Pitcher Plant Pitchers Turning Brown (8 Main Causes & Solutions)

Pitcher plant pitchers turning brown is a top concern for many gardeners

Having pitcher plant pitchers turning brown is disheartening because their vibrant colors lighten the garden and lift your moods. Watching these insectivorous plants trap insects and digest them for nutrition is entertaining, and this easily becomes a favorite pastime for many homeowners.

However, these plants are somewhat fragile, and to thrive, they require certain environmental and tending conditions. This article will guide you on ways to keep your pitcher plant safe and healthy and give you tips to help prevent pitcher plant pitchers from turning brown. We will discuss them in detail to help you identify and address the problem.

Why Are Your Pitcher Plant Pitchers Turning Brown?

Your pitcher plant pitchers may be turning brown for several reasons. If they are old, this may be a natural process of death to give way to new pitchers. However, brown pitchers may also reflect wrong environmental conditions such as extreme exposure to light, insufficient water, or wrong temperatures.

Let’s talk about these conditions in detail:

1. Natural Death

Your pitcher plant can only provide adequate nutrients to sustain several pitchers. And so, with time, it has to let go of all pitchers to make room for newer growth. This is a natural phenomenon, and you should not worry if this is the case.

Usually, the upper part of the aging pitcher begins to get brown while still digesting insects within it. This will provide nutrients for the new pitchers before they can begin to trap flies for themselves. However, with time, the older pitchers become all brown. This shows that they are dead, and you can now cut them off the plant.

2. Insufficient Water

Another common reason that accounts for pitcher plant pitchers turning brown is low humidity. Pitcher plants are fragile and require the right amounts of water to thrive.

These plants require more water in dry environments, and frequent water showers will be helpful. However, you must be careful not to flood the soil as this also damages the pitcher plant.

It is easy to check the water levels of the soil using your fingers. Dip your fingers two inches into the soil; if it feels dry, your pitcher plant is dehydrated, and you can lightly water it. On very hot days, you can feed the pitcher plant with water until it begins to flow down the drain. This helps it to keep cool and healthy.

3. Warm Temperature

To thrive, your pitcher plant needs high humidity levels, which require even more in hot climates. This is because the pitcher plant uses more water to keep cool in warm climates or hot days.

It may be tricky to control humidity if your pitcher plant is outdoors unless you have a controlled greenhouse environment. Nevertheless, this is a solvable problem, and you can use certain tricks to keep the water supply to your pitcher plant at optimal levels and prevent the pitcher from turning brown.

Exposure to extreme sunlight kills the pitcher plant on causes the pitcher to turn brown. The optimal temperature for growing pitcher plants ranges from 65-90F, and some will thrive at up to 100F if there is sufficient humidity.

It is best to stick with the lower ranges of exposure to sunlight and always watch out for the first signs of browning pitchers or dying leaves.

4. Application of Fertilizers

A fun fact is that pitcher plants do not need artificial fertilizers to thrive. So you may wonder why these fantastic plants trap and digest insects within their pitchers. Here is a simple explanation: pitcher plants require nitrogen and other nutrients that are abundant in these insects.

Hence by digesting and absorbing these nutrients from the insects, they manufacture natural fertilizers that suffice for their optimal growth.

So, they do not like fertilizers and may get sick when you try to feed them with artificial fertilizers. You can feed them with insects and other bugs that supply them with nitrogen and watch them thrive.

5. Soil Type

The soil must be well-draining to avoid high water retention, which will cause flooding of the pitcher plant roots and ultimately lead to the pitcher plant pitchers turning brown. However, most pitcher plant species love sphagnum moss or peat, and you will make your pitcher happy with any of these soil types.

Tropical pitcher plants will thrive well in humus soil and do not require high capillary water, while pitcher plants native to temperate regions require more water-retaining soil to thrive. Be sure to also carry out tests on your soil for fungal spores, as they can infect and damage pitcher plants.

6. Lack of Nutrients

Pitcher plants trap and digest insects and other tiny organisms to gain necessary nutrients. If these plants don’t get enough nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, their pitchers will begin to turn brown. Usually, this happens when the plant begins to digest its tissues to get nutrients. 

To prevent this problem in your pitcher plant, place them in environments where they can get enough prey to feed on. Also, consider providing them with moderate amounts of fertilizer. 

7. Pest and Diseases

Pests such as aphids and mealybugs can feed on the sap of pitcher plants, causing the pitchers to turn brown. If the infestation is severe, the plants may turn yellow and become weak. Fungal diseases, including Fusarium wilt and Botrytis blight, are also common causes of browning in pitcher plants. 

They can also cause drooping and decay in the plants. Poor ventilation and high humidity create the perfect environment for these diseases to attack pitcher plants. Regularly check for pests and signs of disease in your plants. If you notice any, don’t hesitate to get rid of them using pesticides or insecticides. 

8. Poor Water Quality

Due to their sensitive nature, pitcher plants are selective about the water you provide for them. Generally, these plants do well in acidic environments. If they come into contact with alkaline water, there will be a disruption in their growth. 

As a result, the pitcher plant may have difficulty absorbing nutrients, which can cause its pitchers to turn brown. Rainwater and distilled water are the preferred water sources for the pitcher plants. 

Fun Fact: To a novice, all pitcher plants are the same, but this is far from true. There are over a hundred varieties of pitcher plants, each with quirks. Understanding the nature of your pitcher plant will help you take better care of it and extend its lifespan.

5 Most Common Pitcher Plants

Although there are several pitcher plant varieties, these five are the most common garden pitcher plants that we have:

1. Yellow Pitcher Plant

This is sunny and vibrant. It has a catchy yellow color in the full sun and is native to Florida.

2. Nepenthes alata

This pitcher plant has green hanging pitchers that have unique red speckles. It is a native of the Philippines but can adapt to most climates.

3. Northern Pitcher Plant

This pitcher plant is dark red and may appear purplish. It grows throughout Canada, and North America, requires minimal care when in the garden, and adapts well to a wide range of climates.

4. California Pitcher Plant

This is beautiful to behold, and its pitchers look like a cobra’s head, complete with a forked tongue hanging end of its peristome. This pitcher plant is native to Oregon and California and has a fitting nickname as the “Cobra Lily.”

5. Parrot Pitcher

This gets its name from the beak-like appearance of its pitcher and grows around the Mississippi region.

Each pitcher plant has a unique look; it is easy to tell what pitcher plant variety you have in your garden.

What to Do to Pitcher Plant Pitchers Turning Brown

Here are some helpful tips that will revive dying or sick pitcher plants and restore their healthy look:

• For indoor pitcher plants, you can control the humidity by using a humidifier to help keep the plant moist without flooding. It is trickier to control humidity for outdoor pitcher plants, but you can routinely mist the plant on sunny or hot days.
• Pitcher plants love rain or distilled water. Avoid using water that contains chemicals to hydrate the pitcher plant, as this may be toxic and harmful to your plant.
• Trim off brown pitchers to help optimize the utilization of nutrients by the healthy and younger pitchers.
• Relocate the sick or dying pitcher plant to a more conducive environment with the right amounts of sunlight, humidity, and moisture. It will also help to provide insects and adequate nutrition to the pitcher plants.
• Avoid touching the pitchers. The pitchers are sensitive, and intruding in their space causes them stress and might make them sick.

Summary

Pitcher plants are pretty fragile and have specific environmental needs to thrive. These needs revolve around optimal environmental conditions such as sunlight, humidity, temperature, soil type, and moisture.

However, as seen above, brown pitcher plant pitchers do not always signify impending danger; your pitcher plant will always thrive with the right grooming.

Learn more from a different post: Underwatered String of Pearls

Conclusion

The first step to helping pitcher plant pitchers turning brown is finding out what is wrong. This will help you to act promptly and will help to prevent such from occurring in the future. A gardener’s pride is a thriving garden; this is a possible fit with the right tips.

Frequently Asked Questions

Pitcher plant parents also ask some of the following questions: