The
Lunar New Year is around the corner and many households will soon
go on a plant shopping spree to pick and purchase lucky plants
to enhance the festive mood at home. Because we are heralding
the Year of the Golden Boar, you may want to use the pitcher plant
as a festive plant this year. The Chinese refer to the pitcher
plant as " Insectivorous by nature, these plants are better known as "tropical pitcher plants". All tropical pitcher plants belong to the one single genus Nepenthes in the Nepenthaceae family. Tropical pitcher plants are native to Southern China and Southeast Asia. Although they are termed as "tropical", their habitats are very diverse and there are highland species that require cool temperatures to grow well. The appearance of the pitchers varies and they can range from stout and globose to a long and tubular shape. The colour of the pitchers can be purely green or red or have specks or streaks that are red or green, respectively. As the vine grows longer, the shape of the pitcher evolves and there is a distinction made according to basal, intermediate and aerial pitchers, which depends on the distance a pitcher occurs from ground level. Something interesting about tropical pitcher plants is that the two sexes occur on separate plants. That means, a plant in your garden can either be a boy or girl! One
is encouraged to buy pitcher plants from commercial nurseries.
Please refrain from buying wild collected plants for conservation
reasons. Many tropical pitcher plant species are considered threatened
or endangered plants. Tissue culture is now employed to propagate
large number of plants for sale to hobbyists so as to reduce the
collection of plants from their natural habitats. It is not difficult
to recognise recently harvested wild plants as they will usually
appear limp and dry. The shock experienced from the uprooting
process and drastic change in growing conditions make it challenging
for the novice to re-establish them. Eventually, these wild collected
plants will die and if the poaching of these plants was to continue,
there will no longer be any pitcher plants for our future generations
to look at when they go on field trips. On the same note, never
attempt to steal a pitcher plant from your neighbour just for
the sake of getting a free plant. The act is sinful and it would
be inauspicious for the Lunar New Year if the pitchers were to
dry up or when the plant dies soon under your care.
At present, the tropical pitcher plants retailed locally are lowland pitcher plants that can do well in Singapore's climate. These plants are available at very affordable prices and hence you do not need to go to the wilderness to search for them! The lowland species include the Nepenthes rafflesiana, a plant with stout ellipsoidal basal pitchers named after Sir Stamford Raffles. A hybrid, N. 'Ventrata', which is a cross between N. ventricosa and N. alata, has tubular basal pitchers. Another hybrid that was spotted in a couple of nurseries is N. 'Miranda' ((N. maxima × N. northiana) × N. maxima). It has cylindrical, green pitchers with red streaks. For a wider range of plants to select from, consider the option of ordering plantlets produced by tissue culture from reputable overseas nurseries. Nepenthes ampullaria 'Cantley's Red' and 'William's Red' are two costly cultivars available from Borneo Exotics that have an auspicious red colour on the pitchers. A more affordable cultivar is N. ampullaria 'Brunei Red' which can be ordered from the same nursery. A pity that it is not available locally now but it would surely be selling like hotcakes if it is. Last but not least, the tropical pitcher plant has uses in folk medicine. In Malaysia, the boiled roots of N. ampullaria are applied as a poultice on the stomach to alleviate stomachache and treat dysentery. A decoction of the aerial parts of the same plant is taken for fever. Fluid from unopened pitchers of N. boschiana is also used in Indonesia to reduce inflammation of the eyes. For more information on the growing of tropical pitcher plants, check out the Green Culture Singapore discussion forum. Registration is free and you can get to know more likeminded friends who can help you kick start your hobby. Tropical pitcher plants can be very addictive!
HOW TO CHOOSE Plants should have a healthy appearance where the leaves are of a shiny green, firm to touch and pest-free. The pitchers should be intact and be partially filled with fluid and not shrivelled. Next, check that the growing medium has no fertiliser as slow release pellets can sometimes be found at the base of the plant. If fertiliser is present, plant is likely not to produce any pitcher later on.
BASIC CULTURE INSTRUCTIONS Light Tropical pitcher plants grow best in a location where it can receive filtered sunlight to full sunlight for at least 6 hours daily, depending on the species. In the apartment, the best location to situate a plant is at the parapet of the balcony or on a windowsill that receive good light. It may be necessary to put up a shade-cloth if your plant receives excessive direct sunlight. Tropical pitcher plants can be grown indoors using artificial lighting with an intensity of at least 100 footcandles, switched on for about 12 hours daily. Growing Medium As for the growing medium, pitcher plants prefer one that is well drained but still able to retain moisture. You can grow your plants in an 1:1 perlite and long fibre sphagnum moss mixture. Other media used include cocochips, peat moss, pine bark chips, charcoal, fern bark. It is best not to fertilise your plants at all, although some growers do drop small fish feed pellets or small insects into the pitchers of established plants. Humidity & Air Circulation Relatively high atmospheric humidity is essential for proper pitcher formation. Plants can be gradually adapted to lower humidity. Good air circulation is essential but do not locate your newly potted up plantlet in an overly windy spot as it may dessicate. Propagation Plants are most easily propagated by stem cuttings. Stem cuttings with two to three nodes can be taken and the leaves should be trimmed to half their original size. A small portion of the "bark" from the cut end can be stripped and the cutting can be placed in a pot of moist sphagnum moss. The whole pot should be enclosed inside a plastic bag to maintain high humidity. The cutting should then be placed in a location where it can receive filtered light. It should strike within 1 to 2 months.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Perry, L.M. 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia: Attributed Properties and Uses. Cambridge: MIT Press. Pietropaolo, J., Pietropaolo, P. 1986. Carnivorous Plants of the World. Oregon: Timber Press.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Green Culture Singapore would like to thank Cindy Chiang for sharing with us the pictures of pitcher plants and for reviewing this article.
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",
which literally translates into "pig cage plant". This name is
derived from the resemblance of the shape of the pitchers that
occur at the tip of each leaf to the bamboo cages used to transport
pigs in the olden days. As with many Lunar New Year plants, what
makes a plant popular during the festive season would very much
depend on whether it has any auspicious symbolic meanings associated
with it. In the case of the pitcher plant, with a little bit of
creativity, one can imagine that the pitchers attract and accumulate
all the good luck and fortune that the Year of the Golden Boar
brings. The more pitchers a plant has, the more luck and fortune
you are likely to accumulate! 
