Indoor plant maintenance! Splitting my Monkey Jars!

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My Nephentes

Last year, I got a Nepenthes (Monkey Jars) from my daughters for my birthday.
We went to the garden center on my birthday, where I found this amazing plant.
I was immediately impressed by the large pitchers hanging from it. So that became my gift.

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New shoots

It’s now almost a year later. The pithers died in winter (which seems to be normal). The plant went into a sort of hibernation. But during the spring, when there was more sun, my Nepenthes started growing again. And I even noticed some shoots next to the mother plant (actually it are two plants). At the moment these shoots have grown quite a bit. And the plant, and even the new shoots, is starting to grow new pitchers 😀🎉
But having two new plants in the pot made me worry a bit. I'm afraid the plant will get overcrowded when they all keep growing. So I decided to split them up.

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Splitting my Nephentes

A Nephentes needs nutrient-poor, well-draining, and airy soil. As I didn't have that, I went to the garden center and found potting soil that was especially for all types of carnivorous plants.
I also bought an extra hanging basket for the second plant.
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I did have some perlite at home, so I mixed it with the potting soil to make it even more airy and well-draining.

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Then I removed the plant from its pot. Which was quite a difficult job with the tiny pitchers attached to the leaves. But I managed to get it out without damaging the pithchers.
My original idea was to seperate the two small plants from the big ones, but I noticed that both shoots were directly attached to the stem of the mother plants. I was afraid to kill the plant when I would try to seperate the young ones from their mothers, so I kept a big and a small one together.

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Mission accomplished

After placing the two plants (which are actually four now) in their baskets I gave them some fresh water. Nepenthes (and other carnivorous plants) are very sensitive to minerals like lime (calcium) and salts, so I don't give them tap water. They grow on soils with almost no nutrients. That is the reason why they eat insects by the way!
I also gave them a good spray because they like humidity a lot!

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The pitchers

And then the thing that makes this plant so cool; their pitchers. Since this is my first Nephentes I didn't know if I would be able to keep it alive. It is a tropical plant and I keep it indoors in a not-so-very-humid environment. But I treat it wel by spraying it regularly.
And it seems to do very well. It looks lushful and green and it started growing back some pitchers. Now both plants have pitchers and there are even more underway!

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The pitcher contains an acicid liquid substance that attracts small insects. They fly or walk into the pitcher, fall into the acid and get digested by the plant. That is how they get their nutrients.
The pitchers are still very small, but they grow quite fast. Last year when I bought the plant it had two pitchers that were about 12-15 centimeters tall.

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Especially the one from the youngest shoot is very tiny. It is as small as my fingertip. And it is also still green. When they grow bigger they start to turn red.
You can see the biggest pitcher I have is aready turning red.

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Until now there are three pitchers on the plant, but I think there it will grow a couple more since some leaves have these brown things that can grow into pitchers.

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Let's see what the coming weeks bring. I'll try to keep my Nephentheses happy by spraying them and regularly giving it a spray.

Does anyone else have any carnivorous plants too?


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FriendlyMoose


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17 comments
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Ahh... it's Weepinbell! And it evolved! :D

That's a lovely gift you got from your family... ^^ And it's great that you've been taking good care of them. It must be tough since the weather and climate conditions aren't suitable for such a plant, but with effort, it could survive.

Great job! ^^

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Haha. It looks like it indeed.
I keep it indoors and in a window facing south, so it's nice and warm. I only have to water and spray it regularly.

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Yes... You have both Weepinbell and Victreebel (the evolved version). ^^

I haven't kept an indoor plant, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to constantly take care of it like you do. :) But it's refreshing to see them in the house. :D

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This is the first time I've seen such a plant man lol. It sure looks like a tropical plant. That's why it must be difficult to grow it at home, but constant spraying will definitely help. I couldn't find any reference to it in Turkish on the internet. Is it an insectivorous plant?

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Is it an insectivorous plant?

Yes it is. It lures insects using a combination of smell, color and nectar. The inside of the jars are slippery which makes the insects fall into the them.

More info:
https://www.monkeyjars.com/

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Thanks a lot man, I'll check this source out 👋

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What species does it belong too?

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It is a Nepenthes, which is also called a Monkey Jars. It is part of the family Nepenthaceae. They are also called tropical pitcher plants.

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Wow! The carnivorous plants are my favourite :) I have a big collection! It's a pleasure to read about your Nepenthes :)

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I love this tropical pitcher plant! My grandma used to have this at home when I was young, but sadly, when she died, nobody took care of the pitcher plant until it died. I love playing with this to the point that I was scolded badly by my grandmother because I picked all the cute pitchers when I played house with my friends. We used them as accessories for our pretend house. Sometimes, I put water in them as our pretend pitchers. Good thing the slimy substance inside prevented me from drinking the water, I found it awful. 😆 Since then, my grandma hung it in a higher location to protect it against us - this time, we were the pests bothering her plants lol 😂

When I left home to work and got back before she died, I had seen the plant once, but after she died, I have never seen the pitcher plant, even its pot. So it's kind of mischievous, but sad memories that I have about this beautiful plant.

Thank you for sharing @friendlymoose Memories flooded me, and it's kind of nostalgic, but it gave me a sweet feeling, recollecting the past when my granny was still alive. 💞

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Nice to read that my post brought back some nostalgic memories!

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