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Edwerdsiana care

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Hey all,

I'm really really interested in growing Edwardsiana. I have a cage on my windowsill with my fusca and my alata in it. I want to grow Eddy but I know it needs cold nights. I want to dunk it in ice water briefly before bed and then have the AC blowing on it all night. Other forum memebrs have told me this is bad....but I don't see why it would be? I really think I can do it
 
Addition

Oh yeah there are also 2 25 watt cfl over my plants
 
In brief, you could expect the ice bath to shock the plant, and then the extended, direct, dry air flow to dry it desiccate it. Ice is very much an overcompensation to what you're trying to accomplish. It's very much the same reason that you wouldn't leave a tropical plant in a hot oven over night to keep it warm.

Most organisms don't appreciate wild fluctuations in temperature over short durations.
 
Est Edwardsiana is a highland plant. That means it likes really big temperature fluctuations. It's not your typical houseplant- it grows on mountains in africa or asia (can't remember which) where it gets c

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old at night
 
It grows on mt. Kinabalu / Tambuyukon. You cant dunk the plant for a couple reasons first off..

Sure, that MIGHT cool it, but its more shocking than anything. YOure more likely to end up shocking the plant and never seeing it move again for a LONG time.
Youre trying to mimic the environment that the plant came from,
not give it a new one.

Also, making your plant that stressed and sopping wet each night is almost a guaranteed 100%success rate in giving it root rot.
Nepenthes like to be moist, but not jungle wet dripping.
 
Reasonable air temp to ~0C water is not the same as a nighttime dip in temperatures. It cools down at night but there aren't ice storms. Further, soil temp swings are going to be significantly smaller than air temp swings. Dipping roots in a pot in 0C water is not mimicing any natural effect.
 
Est Edwardsiana is a highland plant. That means it likes really big temperature fluctuations. It's not your typical houseplant- it grows on mountains in africa or asia (can't remember which) where it gets c

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old at night
In the wild, the temperature doesn't just drop abruptly, it drops gradually.

As for the ice, it will lower the temperature way too quickly and most probably stress the plant up. My suggestion would be that you bring the plant into your room at night without any ice bath or whatsoever.
 
What if I make the soil really porous and just water with cold water? Then it will get cold but shouldn't rot the roots
 
In the wild, the temperature doesn't just drop abruptly, it drops gradually.

As for the ice, it will lower the temperature way too quickly and most probably stress the plant up. My suggestion would be that you bring the plant into your room at night without any ice bath or whatsoever.

As a general rule, nepenthes don't like to be moved often. they still grow, but at a much more sluggish and restricted pace. The pitchers will reflect this.
 
  • #10
How can a plant tell it's being moved? If i cover it with a cloth when I am moving it will it not be able to sense I'm moving it?
 
  • #11
No, they can just tell. Im guessing its something with the electromagnetic fields and the orientation of the plants.
ITs been proven time and time again, however if you wish to test it for yourself, go right ahead. Its been tried countless time
with the same results. (Also, the plants just respond better and look so much more lush if left to their own devices.)

Either way, you need to avoid messing with the roots in the first place. The more wet you keep ANY plant,
the more you invite root rot and fungus. you need to keep the plants cooled for hours at a time, not cool it for an hour and
hope it stays cold. this can be done using swamp coolers or extensive greenhouses.

(PS - take your idea off of cooling the plant itself. Try to cool the air around it)
 
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  • #12
If you want to just put it on your AC, skip the ice water and just get an ultrasonic humidifier to run at night next to it. It's quite cheap and will help prevent the airflow from drying the plant out.

Also, as others have mentioned going from room temp to freezing is frankly a terrible idea and it won't make up for having an entire night that's too warm. It's like if I dipped you in scalding hot water before dumping you in Siberia; the shock is deadly and overcompensating at a single point does nothing to improve conditions after that.

The reason why highland neps (and really most highland carnivorous plants) need cold nights is to regulate their metabolism. People have actually observed that highland plants may even grow faster for a time when it's too warm - but after a while they crash. This is because the cold temperatures at night slow down their growth and metabolism, giving them time to regenerate sugars and other resources - without this they "burn themselves out" after a while.

Also, plants can definitely sense when they're being moved - unless the two spots are completely identical the air, humidity, light angle and intensity, etc will definitely be different (if only subtly). Plants also have statoliths in the amyloplasts of their root caps to allow for gravitropism, so it seems pretty likely that they would physically sense if you kept moving them around.

Honestly you should probably just set up a grow tent or terrarium. If your AC is turned low you could probably just time it to turn on at night, build some sort of grow tent around the air outlet, and then rig a humidifier and lights on timers.
 
  • #13
What if I make the soil really porous and just water with cold water? Then it will get cold but shouldn't rot the roots

I can't tell if you're trying to grow the species, or murder it. The latter is a distinct possibility given your approach to its care. It does not require "cold" nights - it requires a cooling off period at night that allows for a 15-20F degree differential. That doesn't mean it wants ice water dumped on it, any more than you do before you go to bed. You are violating basic rules of horticulture with these suggestions, frankly. I suggest you do a lot more research into the needs of this genus before you go much further.

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Hey all,

I'm really really interested in growing Edwardsiana. I have a cage on my windowsill with my fusca and my alata in it. I want to grow Eddy but I know it needs cold nights. I want to dunk it in ice water briefly before bed and then have the AC blowing on it all night. Other forum memebrs have told me this is bad....but I don't see why it would be? I really think I can do it

No, this is not a bad idea - this is a terrible idea.
 
  • #14
Why would you want to kill such an expensive plant? Instead of doing that, spend the money that you would initially spend on a sacrificial offering on the equipment necessary to grow your second plant.
 
  • #15
No, they can just tell. Im guessing its something with the electromagnetic fields and the orientation of the plants.
ITs been proven time and time again, however if you wish to test it for yourself, go right ahead. Its been tried countless time
with the same results. (Also, the plants just respond better and look so much more lush if left to their own devices.)

Either way, you need to avoid messing with the roots in the first place. The more wet you keep ANY plant,
the more you invite root rot and fungus. you need to keep the plants cooled for hours at a time, not cool it for an hour and
hope it stays cold. this can be done using swamp coolers or extensive greenhouses.

(PS - take your idea off of cooling the plant itself. Try to cool the air around it)


Hey good morning! What if I put a strong magnet underneath the pot? I think it would override the magnetic field of the earth and trick the plant ;)
 
  • #16
I can't tell if you're trying to grow the species, or murder it. The latter is a distinct possibility given your approach to its care. It does not require "cold" nights - it requires a cooling off period at night that allows for a 15-20F degree differential. That doesn't mean it wants ice water dumped on it, any more than you do before you go to bed. You are violating basic rules of horticulture with these suggestions, frankly. I suggest you do a lot more research into the needs of this genus before you go much further.

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No, this is not a bad idea - this is a terrible idea.


It's sad that it sounds like I cant grow this plant. I've been looking at pictures of it online for a while before joining the forums hoping I could pull it off. I guess I can't with my current space...what would be some other plants I can grow? I have a Nepenthes alata and a fusca doing really well
 
  • #17
Hey good morning! What if I put a strong magnet underneath the pot? I think it would override the magnetic field of the earth and trick the plant ;)

I really hope you're joking. As others have said, maybe with your current growing conditions it'll be better for you to look for other neps. Something hardier like ventricosa or its hybrids, otherwise try to improve your growing conditions
 
  • #18
I'm sorry, but the ice water and magnet idea are both awful and have no logic at all. Try with easier species and work your way up. Get to edwardsiana when you have much more knowledge and experience. No point in buying one and killing it instantly.
 
  • #19
Maybe highlanders are a bad idea. IF I turn off my AC my room stays between 75 and 80 a lot of the time. Can I do lowlanders maybe? I heard they don't like a drop
 
  • #20
If you dont find propper highland conditions, your hamata will suffer too(If i recall you saying you had one)

Lowland would probably be more in your comfort zone, as I also find them slightly more forgiving.
The one downside to lowland plants is that they get HUGE. But If I could go back and do my lowland again,
I would be looking at rafflesianas. I think that their beatuy is very close to an edwardsiana, as they have some rather large "teeth" and some spectacular coloring. Mirabilis isnt bad either.
 
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