Content
- Is it necessary to feed a pitcher plant?
- Feed pitcher plants when insects are missing?
- Feeding pitcher plants with meat
- How to fertilize the pitcher plant
- Tips
If the pitcher plant is hanging outdoors, feeding is superfluous
Is it necessary to feed a pitcher plant?
The pitcher plant (Nepenthes) is a carnivorous plant. It is therefore often treated as a natural insecticide in the house. However, you do not necessarily have to feed pitcher plants. If there are no insects, the plant feeds itself on substrate and leaves.
Feed pitcher plants when insects are missing?
In the wild, the Nepenthes have enough insects to ensure the supply of nutrients. The prey is lured by fragrances in the eye-catching pitchers and remains trapped there. It is digested by the digestive fluid that forms in the pot.
If pitcher plants are pulled in the home, there is often a lack of sufficient insects, especially if the household is very clean and the windows are covered with fly screens.
Feeding pitcher plants with meat
Of course, you can give killed mosquitoes or flies calmly in the jugs, but this is not absolutely necessary. The pitcher plant, like all plants, gets their nutrients through the leaves. Insects are just an extra treat.
If possible, feed live insects. You should never feed more than one or two copies at a time. The insects must be able to swim in the digestive juice.
Please note that there must be liquid in the cans. It is not about water, but about the digestive secretions. If this was accidentally spilled, the pitcher plant can not digest insects. The pitchers then die quickly.
How to fertilize the pitcher plant
Pitcher plants need less nutrients than most gardeners think. They are pulled out of the plant substrate or taken up in the air. Fertilization is therefore basically not necessary if you regularly repot the Nepenthes.
If you do not want to give up fertilizer completely, you have to be economical, because too many nutrients are not good for the Nepenthes.
As a fertilizer for Nepenthes Orchid fertilizer is suitable. Some gardeners swear by long-term fertilizer, which is put into the cans in the form of pearls. However, this form of fertilization is controversial among experts.
Tips
If you want to feed your pitcher plant with trapped insects, remember that the digestive process can cause unpleasant odors. In the worst case, it smells like the Nepenthes on a toilet not cleaned.