Pest-free Nepenthes...

Perry Malouf (pmalouf@access.digex.net)
Mon, 4 Nov 1996 10:20:53 -0500 (EST)

Hi Tom,

When I mentioned being sure my Nepenthes were not sick, and therefore
suitable to send to people, you asked:

> In terms of keeping your plants ok, please elaborate how you keep them that
> way....I want to put the plants outside in the summer so they get the
> most balanced light, etc.... BUT then every damn bug known to man
> decides to take up residence on the plants...The other alternative is
> to keep them under lights which keeps them bug free and alive, but they
> lack that great color.

I put my plants outside in the summer, and some bugs do hang out
around the plants--it's unavoidable. But, the plants never
become "infested". First, I don't put them under trees. Second,
I keep them well off the ground on a plastic stand-alone shelf
unit which makes it harder for crawling bugs (and slugs) to make
it up to the Nepenthes pots. I've seen spiderwebs on my
Nepenthes vines, and I leave them there. Spiders don't hurt
Nepenthes and are good at catching pests.

Then, as you mentioned, an occasional dose of a systemic insecticide
(Orthene) works. I usually do this before I bring the plants
in for the winter.

I'm surprised that you don't obtain good color in your plants when
you put them under lights. I put mine under fluorescents in the
winter, a mix of cool-white and grow-lux. My N. khasiana pitchers
achieve a pretty peach color blended with the green. And, my
N. maxima and N. williamsii have no trouble getting their purple
and maroon (respectively) mottling under these lights.

Perry Malouf