FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi, all. I got a couple of Neps a few weeks ago and repotted them into LFSM/Perlite. I've been keeping them at ~40 rH, 60-72 °F, and each day they see about 6 hrs in a sunny window, with another 6 hrs under LED grow lights. I water them every 2-3 days, depending on how dry they're getting.
Each new leaf grows a nice tendril, but never develops a pitcher. I've read that this is usually due to lack of light, but until the weather warms more I can't really place them outside.
These are my first Neps so I'm a bit in the dark here. What am I missing? Thanks for all advice!

Most of mine do not pitcher inside because of humidity. They still grow just fine. When I move them outside they just explode in to pitchers on the 1st rainy week.

Gary wrote: ↑Tue Mar 05, 2024 2:05 am What am I missing?

Well, it's only been a few weeks, and Neps can be very slow to adjust to new conditions, so give it a few months and then see what happens.

I can do that. It occurred to me that the thing I might be missing is patience.
Thanks!

Maybe try dipping each tendril in a cup of water every few days. Also, too much light can be counter productive.

optique wrote: ↑Tue Mar 05, 2024 2:15 am Most of mine do not pitcher inside because of humidity. They still grow just fine. When I move them outside they just explode in to pitchers on the 1st rainy week.

Nice! Unfortunately, this is a fairly dry time of year here in central AZ. We get some rain and snow but humidity levels are pretty low. The summer monsoons will be a good time for outdoor growing. Spring temps are probably better, but we don't get much rain then so frequent misting will be needed.

Humidity is not proven to be an issue my neps and my winter humidity indoors is usually around 15%. Instead, light does seem to be the big issue for me. A couple small plants I have on my lighted plant stand have pitchered all winter. But my larger maxima which just receives natural daylight (and there’s not much of it in a Michigan winner,) has not pitchered at all this winter. .

That's what baffles me about my plants. They get plenty of light, both sunlight and LED, and rH is mid-30s, but no pitchers. I think Huntsmanshorn is right, they're still getting settled. Once the temps improve here I'll be able to give them direct sunlight for a few hours a day. Patience...

Gary wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 2:17 am That's what baffles me about my plants. They get plenty of light, both sunlight and LED, and rH is mid-30s, but no pitchers. I think Huntsmanshorn is right, they're still getting settled. Once the temps improve here I'll be able to give them direct sunlight for a few hours a day. Patience...

I'm definitely no expert, but RH in the mid-30s seems kinda...low...to me.

This guy's Youtube channel is called "Windowsill Nepenthes" and seem to know what he's doing. This is one of his videos regarding watering neps. You might want to watch it. It's pretty good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7owR1yexWc&t=125s

In my experience, it seems that food is the main driving factor in pitcher growth.
The initial pitcher will grow due to warmth, light, humidity, the alignment of the stars, wishes, dreams, fairy dust, or unicorn farts... or a combination of these factors. Once it grows, if I give it fertilizer, it might go a leaf or two before growing another pitcher. But, if I help it by stuffing it with bugs, every leaf will grow a new pitcher.
I don't suggest stuffing an indoor plant with bugs, they stink when decomposing. But filling one with Maxsea mixed at 1/4 tsp per gallon once per week will likely prompt a new pitcher now and then.

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 2:23 am

Gary wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 2:17 am That's what baffles me about my plants. They get plenty of light, both sunlight and LED, and rH is mid-30s, but no pitchers.

I'm definitely no expert, but RH in the mid-30s seems kinda...low...to me.

During my research, I recently saw some pics of pitcher-laden Neps growing indoors (near windows, of course) and the humidity gauges in the pics were all reading between the high teens and mid-20s. I guess they can acclimate to somewhat lower rH as needed. Hopefully they settle in and start pitchering soon.