Hello sjarvis,

I do not see a problem with reusing runoff from watering the Nepenthes.. it is only water that you put through the Nepenthes soil to begin with.

Let me ask, are you putting the orchid fertilizer in the water you give your plants soil, or are you merely wiping it on the leaves? If in the soil, it could kill them.

The crispy leaves, I have no idea. If you think it was burned by heat from the lamp or ultraviolet light, that is as good a guess as any if you are only fertilizing the leaves occasionally and lightly though fertilizer certainly can burn Nepenthes leaves if they are overfertilized.

Well, the root rot probably did occur from overwatering and stagnant environment. I would suggest repotting the plant in fresh media that is more open, like specially prepared Nepenthes mix or mix it yourself with one third peat/bark/coconut husk, or one third peat two thirds perlite. There are other mixes but the idea is to keep it open and with good drainage. There is no cure for root rot in Nepenthes. Just try to keep the roots from getting waterlogged and replace the old media every year. The only other thing I can think of would be making cuttings out of the vine with rotted roots in the hopes that you can reroot some and save your plant in some way. I am not sure if that would work, but if the roots are dying, the plant is likely to follow anyways. Hopefully someone out there has a better option for you than I.

All I could add is that if the plant is old enough, you amy want to consider taking a cutting and begin anew. I've done that with a C. follicularis that went downhill.

I recycle the water that runs out of my hanging baskets and use it on my other neps that aren't quite that big yet. It's worked for me so far. (I also use the water that runs out of the lower ones to increase the humidity which has, so far, worked like a dream.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Aracknight's Deadly Delights