Pitcher Plants and Carnivorous Plants

How to choose a pitcher plant

Nepenthes are the tropical pitcher plants, scrambling or trailing plants from South East Asia whose pitchers dangle below the foliage. They suit hanging baskets indoors, in a bright bathroom or on a sheltered patio. The Pitcher Plant sold as Nepenthes alata is a long standing favourite with slender green pitchers that often flush red. The Miranda Pitcher Plant and the Bloody Mary Pitcher Plant are named hybrids, and hybrids are generally more forgiving of household conditions than pure species.

Sarracenia are the trumpet pitchers: upright tubes rising from a clump at ground level, grown outdoors in full sun. The Scarlet Belle Pitcher Plant and the Velvet Pitcher Plant are both hybrids of this group. They are the better choice for temperate gardens, as they tolerate cold and need a winter rest.

Where pitcher plants grow

Nepenthes want warmth, humidity and bright, filtered light: near an east facing window, in a shade house, or under a covered patio in the subtropics and tropics. Protect them from cold nights, frost, hot direct sun and dry air from heaters and air conditioners. In cooler parts of Australia treat them as indoor plants.

Sarracenia want the reverse: at least six hours of direct sun, outdoors, all year. They grow well in pots across temperate and subtropical Australia and take frost in their stride. They rarely do well as permanent indoor plants. For other plants to keep inside, see our house and indoor plants and plants for pots.

Planting and spacing

Never plant a pitcher plant into garden soil or ordinary potting mix. The fertiliser and minerals in these burn the roots. Nepenthes are grown in an open, airy mix such as sphagnum moss with perlite or fine orchid bark. Sarracenia are grown in peat moss blended with washed sand or perlite, with no fertiliser added. Use plastic or glazed pots, one plant to a pot, and repot only when the plant has clearly outgrown its container, in spring.

Care basics

Water is where most pitcher plants are lost. Use rainwater or distilled water, as the salts in many tap supplies build up and harm the roots. Stand Sarracenia pots in a saucer holding a couple of centimetres of rainwater through the growing season so the mix never dries. Keep Nepenthes evenly moist but freely drained, and mist or group plants to lift humidity.

Do not put fertiliser in the soil, and do not feed the pitchers meat. Outdoors the plants catch all they need, and indoors the odd insect is plenty. Sarracenia go dormant in winter: the pitchers brown off and growth stops. This is normal. Trim the dead pitchers in late winter, keep the pot damp and new growth will rise in spring. On Nepenthes, cut off pitchers and leaves only once they have fully browned.

Common questions

Can I use tap water on pitcher plants?

It is safer not to. Rainwater or distilled water is recommended, because dissolved minerals in tap water accumulate in the mix over time.

Do I need to feed a pitcher plant insects?

No. A healthy plant catches its own, and it also makes energy from light like any other plant. Never add fertiliser to the potting mix.

Why has my pitcher plant stopped making pitchers?

On Nepenthes the usual causes are low humidity, low light or cold. On Sarracenia it is usually too little sun, or simply winter dormancy.

Can pitcher plants live indoors?

Nepenthes can, in bright filtered light with good humidity. Sarracenia are outdoor plants that need full sun and a cold winter rest.