Can I feed my pitcher plant?

Asked by: Stephanie Thompson

Pitcher Plants (Nepenthes, Sarracenia, & Cephalotus) Pitcher Plants are probably the easiest carnivorous plants to feed. During their active growing season, drop bugs, fish food, or fertilizer pellets in a few of the pitchers every 2-3 weeks.

How do you fertilize a pitcher plant?

A mild fish fertilizer diluted by one-quarter every two to four weeks can be added to the pitcher. Young plants and seedlings benefit more from fertilizer and may be soil fed. Dilute by half and follow any soil feeding with a drench of rainwater or distilled water.

Can you feed a pitcher plant meat?

Nepenthes and Sarracenia are carnivorous plants. They are equipped to consume insects, but they can also break up flesh. However, you should avoid feeding your plant any animal besides insects and spiders.

Can I feed my pitcher plant mealworms?

All three of these foods are suitable for other carnivorous plants as well as Venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula). Bloodworms are ideal for almost all species, particularly sundews (Drosera) and butterworts (Pinguicula), while mealworms and crickets are often good for larger pitcher plants (Sarracenia and Nepenthes).

How do I make my pitcher plant happy?

Your adult pitcher plant will be happy if it can catch a couple of insects every month. If you don’t have bugs flying around your house, provide a freshly killed insect once in a while, (no insecticides!). Use only small bugs that fit easily into the pitchers.

What can pitcher plants eat?

Diet. Pitcher plants are carnivorous and commonly eat ants, flies, wasps, beetles, slugs and snails. Large pitcher plants may even eat small frogs, rodents, or lizards.

Should I fertilize my carnivorous plants?

Yes, you can use fertilizer on carnivorous plants.

However, you shouldn’t use any ol’ fertilizer at the recommended strength on the package. An incorrect application will likely kill them.

Should I mist my pitcher plant?

Tips on Watering Carnivorous Plants

Although pitcher plants (and other carnivorous plants) tolerate dry air, they frequently stop producing pitchers when the humidity drops below 50 percent. If the environment is dry, mist regularly or place the plant near a room humidifier.

Should I cut off dying pitchers?

As pitchers and leaves die back naturally, trim them off to keep the plant vigorous. Prune back the green vine stems to encourage side shoots to grow.

Do pitcher plants like full sun?

Outdoor specimens live in slightly acidic soils. Pitcher plants must be kept wet and can even grow in water gardens. The plants need boggy, moist soil and will perform well at the margins of a pond or bog garden. Pitcher plants thrive in full sun to light shade.

How long do pitcher plants live?

The plants grow new pitchers throughout the summer, and one plant can have as many as 10 pitchers. The pitchers only last a year or two, but the plant itself can live for 50 years.

Why are my pitchers turning brown?

When your Pitcher Plant has dry or brown pitchers, it is likely not getting enough water, in an area of low humidity, or a combination of both. Pitcher Plants require consistent moisture and high humidity in order to thrive.

Should I let my pitcher plant flower?

Unlike the pitchers, which are deadly to visiting insects, pitcher plant flowers are perfectly harmless. In fact, the flowers function like regular flowers by providing insects (mostly bees) with nectar and pollen.

How do I get my pitcher plant to bloom?

Light – Most pitcher plant varieties need at least three to four hours of bright sunlight per day. Failure to produce pitchers is an indication that the plant isn’t receiving adequate light. However, although the light should be bright, it should be indirect and not too intense.

How often do pitcher plants bloom?

two to three weeks

Pitcher plants grow from rhizomes. Blooming for two to three weeks in spring, pitcher plants develop new pitchers, or leaves, in spring and summer, then die back to ground level in cold regions in late fall. In spring, cut back dead plant tissue. Indoor gardening and pitcher plants don’t mix.

Do pitcher plants stink?

Indeed, the upper, or aerial, pitchers of the plant have a pleasant odor and trap a wide variety of insects, while pitchers at ground level emit little odor and mainly capture ants.

Do pitcher plants eat mosquitoes?

Pitcher plants primarily ‘eat’ insects (including mosquitoes). However, some species (like the 1.5-meter-tall Attenborough’s Pitcher Plant) is large enough to capture and digest rodents and other small animals.

Do pitcher plants close their lids?

In a juvenile pitcher the lid is firmly closed and the walls of the pitcher plant are soft. As the pitcher matures, the walls get firmer and the inside gets filled with fluid secreted by the plants. When the pitcher is fully charged, the lid opens, there is a popular belief that the lid closes upon its prey.