It’s Nepenthes time, spring is always a great time to get into Nepenthes, they are growing and forming new pitchers and looking fabulous. Nepenthes are tropical pitcher plants, sometimes referred to as monkey cups. Modified leaves form into these beautiful pitcherswhich contain liquid that digests unfortunate insents that fall in. The plants grow in nutrient deficient soils and the insects provide missing nutrients. There are lots of varieties of Nepenthes from a variety of climates and even more hybrids. As a general rule they like plenty of bright diffused light, free draining medium and to be kept moist, water daily in summer and every other day in winter. The plants we grow are intermediate varieties that will adapt to various conditions. We grow all our stock plants outside here in KZN. We do benefit from some warmth and humidity but in cooler areas many people have great success growing Nepenthes inside their homes or in a tunnel or greenhouse. They are beautiful, fascinating, rewarding plants and well worth trying out.