The Ultimate Nepenthes Cutting Guide

This is an instructional video for people who want to learn how to take cuttings from their Nepenthes vines. We cover the whole process, from choosing a plant to cut, to manicuring your cuttings, to separating your rooted plants.
More tutorials and information at www.predatoryplants.com/Carniv....

[@Lisargarza]

Followed these easy steps about six months ago. My cuttings are now healthy juveniles about a foot and a half tall with four to five pitchers. Thanks!

[@cyndijackson7227]

This was an immensely helpful video. Wish all videos were like this, straight to the point showing every step of the process with explanations along the way. Excellent, thank you so much!

[@philiptdotcom9402]

I really love the fact that you include the several weeks/months/years examples in your videos! VERY NICE! Thanks! Aloha, -pt

[@Vidyut_Gore]

Every time you use that propane blowtorch, my mind screams "NOT NEAR THAT GORGEOUS PLANT!!!" Hard to get an idea of the angle from video, and I flinch. lol. Though clearly you've been doing this for a long time and they are your precious plant successes...

[@fishsnatcherstv6292]

this is the best nepenthes propagation guide i have ever seen. you guys are awesome!!

[@PredatoryPlants]

Great to hear!

[@philippe5518]

Thank you for the very clear instructions. I like to place my cuttings in clear soft drink bottles, (600ml/about 20 fluid ounces). Simply cut the top off the bottle, poke some drainage holes in the base, then use as a pot for your cuttings. The reason for using the plastic bottles instead of the usual pots is that you can see through the clear plastic of the bottle and see when your cuttings are making new roots. The roots being black show up really well against the light colored Sphagnum moss. Then you know you can re-pot the plant in it's own pot. (Smooth sided plastic bottles makes it easier to remove rooted cuttings than those with fancy patterns on them.)

[@christiesilva6918]

Thanks great tip!!! Haven.t thought of that

[@maddcatone]

that wood ystem piece actually works for another type of rooting method. Bury it below 1/2 cm of peat moss and long fiber sphagnum mix cover and provide full sun (the goal is high heat and humidity). It takes longer than usual cuttings but if you want a jeuvenile plant/s (same size as seedlings) this is the best route. I use them often to fill out terrariums and glass jars without them growing too large too fast. I also have had great luck with just tossing them in a plastic bag with wet perlite in low light as well for about a month. I have filled my house by rooting every piece I've cut off my nepenthes.

[@akiraclemmons6013]

maddcatone interesting

[@gregbey9237]

Very interesting

[@sidd123patel5]

The hard part would be even snipping off those pitchers 🥴😣. Great video 👌👌

[@brad823]

Very thorough, nicely done. Great job!

[@chanimarie6753]

Best cutting video I've seen on YT yet. Thanks for this!

[@Paigeekinns]

Wow i learned so many new things from this video and can't wait to use these tricks on my pitcher plant!

[@ToddIsler1]

Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

[@NicoleWijngaarden]

Very Helpful, filled me with confidence and I took the plunge. Thank you.

[@rosannamandeville4581]

Great tutorial. Thank you. I will do cuttings like you showed

[@marjorielewis645]

Your teaching is excellent.

[@TheDumasRoom]

Incredibly helpful. Thank you

[@TheCharliebazz]

Very thorough with lots of great info in a simple and easy to understand format. Yes!

[@thomasmilburn199]

Thank you again for the videos! Learned so much.

[@christinesiragusa-bocskay5260]

Thank you! Can't wait to try. And sterilization method is a keeper.

[@gregl1547]

Very informative! Your videos rock.

[@RiversideCarnivores]

Another great video. Thanks for sharing!

[@esthersato5610]

Excellent explanation. Thank you!!

[@hefnhef1]

Thanks for this. Learned a lot.

[@seanupton3170]

I'll be doing this soon, thanks for another great video :)

[@ProximaCentauri88]

Thanks a lot! I just received my first nepenthes (Nepenthes graciliflora). Subbed for more tips! Mabuhay from the Philippines! 🇵🇭

[@carolynnmeyers4195]

Great video! Thank you for sharing.

[@robertarthur3532]

great video much appreciate for your efforts guys!

[@sarahmeed5227]

Really helpful video. Thanks mate.

[@nyccookie9070]

Omg thank you 😊 Excellent video!💯

[@rosakoko5049]

Thank you!!! Very good video!!!

[@MacadoodleDoodah]

Very informative thank you!

[@halos225]

great informative video

[@bigbowlowrong4694]

I literally just cut them and stick them into sphagnum. No special precautions, always works fine😆

[@MTS0815]

Thanks for this!

[@aaronlincoln4836]

great video! thanks!

[@herkusr01]

this is great! thanks guys

[@amandabiggers4384]

Ive been avoiding propagating my only Nepenthes (they don't grow abundantly in the Arizona desert after all...) because I wasn't sure why or when my propagation methods worked, only that they mostly did lol but your video was super enlightening! Thank you for the quality information! I want more Nepenthes and now I'm finally going to try!

[@vynotix5087]

I live in Tucson and my pitcher accidentally got sunburn

[@EarthsGeomancer]

This is probably my 5th viewing. So helpful!

[@aztecworrior79]

Awesome Review bro!.

[@greenworld5609]

They look great

[@alexparris7769]

I make use of the woody stems as well for a more juvenile clone. The green stems will yield vigorous mature plants yet the stems will take longer and create more primordial pitchers and leaves. Its great if you want a create smaller more compact specimens that will take time before outgrowing the space you have available. It takes a while but if laid on their side with .5-1 cm of milled sphagnum mixed with peat and a little perlite covering it you can Sometimes get multiple growth tips to form from one woody stem.

[@JulianAquatics]

thank you for sharing.

[@herkusr01]

Great vid!! Thanks!

[@CDavis-lk7sc]

Super helpful!

[@susanharrison3967]

Great video Sue UK

[@Alishadr25]

thank you so much, I learned a lot. :)

[@pootinplays]

thank you for this video. I have a nep that is starting to vine like crazy and its branching out into the hallway.

[@DeeDust]

If you're still looking for ideas for videos, maybe do one on winter dormancy? I know it's early, but I'm a beginner at growing plants and would appreciate more knowledge. Thanks for these videos though, they're really informative.

[@PredatoryPlants]

We plan to do many more videos, so keep an eye out! Dormancy is an important topic, hopefully we'll be able to address that this next winter.

[@cthulhurising]

Thanks so much for this video I recently got a handful of nepenthes and some were getting really leggy on that main vine.

[@Expeditionwildside]

nice video!

[@wimhelsen7248]

verry helpfull thx

[@jhapvillasica6731]

wow! just wow!,

[@parrotbill9072]

Does the Spagnum ever start growing over time? The reason I ask is that many dried moss will start growing after a while and green Spagnum looks really good below the plants.

[@thestaubmob6877]

7:00 alleviated my pruning apprehension

[@lukep2601]

When the growth points on the cuttings start sending out new leaves, does it "restart" with new lower pitchers or does it keep growing mid/upper pitchers? I'm especially curious about the very last tip cutting, since it seems you'd have upper pitchers growing straight from the base (which might be confusing for identification?). Wonderful and educational video btw!

[@PredatoryPlants]

Good question. Growth tip cuttings usually continue to produce intermediate/upper pitchers in my experience. Even re-activated nodes will often immediately start to "vine" rather than produce a new basal rosette. If we really want lower pitchers, we often have to wait for the cutting to produce a new basal after it has fully established itself as a vine.

[@veenzgal3041]

Thank you for this step by step guide. Loved the explanation as you were going through the process. I have a question. I cannot see nodes on the smaller leaves on the top but see them on the lower and thicker stems. Is that normal?

[@gaby2276]

thanks

[@Alypinkflower]

Awesome

[@wendysmith-Florida]

great video. this is totally different than another tutorial I saw ... I took cuttings and instead of putting them in moss, put them in water - amazing growth but I don't see roots after two months. Maybe I should transfer them to moss?

[@PredatoryPlants]

The main reason we do our cuttings in moss is that we can leave them there for a long time, since they're basically already planted up. Sometimes it takes a very long time (6+ months) for cuttings to strike, so don't give up hope. If you'd like you can transfer them to moss, but it still might be a wait. Also, sometimes cuttings just fail. Don't be discouraged though, that's why you always leave a basal in place!

[@Theimpromptulife]

Very good Video, can you re use the moss?

[@leoniekervin9356]

Thanks for the info, great clip. Which season is best to propagate them? I'm in Australia. I have a few large and small varieties. :-)

[@HenryLei]

nice... I can use this video to help me doing leave cutting for my neps. thanks.

[@washyourhands2359]

Henry Lei you have pitcher plants? They Are my favourite plants by far but I live in europe... (So jealous)

[@alibabatheunderwrar7346]

Michal Mikulec go to online store or his website, you can also go to a special garden store that sell all sort of plants they are really cheap.

[@samg.1404]

I live in europe too and I have a bunch of pitcher plants... If you still want one after a year, I could send you one.

[@christophergruber1925]

If you do a cutting from an upper plant like in the video, the new groth cuttings will also be uppers right? Is it possible to get lowers from an upper cutting plant?

[@grissanchez2571]

I am in the step where my cuttings created roots and may be ready for their individual pots. After I pot them, do I have to keep them in a bag for humidity? Or can I start adapting it to their new spot?

[@julioagrella]

I've gotten the 1st part right. Almost time to pot them individually. Do they need to be in moss the second time round or can I use a nepenthes mix (bark, moss and perlite)?

[@yayukanakamalin4726]

Bagus sekali

[@water5]

Yayuk Ana Kamalin betul3

[@donnabonacic320]

How would you revive a plant. Mines has been growing well for about three years and has tripled in size,but this last little temperature drop has hurt it. I realize from your video that I transplanted it into the wrong media two years ago but that didn’t seem to hurt it. I’ve kept it moist, but again it survived the last three winters outside. We don’t get hardly any frost and only a few days of below 40 degrees, but this last week before spring, no frost but in the 30’s, seemed to hurt it and I want it to thrive again. How do I help my plant please? Thank you in advance.

[@GEC1996]

Can these be done in a bubble cloner or crack key method?

[@dlubbers4499]

really nice video can u tell me when you should transplant a small nepenthes bloody mary because it sits in a 8 cm pot but al its leafs hang over the plant but the pot is really small

[@PredatoryPlants]

We have a couple Nepenthes in very old (5+ year old) soil, generally we like to repot them every year or two. They tend to grow much happier in fresh soil. Also if the plant has gotten very big sometimes the moss can't hold enough water and it dries up too frequently. That's a good time to repot into a larger pot that can hold more moss.

[@Vidyut_Gore]

what do you do with the discarded sphagnum? Most of it still seems good. Do you reuse it? Compost it? Any specific process? A large nursery like yours will probably have a lot of sphagnum from such repotting.

[@MajorMatatheTurtleNerd]

Good question, I am curious as well.

[@duncanpage1556]

Hello. Will your Mother Nep start a new vine and flower once you make your cuttings. Thanks

[@m6th6r6]

Can you take a basal cutting off of the parent plant? if so, can I propagate it the same?

[@budgetwebsiteservice]

Hi, I have a very small Nepenthes which currently has 5 pitchers that I recently bought from a garden centre which I would like to plant high up in a cork bark log that is positioned horizontally in a tropical paludarium. At the moment it's in the original pot that I bought it in planted in soil, is it okay to just remove the soil it's currently in and wrap it in spagnum moss to plant it in the cork bark like you have with these cuttings and as I do with my Bromeliads??

[@daviddowell7729]

I have a napenthis about 6” tall but already has two LARGE shoots. Both with quarter sized and dime sized pitchers. Should I follow the same guidelines?

[@christiesilva6918]

Sorry for my ignorance, how do i know which one is the vine in my nepenthes, thank you

[@barbm2375]

Excellent video. I watched one of your earlier videos to help me pot up my new N. alata that just arrived today. Do you sell/ship to Canada? TFS

[@PredatoryPlants]

We don't currently ship to Canada, sorry! Glad this video was helpful to you though.

[@chrisschaefer5523]

So I started some cutting and put them in spagnum moss. But the spagnum keeps getting mold. How can I get rid of the mold and keep it from coming back

[@prsprivate1543]

Question, once we have prepared everything how do we care for our pots with the newly planted cuttings? Where do we place them? Do they need some sunlight?

[@onetwocue]

I would treat the cuttings like you would any cutting. Warmth, good humidity, bright light and airflow. Don't let the spagh become soaking wet or dry. Don't bother the cutting. Like checking it once a week hoping for growth. My expirence is within two months with no disturbance, you know when you'll be successful. Cause you get basil growth. If no growth, and things are dying and browning, yup total fail.

[@seiyuokamihimura5082]

Send me luck. Have one 15, 20 feet long. Needs repotted, but not possible to repot it as is. Need to chop it before I repot it. Going to try to propagate some, and sell some.

[@trhippy4442]

Hi ive had my nepenthes for a year and it keeps throwing out a couple of new cups every couple of months so i thought it was healthy BUT I never got a vine! Will I get one soon? I want cuttings 😢

[@chapnacksfry4408]

Okay so surely the single act of adding a flame to sterilize your cutters is as short as allowing the flame to cover the length of the blame just momentarily as the effect would be easily visible as if you were to hold that flame to your own hand for a tenth of a second, and to then cool the blade right after making them sterile by placing them into a microbial rich enviroment which is water makes me wonder right now to the point of what your trying to teach and I'm just here cause I'm drunk and I bought one these plants and didn't realise it grows into a 2 meter monster, I can't wait to see what happens to it, probably with my skills which are questionable I will inadvertently cause its death cause what the freak of a plant this is I cant believe I have one I am so excited!! GL HF

[@Andenes]

How often do you water these?

[@philiptdotcom9402]

What do you mean by "less-than-perfect strikes"? Aloha, -pt

[@shanedickson751]

Hey so I tried propagating mine the same way you did but through lack of rooting I inspected the mother plant and noticed there are no nodes. Its large enough but I'm confused on why it has no nodes. Help please!

[@gracedempsey3115]

I have no nodes either - did you ever get a cutting ?

[@stektirade]

When you take the cuttings does the donor plant keep growing from the top or is it just done?

[@agnaeoh6992]

I don't know if it happens every time, and i don't want to spread misinformation, but i took a cutting from my plant about a year ago. I cut about an inch above a leaf. So the node that was right above the leaf was able to activate and grow a new schute. A year later and I am taking a new cutting from that vine because it already grew like 3 feet!

[@thatperson0013]

My Nepenthes never grew such vines. It's starting to sprout new plants at the beginning of the stem. Can i cut those as well? It's already forming pitchers. The bigger plant is doing great also. It would be awesome to multiply this plant. Any tips?

[@PredatoryPlants]

Please take a look at our video about harvesting Nepenthes basals: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYjVhK19eNiAi7M Hopefully that helps.

[@elgranespejo]

i've noticed that some people placed cutting directly into distilled water, and i did that with a cutting of ventriculata, is that alright? should i move it into LFS?

[@PredatoryPlants]

Lots of people use pure water to strike their cuttings and that can be fine. Part of the reason we use LFS is so that if we get busy in the greenhouse and don't have time to deal with the cuttings they can continue to grow in the LFS just fine, whereas if they were in water we'd have to be much more attentive. It's up to your growing style which one you prefer.

[@paulguerrero2354]

Will pitchers with lower pitcher morphology ever grow from these cuttings?

[@h20water22]

Can I do this for Venus fly trap leaf?

[@samuelxu267]

no, try searching up one specificly for vfts , venus flytraps don't even produve vines

[@philiptdotcom9402]

Thanks for this helpful video! Comment(/question): "I've heard" that using a razor blade provides a cleaner cut & doesn't crush the cambium cells as much as scissors, and may result in better results. Comments/thoughts/experiences...? Aloha, -pt

[@garcias2039]

Eh, I've used cutters before, it's nothing different, from what I've seen atleast.

[@WetAdek]

How long do you microwave the sphagnum and at what power?

[@rockingredpoppy9119]

what! 😮

[@WordupknowJesus7]

I heard a Doctor talking about how the American Indians had used this plant for some medicinal uses. Where would they have found this in nature and what would most likely would have been the varieties? What part did they use if you know. Thanks!!

[@KD-mu6qf]

Would this work with potting mix? Specifically Foxfarm Ocean?

[@bigbowlowrong4694]

No, pure sphagnum or peat moss only

[@farmert9679]

Is the moss you are using soaked and let to dry a bit or just dry?

[@PredatoryPlants]

Always use fully hydrated moss when planting Nepenthes.

[@dawncastro792]

How and where do I cut off dead pitchers so I don’t harm any future growth?

[@tanchewleong2078]

Where and how much is the scissors ? What’s the actual description of this “snip”? Thanks

[@PredatoryPlants]

Fiskars comfort grip floral snips. Pretty sure this particular style is no longer produced, though.

[@singing4hope]

I’m afraid to propagate it but during lockdown I have no one but myself to do it. My pitcher plant has outgrown its nursery pot. Too many leaves and pitchers!

[@AffinityPhoto]

Curious why 3-node sections if only looking to strike the lowest growth point? Can’t I pot up each cutting as one node and one cut leaf?

[@PredatoryPlants]

The cuttings need enough stored energy (sugar) to produce new roots and a growth-tip before they dehydrate or die. Large plants like Philodendron can be cut into single-node pieces because their stems can hold a lot more sugar/water.

[@AffinityPhoto]

@@PredatoryPlants that makes sense, so why do you clip off the upper vine in the video. I think you said "no growth nodes above this spot so let's cut it off". Should I cut that part off?

[@micahlantz905]

Do these plants live all their life in long fiber sphagnum moss? Or do they ever get planted in dirt?

[@rockingredpoppy9119]

Never planted in dirt or soil unless you just want foliage but no pitchers.

[@alessioragghianti5997]

Who much water in the saucer?