Ok so the lower leaves were dying and I took them off... I think I got too close to the main stem. Now the main stem is brown and its growing new growth off the side of it.. Did I ruin the main plant? if so what do I do? What do you guys recommend? Can I cut it off with a razor and plant it? will it root? the main plant is still growing new growth.

I don't think you ruined it, Matt. Welcome to ATP. I hope this helps.

From what I have read it seems that branching is a good thing.

http://www.carnivorousplants.o...

http://www.pitcherplant.com/ca...

There is a thread in the Tropical Plant Forum with users that are fairly knowledgeable about carnivorous plants.
The thread "Carnivorous plants" in Tropicals forum

mreaves311
I don't know anything about Nepenthes but your post made me remember an idea that had been posted here a while back. This won't help you now, but in the future if you need to make a difficult cut on a plant, check out this idea by @mcash70...
http://garden.org/ideas/view/m...

But I still wouldn't cut the branch off, leave it as it is, and hope for more. It looks pretty healthy to me except that one dead leaf. Just carefully cut that one off with a scissors, not a knife.

It looks like the leaves wrap around the stem, so you don't want to completely cut them off. They're meant to provide a protective covering for the stem - always think about "what happens to this plant in nature?" before you cut off anything. Out where these grow naturally, nobody cuts off the dead leaves, right? They eventually dry and drop or break off, but probably leave their 'wrapping' around the stem.

Hey there mreaves311

Side shoots are perfectly normal so don't stress over it. I would suggest leaving the leaves on the plant, particularly if there are old pitchers on the ends of the leaves as they continue to absorb nutrients for a long time after the pitcher/ leaf loses color.

That shoot is not even close to being big enough to cut and replant so leave it be for the time being.
Some Nepenthes don't take well from cuttings but it will depend on the species, I can't see what you have as there isn't enough detail in the images. The deep green (which may be from a lack of light) and the decurrent leaves narrows things down but from what I can see of the pitchers it is likely a hybrid.

Cheers, Troy

I just wait for the my nepenthes to drop any brown leaf, it does so eventually. Looking at your photo, it is the lower leaf anyways, so it is okay to remove but be very careful when you do so.. At least it is showing a side growth so that it indeed better, so it might be drawing energy from the older plant. I would just leave it alone for now, and allow both mother plant and side shoot to grow.

Welcome to ATP Troy, and thanks for good advice from both you and tarev and Elaine.

tarev said:I just wait for the my nepenthes to drop any brown leaf, it does so eventually. Looking at your photo, it is the lower leaf anyways, so it is okay to remove but be very careful when you do so.. At least it is showing a side growth so that it indeed better, so it might be drawing energy from the older plant. I would just leave it alone for now, and allow both mother plant and side shoot to grow.

thank you for the input

thank you for the time and info

Moonhowl said:I don't think you ruined it, Matt. Welcome to ATP. I hope this helps.

From what I have read it seems that branching is a good thing.

http://www.carnivorousplants.o...

http://www.pitcherplant.com/ca...

There is a thread in the Tropical Plant Forum with users that are fairly knowledgeable about carnivorous plants.
The thread "Carnivorous plants" in Tropicals forum

greene said: mreaves311
I don't know anything about Nepenthes but your post made me remember an idea that had been posted here a while back. This won't help you now, but in the future if you need to make a difficult cut on a plant, check out this idea by @mcash70...
http://garden.org/ideas/view/m...

I appreciate the time and info

thanks

Troy said:Hey there mreaves311

Side shoots are perfectly normal so don't stress over it. I would suggest leaving the leaves on the plant, particularly if there are old pitchers on the ends of the leaves as they continue to absorb nutrients for a long time after the pitcher/ leaf loses color.

That shoot is not even close to being big enough to cut and replant so leave it be for the time being.
Some Nepenthes don't take well from cuttings but it will depend on the species, I can't see what you have as there isn't enough detail in the images. The deep green (which may be from a lack of light) and the decurrent leaves narrows things down but from what I can see of the pitchers it is likely a hybrid.

Cheers, Troy

thank you

dyzzypyxxy said:But I still wouldn't cut the branch off, leave it as it is, and hope for more. It looks pretty healthy to me except that one dead leaf. Just carefully cut that one off with a scissors, not a knife.

It looks like the leaves wrap around the stem, so you don't want to completely cut them off. They're meant to provide a protective covering for the stem - always think about "what happens to this plant in nature?" before you cut off anything. Out where these grow naturally, nobody cuts off the dead leaves, right? They eventually dry and drop or break off, but probably leave their 'wrapping' around the stem.