Pruning
The vine-forming habit of most Nepenthes species necessitates regular pruning if the plants are to be kept in good form. Pruning can be performed year-round in tropical areas, or in spring when the plants have resumed active growth. Generally, most or all of the long climbing stems can be trimmed back; this will encourage the development of new robust basal shoots and stimulate the formation of lower pitchers. It is important not to remove all the leaves, as there needs to be sufficient foliage remaining for the plant to recover vigorously. Plants which are cut back completely to the soil will often die.

Pitcher Health
Pitcher production is a good indication of general plant health; plants are unhealthy or are kept in poor conditions will often fail to produce pitchers. Even healthy plants do not necessarily produce a pitcher on each leaf and some species appear to produce pitchers only in intermittent flushes. Pitcher formation can be encouraged by good lighting and high humidity. In some species, upper pitchers are more regularly produced on tendrils which have actively coiled around an object.

Though there is some evidence to indicate that water-stressed plants are capable of reabsorbing moisture from their pitchers, severely dehydrated plants may suddenly drop their pitchers. Developing Nepenthes pitchers will secrete their own fluid, and it is usually unnecessary to add water to them as this may dilute the contents and render them ineffective for digestion. Exceptions can be made for those species with reclining lids such as N. ampullaria and N. lowii, or if the pitcher contents have been accidentally spilled.