My Nepenthes Plant Is Dying

Soil

• Nepenthes plants need a medium that will stay wet but has good drainage to mimic the wetland conditions that the plants are used to in the wild. Since pitcher plants grow in poor soil conditions, the soil should not have any nutrients. You can use equal parts of peat moss, sand and perlite or equal parts of composted pine bark, sphagnum peat and coir.

Light

• Pitcher plants live in a variety of light conditions in the wild, but plants will survive if located in an area with bright light, but not direct sunlight. Nepenthes will survive with one or two hours of shady conditions during the day. Do not place plants in a window or outdoors in direct sunlight. In the wild, the plants grow under the canopies of large trees or near water where other weeds grow tall and shelter the plant from the direct light of the sun.

Water

• Water the carnivorous plant from overhead. Keep the medium moist throughout the growing season, but in late fall and during the winter when the plant is resting, allow the medium to dry out between each watering. The plant will die back during the rest period, but will spring back in spring, at which time you need to resume watering to keep the medium moist.

Humidity and Temperature

• Provide high humidity for the nepenthes plants. Don’t let the plant containers sit in water, but use a drainage tray filled with gravel under the container to catch the runoff after each watering. As the water in the tray evaporates, it will provide humidity around the plant. Don’t place the plant by heating and cooling vents. Keep temperatures about 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, but about 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit cooler at night.

Food

• Only feed your carnivorous plant if it is healthy. When you introduce food to a plant that is under stress from lack of light, humidity or water, it will decline in health more. Pitcher plants can normally catch their own food, even indoors, but if you need to introduce food to a healthy plant, feed it flies or crickets once a month. You can freeze the insect and then give it to the plant so it doesn’t escape into the house. Just drop the insect into the pouch. The bug won’t be able to escape.