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Nepenthes Care Instructions
Nepenthes are a natural jungle killer than are found natively growing in the trees of jungles.
Their deadly pitchers dangle from their vine-like leaves, creating an attractive landing pad for
bugs. These bugs slip into the plant and slide all the way down to the watery pool where the bugs
are not only captured, they are eaten. Bugs alone will not keep this killer alive. Read below
to learn everything you will need to keep your plant healthy and happy.
About NepenthesNepenthes are one of the few types of carnivorous plants not native to the U.S. They mostly grow in Australia and Africa, where they find good habitats in the midst of the jungles. There are over 50 varieties of Nepenthes, covering all sizes and looks. They are often considered once of the most distinguished carnivorous plants to have, possible because of their ornate hanging garden look. Your Nepenthes will look great in his pot and cage, but instructions are included below if you ever want to give him a bigger home. Nepenthes, similar to another group of more common carnivorous plants called pitcher plants, have a hollow tube that acts as a passive trap. However, these traps have intricate designs that help them work just as well as an active trap. For instance, the pitchers have a sweet nectar smell that initially attracts the flies. They then have a nice landing pad lip surrounding the pitcher. As the bug is checking this all out, they often make a fatal slip just inside the lip. At this instant, the trap is activated. The inside surface of the pitcher is very smooth--so smooth that many insects cannot hold on to keep themselves from falling. Even if they could, tiny downward pointing hairs line the surface and force the insect to fall further down the tube. Though weak to us, these hairs are like steel beams to the bugs, making it impossible to escape. About half way down the pitcher, the bugs hit a pool of water. If this seems relaxing, it won't for long as the water also contains digestive fluids that will eat the bug, leaving only the exoskeleton behind. The name nepthenes come from something. My Carnivore currently sales the ventricosa variety, which is native to. However, they also grow extremely well in the My Carnivore cage/terrariums. This plant can get pretty big, so take good care of it and it will be very happy with you. Remember--the bigger it gets, the bigger the food it can eat! Complete growing instructionsYour pet carnivore is very easy to take care of. However, there are some very important instructions that must be followed to ensure that the plant will stay healthy in its new home. These instructions can vary depending on where you live and how close to its natural environment your area is. Be sure to email us if you have any questions or need help. We will be glad to give you personal care for your pet. Humidity Unless you live in a humid area, keep your nepenthes in its cage most of the time. In humid regions, such as the Southeast U.S., you may keep the plant outside of the cage in its pot. Just make sure the soil stays moist (dark brown) at all times. When in the cage, feel free to keep the lid off. In dry areas, you may take the pet out for a few hours at a time for display or feeding, but make sure you replace it and spray-mist it with rain or distilled water to keep it moist. You may keep the lid off during the day, but make sure the bedding and moss stay moist, and you should keep the lid on at night. The bedding is long fiber sphagnum moss, which can hold up to twenty times its weight in water. Make sure the bedding stays moist, but not soaked, to help maintain humidity in the cage. Watering Your plant will need to be spray-misted or watered once or twice a week, depending on where you live and how you keep it. In a closed cage, the plant will need watering only once a week. Spraying the leaves and surrounding soil with a spray bottle is a great way to keep it wet. Make sure the soil stays dark brown and moist to the touch at all times. You may also need to pour some water on the plant if the soil seems to be getting light brown and dry to the touch. One special care item for Nepenthes is adding water to the pitchers. The pitchers should be about a third full of water. They may get this from your regular watering, but if not, add some to get it going. It should not need much water in the trap after this--just food (see feeding below). Be very careful not to over-water or drown the plant. This can rot the roots of the plant. You may have over-watered it if you see standing water on top of the soil or if the soil appears saturated. If this happens, hold the plant and soil upside down and press down on the soil to squeeze out extra water. Nepenthes have developed to grow only in mineral-poor acidic soil. To preserve this, be sure to use only natural rainwater or distilled (RO) water on your plant. Tap water contains too many minerals that will build up in the soil and kill the plant. Place a collection bowl outside to collect rainwater, or collect moving water from a nearby creek. Stagnant water, such as from a lake, may contain little creatures that can infect the plant. If you must you tap water, let it sit for 24-48 hours to dissipate the Chlorine. Light Nepenthes are light-loving plants. They prefer to receive direct sunlight for at least part of the day. Place your pet in a good windowsill where it can get strong natural light, preferably in the morning when it is less hot and intense. If your plant is in direct sunlight all day, keep the lid only partially on the cage to keep it from overheating. The moist bedding and terra cotta pot should hold enough water to keep the humidity up in the cage. Plants can also be grown outdoors in humid and warm temperature regions. Keep the lid off when outdoors. After rain, you may need to dump extra water out of the cage and pot to keep the roots from drowning and rotting. You can also grow your plant indoors under fluorescent lights. Be sure to use high temperature light bulbs with full spectrum light placed about a foot over the soil. In the summer, a 14 hour light cycle is perfect. In the winter, an 8 hour cycle will help them go through dormancy. Feeding Your Nepenthes loves to eat to give the plant nitrogen and other compounds that will help it grow. Each trap can be fed about once a week. Too much feeding could lead to rotting in the trap. Without food, the plant may survive, but it will not grow very well. A good feeding cycle for optimal growth is to go out once a week and capture a good size bug that will fit in the trap and drop it in there manually. Crickets are great for these plants, as are grasshoppers, ladybugs, and any other bugs. You can put several small bugs in at once, but then give the trap a week to digest them before putting more in. As the plant gets bigger, so should the food you give it. Your plant will also grow well when fed only once a month, but that isn't nearly as much fun! The plants prefer living food so it will be the freshest when they eat it. However, freshly killed bugs should be fine, and dried crickets from a pet store should also work. If a trap starts to die, clip it off and wait for a new one to grow in its place. Keep feeding the plant regularly, but not more than once a week per trap. Planting Your pet came in a mixture of sphagnum peat moss, construction sand, and perlite. The peat moss is a nutrient poor acidic soil, and the sand and perlite keep the soil from becoming too dense so that water can flow around the roots. This flow is especially important for Nepenthes. Although your pet will grow, it will never outgrow its pot. Nepenthes look great in hanging basket pots if you live in the right climate. If you do want to transplant it, use a mixture of 60% peat / 40% sand or perlite. Make sure the sand is construction grade without salt. Do not transplant directly into the ground or into potting soil. Winter dormancy Your Nepenthes will need a few months in the winter to hibernate. During this time, many of the leaves may die, and those that do live may not look as good. Typical dormancy period is from November until February. During this time, your nepenthes will still need light, but for a shorter time during the day. It will also need less watering--just make sure the cage stays humid and the soil stays dark brown. Cut off any browning leaves. Keep the plant cooler than in the summer. It also may not be hungry, so don't try to feed it too much. As spring rolls around, give the plant more sunlight and let it grow! Once it starts, it will grow even bigger than the previous year.
Nepenthes Tips • Unless you live in a humid area, keep your Nepenthes in its cage at all times (unless you are feeding it or playing with it). In humid regions, such as the Southeast U.S., you may keep the plant outside of the cage in its pot. Just make sure the soil stays very moist (dark brown). When in the cage, feel free to keep the lid off. In dry areas, you may take the pet out for a few hours at a time for display or feeding, but make sure you replace it and spray it with rain or distilled water to keep it moist. You may keep the lid off during the day, but make sure the bedding and moss stay moist, and you should keep the lid on at night. • Nepenthes require a good amount of light. Find a good windowsill where they can get strong natural light for part of the day, preferably morning light when it is less hot and intense. If your pet is in direct sunlight all day, keep the lid partially off the cage to keep it from overheating. The moist bedding and terra cotta pot should hold enough water to keep the humidity up in the cage. Plants can also be grown outdoors in humid and warm temperature regions. • Make sure to use only natural rainwater or distilled water to water your plant. If you must you tap water, let it sit for 24-48 hours to dissipate the Chlorine. • Dying leaves are part of the Nepenthes' growth cycle. Cut off browning leaves immediately before they have time to rot. Chances are, a new larger leaf will grow in its place. • When feeding, give each trap either one large bug or several small bugs per trap. The plant needs time to digest these before moving on to others. Only feed it live or freshly killed bugs. While most bugs will eventually find their way into a trap, you may want to hand feed your Nepenthes. They really like the attention, and it will make sure he gets his meal right away. Be sure to give the plant appropriate sized bugs. As it gets bigger, so should its food size! If you can't find big enough food, several small bugs should be fine. Never give your plant raw meat. This will kill it. • In the winter, your plant will naturally go into dormancy. Give it some sunlight, but make sure it stays a little cooler than in the summer, gets less light, and stays a little dryer, but don't let it dry out. Typical dormancy is from Thanksgiving until Valentine's day.
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