pitcher plants

I went out to take shots of indigenous field plants here in southeast Louisiana. There is a nice area that is about to be destroyed by entrepreneurs laying concrete. Hope you enjoy these plants before they are all gone.

There used to be a red form of pitcher plant that grew here. Progress has eliminated them.

This area used to be covered with pitcher plants. I see another for sale sign on this pasture.

iwould be out there digging my little heart out to get them all....

Several of us have dug a bunch of these pitcher plants. They are growing well in pots that have no bottom holes--but do have side holes. These wild plants must have the soil that they were originally grown in to survive.

Yeah, and that's what makes them so precious. We have trouble saving them in our garden soil. We don't have pitcher plants in the desert, but there are some up in the wet parts of our mountains.

Glad you're trying to save some. ~Blooms

I had no idea they grew in mountains!! Can you send a picture of these? Very interesting.

you don't have to grow pitcher plants in the soil they came in. I've got a few of them. Also, they won't grow in normal garden soild unless your garden soil is acidic, wet, and a mix of spaghnum peat/sand/and spaghnum moss. And you can't water them with tap water!

i just bought a picture plant about four days ago it has pitcher hanging from the leaves.when i bought it had a lot of baby pictures hanging on it, since i got it home the pitchers are drying up at the top and dying. . the name of the plant is nepenthes alata but the flower shop called it a picture plant. i would like to no if i,m sopose to break the steam off or just pinch the pitcher off to help it produce more pitcher. this plant is a houseplant i also have a bigger plant i bought at the same time it has large pitcher hanging from it i,m sopose to keep them have full of rain water or distelled water. i have this one hanging in my bath room it is doing well cant someone tell me how to handle the dying pitchers on the small plant to help them grow back.thank you

Hey nurselaverne,

The photographs above taken by Flicker are Sarracenia which are sometimes referred to as Tall Pitcher plants. Sarracenia are native/indigenous to the continent of North America. The cultural requirements of temperate species Sarracenia are very different from the plant you purchased.

Nepenthes plants are referred to as Asian Pitcher plants. Although most are tropical, they come form a range of environments with vastly differing growing conditions so some of these plants will be very easy to grow while others will be somewhat "touchy". Nepenthes alata is not a species that is indigenous/native to the continent of North America. It's native range would be the Phillipines, Malaysia, and Sumatra with most in cultivtion coming from the Phillipines. N. alata is tropical but can either be a highland form or a lowland form and the care of your plant will depend upon which form you have. You might want to try posting your question over in the Carnivorous Plant forum. Nepenthes, barring all of its many interesting forms from highland to lowland to intermediate, is a carnivorous plant. Congratulations on picking such a wonderful plant too.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/redmeatoffthebone/all/

If you are in a position to post a photo of your plant that will be a great big help given you did not indicate whether you had a highland form or a lowland form. Someone over in Carnivorous Plants will be able to identify which alata you have from a photograph.

equilibrium
i,m trying to learn how to put a picture on the computer. it is a very beauty plant .i have a digital camera. that will be my project for tomorrow. i hope the picture of the plant will be posted tomorrow, because i need some help with it because i don,t want it to dy . the place i bought it from said it is new to them too so they can,t really help me. thank you .

Hey there, somebody just contacted me and directed me back to this thread to help you. I will do my best but please understand I am more of a native plant person. I work with kids a lot and grow tall pitcher plants (Sarracenia) for educational programming for schools and other not for profit organizations as well as for my own personal pleasure because I find them to be such magnificent plants. Bottom line is that I'm not a tropical carnivorous plant person. Please take your alata and move it out of full sun. Maybe an eastern exposure would be good for the time being. Nepenthes generally do not like to be sitting in water but they like high humidity so if it is sitting in water in a drip tray, pull it out of the water. They are actually viney type plants so if it is already in a hanging basket, maybe you could hang it over your kitchen sink for a bit.

Please do take a few photos tomorrow. After you take your photos, save them to a place on your computer where you can find them. I usually save to my desktop but any file that you can find easily will work. Start a new thread. When you create your first post within the thread asking for help in that forum I provided a link to, you will see the word Image with a box underneath it. Click on the Browse button to the right of the empty box and find where you saved your photos. When you find the first photo you want to share, double click on it and the location should appear in the box underneath the word Image. Now click the Preview button underneath that. Wait a bit and your post and a thumbnail image of your plant will appear. If you are happy with what you are seeing, click send.

And if you can't figure out how to post a photo, we'll ask somebody better with computers than me to explain it differently. Sometimes somebody describing the process differently helps. If that doesn't work, I'll D-Mail you my e-mail address and you send the photos to me and I will post them in a thread you start. We'll get photos posted for you, don't worry. There are people over in the carnivorous plant forum that will help you.

If the plant dies, we'll get you cuttings to try Nepenthes again. Please understand that if the nursery that sold you the plant came right out and stated that they couldn't help you that this probably isn't a good sign as how the heck did they care for it before you bought it? I guess what I am trying to say is that if something does happen to the plant, chances are pretty darn good that it won't be your fault. There are people over there who will help you so do your best to post the photos on your own and if you can't, let me know.

Lauren

hear is a picture of my pitcher plant the pitchers are dying what should i do should i cut them off or will they fall off nurselavern

this is a picture of the smaller pitcher plant the baby pitcher have died and some of the leaves what do i do i need help thank you nurselavern

the first image of the bigger pictcher plant was taken be fore the pitcher begin to dry up and . i will try to take a picture of it now and post it later maybe to tomorrow . i proud of my self i finally learned how to post a picture. smile nurselavern

Please get me close ups of those white spots on the leaves of the second Nep you posted. Please consider taking that plant out of the drip tray, Neps generally don't like to be sitting in water.

Tell me on the first plant what you think is wrong with it? It looks healthy to me. The pitchers can stay. It is natural for them to dieback sooner or later. Normally, I find I can extend the life of pitchers by adding rain water to them. I fill the pitchers to about a third and drop a pinhead in. On smaller pitchers, I add a drop or two of 2% milk.

May I ask what you have your Neps planted in? By that I mean what did you use to create your medium?

What kind of water are you using for these plants?

Your photos are perfect, you did well posting the images.

Here is a close up of the smaller pitcher plant. Also one where the pitchers are drying up on nurselavern.

here is the picture of the biggerplant i used miracle gro potting soil for my medium. I use distilled water or spring water to half fill the pitchers and water the plant.

You need to repot your plants. You'll burn them with Miracle Grow potting soil. Honey, I think you need to start posting over in the Carnivorous Plants Forum-
http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/redmeatoffthebone/all/
There are Nepenthes people over there.

I'm concerned about plant #2. I can't see well enough but here's what is making me raise a few eyebrows-

Oops, you'll need to enlarge your photo that I just posted. I circled areas of concern. Somehow you are going to need to get closer photos of those white spots and I think you need to photograph the underside of the leaves too.

here is another picture maybe you can see it better if not i will post another one tomorrow . i posted the picture on the form you suggested. thank you nurse lavern what kind of soil should i use to replant this plant.

sorry wrong this a picture of the healthy plant will take close up and post tomorrow.nurselavern

Hey, I see you started a new thread over in Carnivorous Plants! Yay! There are people over there who have forgotten more about Nepenthes than I've ever known.



This message was edited Feb 25, 2006 7:15 AM

Those white spots kinda look like mealy bugs to me, the location of the white spots is usually a tip off. they like to live on the leaves, but they like the areas closer to the stems, better.

Yes, I spotted the heavier concentrations in the crotches myself. I still can't see well enough but she posted more photos over in the CP forum and Phil should be along shortly to comment.