrap around a small gnat. A flytrap won't seal and secrete the cysteine proteases necessary for digestion without stimulation after closing. Late in the season, many Sarrs produce only phyloddia to photosynthesize without having to produce nectar or their own aspartic proteases for digestion. And Nepenthes won't necessarily produce pitchers if it's basic nutritional needs are already being met. There's simply no need to expend any extra energy to develop those structures or produce those enzymes that are unnecessary at that time.
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By Steve30215
Posts:  8
Joined:  Mon Jun 20, 2022 10:34 pm
#415862
Thank you everyone for all the info it’s allot to digest(no pun intended) but sounds like I’m treating my baby kinda too much like my baby. It seems from all your comments that I’m doing ok keeping it happy and I was afraid I was damaging it somehow. I have never given it any fertilizer or tap water always distilled and when it’s crazy hot outside I’ll mist it once or twice a day but it does make sense that if it’s not struggling why put out pitchers to gather nutrients. I’m going to start a couple experiments starting with
1. Less light— if that doesn’t work
2. Less water

In all of your professional experiences how long should I give each stage before I should see a change and try the other and what signs should I look for that I’ve gone the wrong direction? I could look it up on google but I would rather trust you guys that are actually growing them. I know I might be sounding selfish as far as the plant is concerned but after all it’s a pitcher plant and I enjoy seeing the pitchers.
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By Camden
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Joined:  Mon May 23, 2022 9:25 pm
#415865
First off, before you see any change I’d give it 1-2 weeks time to adjust to the new environment (or until it stops putting out deformed leaves if it is). I’d wait at each stage until 3 leaves in and see if there’s pitchers then. I’d look for no pitchers, more pitchers, consistently deformed leafs, more growth, any change Is what we’re looking for here, weather it be good or bad( preferably good, but at least we’d know what it likes). I don’t know if anyone said this or not but humidity is big for these guys, might want to amp it up a bit and see what happens (yes, even though you have already high humidity). Just so you know, my small Ventrata (basal shoot) pitchers almost every leaf while my large one ( same location) seems to be just as stubborn as yours hence: your not alone.

Edit: if all else fails, I wonder if you lowered the humidity, if that would help any. My modo is “ brute force it till you win” may not be catchy but it still works.
By Steve30215
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Joined:  Mon Jun 20, 2022 10:34 pm
#415866
Thanks, since I’ve moved it back outside early spring here in the south it’s been putting out plenty of new growth and none are deformed. The tendrils seem to grow long and look perfect but the ends brown up as seen in previous pictures, the leafs continue to grow and look good. The humidity in our area stays 60/85% range with temps mid 80’s/90’s and night time lows in the 70’s
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By ChefDean
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#415868
Steve30215 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 2:33 pmIn all of your professional experiences how long should I give each stage before I should see a change and try the other and what signs should I look for that I’ve gone the wrong direction?
Nepenthes can take months to adapt to new conditions, so take it one change at a time if possible. I would go with observing it on the scale of 2 to 3 months before changing something else. It probably won't have obvious signs of declining, as they tend to stall rather than look like they're dying when they're adapting. If it appears to be going sideways, you only have one thing to change back.
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By DragonsEye
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Joined:  Sat Oct 01, 2016 1:22 pm
#415871
I would suggest, as others have, that you increase the amount and/or strength of the light it receives. IME, light is often more important than other factors. In your neck of the woods, I would be hesitant to give it afternoon sun. Morning or evening sun should be fine, though some care with hardening it off would be wise.
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