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I purchased a Nepenthes Miranda roughly over 6-7 months ago and for the first long while it was going super well. The leaves looked waxy and the pods grown were plentiful and large. It wasn't until maybe 2 months ago I noticed things were going wrong.

The waxy look to the plants leaves had started to fade and the pods seemed to stunt in growth. It wasn't long before the protective leaf atop the pod started to wilt and dry up followed by the rest of the pod in the following days. I decided to take my somewhat limited plant knowledge into account and trim off her dead pod at the very top of the vine in hopes the drying/rotting wouldn't spread unto the rest of the plant.

Unfortunately it didn't end there, all the pods fell in line having the same fate as the first. Currently it has one pod that's only just opening up and two pods on the way. The rest of the pods have died and been cut off. I then started to notice the leaves that didn't sprout pods in the first place were starting to wilt and go brown.

I then wasn't sure if I should trim those off (so they are still on the plant). When I purchased the plant it had a couple of dried out dead leaves attached at the base and I never trimmed them off out of fear there was a reason the seller didn't, as he seemed quite passionate about the plants.

I kept it in living conditions I researched and found suitable for the plant. I had an old fish terrarium laying around, so for the longest time I kept my Nepenthes in there. I turned the light on when I woke up in the morning and turned it off before I went to bed to try to emulate daytime/nighttime cycles for the plant. I watered it every time the soil felt dry and even put the lid of a cheese grater under the pot so there wouldn't be any sitting in water. I also used osmosis water and nothing but osmosis water.

Sadly my Nepenthes has out grown the terrarium and after a lot of research I learned that the Miranda can live outside of one so shortly after the repotting process I set her on my bookshelf and got my father (a carpenter) to take the lid of the terrarium with the light and fixture it above my plant.

I live in Canada so you can imagine why I don't want to sit a tropical plant by the windowsill for its sunlight. I'm worried perhaps my room isn't humid enough or that it's getting too little/too much water and sunlight.

Oh and I also feed the plant freeze-dried crickets which I read from multiple sources work best for these plants if you don't live in a bug infested home. I only gave her one in a random pod at a time until I saw it was visibly disintegrated because the crickets were fairly large. I have currently discontinued giving the plant any crickets because it has just been repotted and is still going through stress.

Any help on this matter would be much appreciated!

The current set up, you can see one of the withered pods I just cut off. enter image description here

The leaves that are drying out and dying.

enter image description here

ejderuby
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Max
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  • Is it getting not/enough water? – black thumb Jan 01 '17 at 19:18
  • Welcome Max! If you read our [help], which I recommend, because we're a bit different from other sites, you'll find that this is an extremely well-written question! To help people, we need as much information as we can possibly get, and pictures. You've done such great job of that! We have a lot of experts here, so hopefully someone will come along soon and help you with your girl! – Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL Jan 01 '17 at 19:29
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    Is that a grow light, or just an aquarium light? Are you giving the plant any nitrogen since you're no longer feeding it insects? What's the humidity level in the house? Is the soil damp? – Graham Chiu Jan 01 '17 at 21:32
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    Please check the lower stem/root crown for decay, and let me know how it looks. – J. Musser Jan 01 '17 at 22:24
  • @blackthumb I water the plant every time the soil feels dry or near dry. Every care guide I read online advised this method. – Max Jan 02 '17 at 04:38
  • @GrahamChiu I'm not sure which it is classified as though when I looked up what a grow light was I found that the light I use has the same wattage and other properties. – Max Jan 02 '17 at 04:38
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    @J.Musser I don't see any signs of rot or decay though it's hard to see what with the plant being covered in dirt. – Max Jan 02 '17 at 04:38
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    The care guides I read say the"soil" must be kept moist, and if it's allowed to become dry, the plant dies. – Graham Chiu Jan 02 '17 at 04:47
  • Some plants don't like standing water in their tray, and that may be 1 of them. – black thumb Jan 02 '17 at 05:22
  • The roots are shallow, to keep that entire pot of soil moist will kill this plant. That is why these plants do well in a terrarium, shallow soil, shallow roots. Black Thumb sees one of the worst problems, the standing water in the tray. The most critical thing for this plant is drainage. Sitting in water nullifies drainage. High humidity is important that is why these guys do so well in a terrarium. Are there rocks or gravel beneath the soil in this pot? – stormy Jan 02 '17 at 21:36
  • @stormy this plant likes wet feet, just not from stagnant water. They can live in marshes and peat bogs. – Graham Chiu Jan 03 '17 at 22:36
  • Perhaps a few of the species but not in stagnant water and they do best with consistently moist soil NOT STAGNANT. Not water logged soil with little air .https://www.growcarnivorousplants.com/Articles.asp?ID=266 All little plants in big POTS will get root rot. Just a fact. Water lilies need lots of oxygenated water do not do well with low oxygen, algae covered water. But these are not aquatic plants. They love grasslands, meadows and great drainage. – stormy Jan 03 '17 at 23:35
  • @Max what have you used for fertilizer? Looks like a deficiency in chemicals (gag, nutrients). That non decomposed mulch of bark chips ain't helping. Fine in an ecosystem but not in a pot totally controlled by you. Those chips are being decomposed and those decomposers need nitrogen. Also looks like a shortage of a chemical... And I hope you are able to use a magnifying glass insects love a weakened plant. Here is one article about phosphorous deficiency that goes with the red coloring...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus_deficiency, check out the other chemicals listed. – stormy Jan 04 '17 at 00:51

3 Answers3

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Nepenthes, or the Asian pitcher plant, naturally grows in the tropical regions of Asia either in high mountain rain forests or in warm lowland grasslands at the base of mountains. They are divided into two types, those that live above 3000 feet (highlands), and those that live below that (lowlands) with differing requirements. The Nepenthes x 'Miranda' is an intermediate or lowlands type and requires warm night time temperatures (above 21 deg C). Below this, and they are subject to developing brown spots on their leaves.

Lowlands Nepenthes requires a high humidity level and so you might be tempted to grow them inside a terrarium. But they rapidly outgrow most household terrariums and then you have the problem of trying to get your large plant to adjust to lower humidity levels.

I note also that you've repotted your plant so it may be suffering some sort of transplant shock. Did you use exactly the same media as the plant came in, or something else?

Nepenthes also requires high light levels and a 20 Watt terrarium light is insufficient. You'll need at least 2 x 40 Watt fluorescent lamps 8 inches above the plant, kept on for 14 daylight hours during Summer and Spring, and 12 hours for the rest of the year.

To see whether the light from a window might be sufficient, you can install a lux meter app on your phone and measure the light from the window and from your existing lights to see if they're anywhere close.

Since they live at the base of mountains, their roots are bathed in oxygenated water running down the mountains. So, you need to keep the roots moist but not let them sit in stagnant water. If you let the soil dry out, you will kill the plant. People have even grown them successfully hydroponically.

It's not normally needed to feed these plants since they require only minuscule amounts of nutrition, eg. one insect a month. The roots do not take up any nutrients of note. As an alternative to insects, you can feed the pitcher with 1/4 strength orchid fertilizer once a fortnight.

Based on the above, I suspect your plant is being underwatered and has insufficient lighting.

Nepenthes Care Guide

Growing Nepenthes hydroponically: Preliminary results.

Ken Graham
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Graham Chiu
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  • 300 watts is kind of a minimum. High output T-5's at 50-60 watts per bulb times 4 is an even lower minimum. No heat so that the bulbs are able to sit right on top of the plants. – stormy Jan 03 '17 at 23:41
  • http://www.carnivorousplants.org/howto/SoilsWater/Lighting.php – Graham Chiu Jan 04 '17 at 00:05
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It almost looks like TOO much light based on the photos. Also possibly an imbalance in the potting mix. I have added superthrive to watering my nepenthes and it helps (not using fertilizer ever). Also, it is possible that it is overwatered ...

kevinskio
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Sarah
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It.just a leafburn as long as new leaves.healthy you dont have to.worry. it often happens in tropical area like my nepentheses because we leave it on dirrect sun

andre a
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