N. ventrata

Hi I head this plant can grow as any conditions
is this true does it grow well in varied conditions ?
can anyone direct me to somewhere i can get some
thanx

This hybrid "can" grow in somewhat varied conditions because it is said to only produce pitchers on a  seasonal basis rather than year round.  (If you're wondering I got this idea from CClarkes Nepethes of Sumatra) I'm pretty sure Parasuco is growing this one so I'm sure he'll chime in soon!

I would suggest an Alata as your first one (If I remember you haven't got any Neps yet), as mine is growing like a weed in a warm humid terrarium sitting on a shelf above my PC monitor (which warms the tank really well). For Neps to give you good pitchers on every leaf you really need to have humidity at the very least 60% and prefferably 75-80%+ (plus good lighting) which is why Nepenthes just sitting on a shelf or coffetable don't do so well they seem to need the enclosed environment of a terrarium or greenhouse for us americans/northern latitude growers.

Seasonal Ugh...

I got mine from white rose, as a Gubler's Hybrid...

It has never ever done poorly foliage wise, but it has not pitchred from like, four leaves... Below those four leaves are two three inch pitchers taht I am rather impressed with... The oldest pitcher was half formed in a terrarium, and the second oldest was formed in my bedroom a bit closer to spring thansummer...

I've just though of it... SINCE it was a bit cooler when the last pitcher formed, it may actually need highland conditions rather than lowland... Right now RAW, you may know that outside is PURE lowland... With all of our hot weather here in southern Ontario, and the humidity from the Great Lakes its brutal... I'm guessing, that that might be why there are no pitchers... In any case... The leaves are getting bigger and bigger, they're thick, and they're full of nectar...

Parasuco,

Heres the paragraph from page 261 of Neps of Sumatra:

"Variations in pitcher production rates should not be used as indicators for applying (or witholding) fertilizers, as some species and hybrids produce pitchers on a seasonal basis. For example, cultivated plants of the natural hybrid N. alata X N. ventricosa (which occurs in Luzon in the Northern Phillipines, a region which experiences a distinctly cooler, dry season from Dec - Feb) produces pitchers in 2 or 3 short "bursts" throughout the year, rather than at regular intervals. Likewise pitcher production in wild X mirabilis populations in Hong Kong a Macau ceases from Dec-Feb which is the coolest and driest parts of the year in S. China."

Huh... Does that mean it uses up the tendrisl it passes, or does it just develpe the pitchers on the leaves it develops in those time frames?

ooh i cant wait to get asome

My interpretation is that it only produces pitchers at the times of the year when the plant biologically, produces them in the wild, or when their growing conditions happen to immitate those times of the year which are most conductive to pitcher development. Unfortunately there is no further discussion of ventrata hybrid such as outlining the timeframes when it produces pitchers. If you don't have it in a terrraium I'd say try that first. A lack of decent humiidty is the #1 reason plants won't pitcher. However, if the plant is genetically able to only produce pitchers now and then, there's not much you can do to change that.

Well, my ventrata produces pitchers on every leaf, so I know that at least one plant doesn't produce them in bursts. I think that seasonal variations determine how plants in the wild develop. I mean, a ventrata plant might make pitchers in bursts during the dry season since it doesn't have as many resourses during this time (water).

Joel

The article says "cultivated plants of the natural hybrid". So perhaps if yours was created between two actively producing plants in a greenhouse they will not exhibit the same charachteristic that the natural hybrids would? However, if you both got plants from the same place he should just try and up the humidity and see if the situation changes.