Everything to Know About Pitcher Plants

In the wild, pitcher plants often grow in wetlands; however, your plant can survive in your home with the proper care. Like the Venus flytrap, these plants are carnivorous, meaning their diet consists of insects. They catch their prey using their leaves called pitfall traps, which are vase-shaped, filled with nectar and digestive fluid. The insects drawn to the scent of the pitcher plant are trapped and digested by the plant's enzymes. 

Food

Pitcher plants are the easiest to feed among carnivorous plants. A single bug a month is enough to keep the plant thriving, but adding a few more bugs for the extra nutrients is recommended. Like all plants, pitcher plants produce their food through photosynthesis. They do not capture insects to survive but because they provide key nutrients to boost them. 

Pitcher plants have a similar diet to Venus flytraps. They can eat almost any alive or dead spider or insect, such as gnats, ants, rollie pollies, house flies, fruit flies, moths, worms, bees, grasshoppers, mosquitoes, etc. It is recommended not to provide your pitcher plant with slugs or caterpillars, at the risk of these insects eating their way out of the plant. 

Soil  

If you want to plant the pitcher outside, it is best to do it in spring after the ground has thawed. For outdoor pitchers, the soil should be a mix of organic material, sand, and peat moss. For indoor potting, you will need to fill your pot with a low-fertility mixture of peat moss with lime-free horticultural sand or perlite in a two-to-one ratio. Another alternative is using a pre-made carnivorous mix for potted pitcher plants. 

Since pitcher plants originate from wetlands, the soil must always be kept moist. 

Water

Despite what most plant enthusiasts say, you can't water your plants with just any type of water. If you live in an area with minerals in the tap water, the pitcher plants need to be watered with distilled water or rainwater. A build-up of minerals in the soil can kill your plant. 

Light and Climate 

Pitcher plants need to be planted in direct sunlight or kept near a window with access to full sun. They need a minimum of six hours of sun. If your pitcher is floppy or losing color, this is a sign that it's not getting enough sunlight. However, if it gets too much sunlight, the leaves will turn yellow or develop red streaks and need to be relocated. 

Since these plants originated from naturally humid and warm wetlands, it is no surprise that pitcher plants grow best in warm climates. For indoor pitchers, it is best to keep them in a room between 60-80 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Additional Information

The plant grows new pitchers throughout the summer; one plant can have as many as ten pitchers. While the pitchers only live about one or two years, the plant itself can last up to fifty years. As the months grow colder, the leaves and pitcher will turn brown. To save the plant so that it will come back the following spring, trim the leaves and pitchers down to the rosette. 

Since pitcher plants get their nutrients from the insects they capture, they don't usually require fertilizers, but if your pitcher is struggling to grow additional pitchers, add a few drops of diluted liquid fertilizer directly into the plant's pitcher.

Written by Carlie Renee