N. 'red skelton' new pitcher finally open!

[Vertigo]

 

[trashcan]

Wow. I was curious what the parentage of this hybrid was, because my first impression was mirabilis x raffllesiana. I didn't realize this was such a complicated hybrid..

Nepenthes 'Red Skelton' (D'Amato) :
[[((mirabilis*thorelii)*mirabilis)*(thorelii*((northiana*maxima)*(rafflesiana*veitchii)))]



Yours also looks great, btw!

 

[Vertigo]

Quote[/b] (trashcan @ May 14 2004,7:25)]Wow. I was curious what the parentage  of this hybrid was, because my first impression was mirabilis x raffllesiana. I didn't realize this was such a complicated hybrid..

Nepenthes 'Red Skelton' (D'Amato) :
[[((mirabilis*thorelii)*mirabilis)*(thorelii*((northiana*maxima)*(rafflesiana*veitchii)))]




Yours also looks great, btw!

Hehehe, hey, at least you got two out of the many.

Thanks a bunch trashcan, means a lot to me. This ones my baby. When I got it it was the size of a small two node cutting, but had more than a twelve inch root system. I was so confused as well on how to grow it. Amazingly enough it's one of my better growing neps and I don't really pay much attention to it. I water it well about once a month and that's about it. I can't wait to see what the pitchers will develop into. I really love the red on red splotches, and the peristome adds a nice contrast. Bruce Bednar really did a number on this guy. I wish I knew a bit more about how it would grow best so I could stick it into some serious light. It's only under four fluorescent tubes, 12" below. I tried to ask Bruce about it's growth habit, but he had about as much of an idea as I do.

He said it was growing really well for him, then boom, nothing. I wonder if a more mature specimen requires different conditions, kind of like a certain trait only appearing with age.

 

[Spectabilis73]

Awesome!

The reason your Nep doesnt pitcher as much is probably because you water once a month. Nepenthes will stop making pitchers when they are dry

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Not so true Spec. Nepenthes can be watered once a month and still be moist when its time to water again. I have had Nepenthes like N. truncata, N. mirabilis, N. gracilis, N. alata, etc go dry and still make pitchers. It is all dependant on your humidity, temperature and soil water holding capacity.

BTW, lovely plant Owen!

 

[D muscipula]

I'm stating the obvious, but almost all the parents are lowlands, and some are 'ultra lowlands', at that.  Many of them like strong light as well.  So i would guess it does best in lowland conditions under bright lighting, maybe acclimatize to filtered sun, and maybe midway between swampy and just damp.  However, with that much hybrid mix-up, it will probably grow anywhere.

 

[Vertigo]

Quote[/b] (Spectabilis73 @ May 14 2004,7:49)]Awesome!

The reason your Nep doesnt pitcher as much is probably because you water once a month. Nepenthes will stop making pitchers when they are dry

Actually spec, this plant has been putting out a pitcher on every leaf since I got it. No problems growing at all really. The leaves just take a while to form since they're pretty darn long. I'll take some pics of the actual plant later tonight and you'll get an idea.

My pot almost never really dries out in that time though. I planted it in a two gallon pot, on the peaty side but mixed in almost everything under the sun as well. Now it's getting a nice layer of live sphag growing on top as well. Besides, most of my neps seem to grow better as orchids, don't really like it wet, just kind of damp or moist.

 

[Vertigo]

Quote[/b] (D muscipula @ May 15 2004,4:22)]I'm stating the obvious, but almost all the parents are lowlands, and some are 'ultra lowlands', at that.  Many of them like strong light as well.  So i would guess it does best in lowland conditions under bright lighting, maybe acclimatize to filtered sun, and maybe midway between swampy and just damp.  However, with that much hybrid mix-up, it will probably grow anywhere.

That's what I figured at first, but honestly it's growing better and easier than any lowland i've ever had. It's one of my only neps that has pitchered consistently as well. Plus some of the leaves of my neps actually look burned from the fluorescent tubes so i'm not sure how the sun would even effect them. It would be nice to see what higher light levels would do the the colors of the pitcher...maybe turn the dark red almost black and the light red dark? That would actually be pretty cool.

Once I can start propagating the plant i'll try it out in different growth areas...but as far as I can figure, no one else really grows this cultivar any more.

 

[Stefano1]

interesting nep Vertigo!

 

[pond boy]

Nice!

 

[schloaty]

Sweet. The pitcher is a little like a jeuvenile x 'Coccinea' to me. Really nice color.

 

[Trent]

As the cutting gains some size, it will produce a more individual pitcher. We grow our Neps a little on the dry side too. Michelle flushes the pots maybe twice a week. Bigger pots even less frequently. Growing them a little dry also helps prevent root rot problems, and stimulates the plant into growing a larger root mass, which makes them tougher.

Trent

 

[Vertigo]

Quote[/b] (Trent @ May 17 2004,11:20)]As the cutting gains some size, it will produce a more individual pitcher.  We grow our Neps a little on the dry side too. Michelle flushes the pots maybe twice a week. Bigger pots even less frequently. Growing them a little dry also helps prevent root rot problems, and stimulates the plant into growing a larger root mass, which makes them tougher.

Trent

Hey Trent,

Keeping them a little drier than the norm actually also helps in keeping down the amount of pests in the substrate. Also something that i've noticed on more than one occasion, a nep pot that the media does get a little drier in is the perfect establishing grounds for an ant colony.

I guess you could say that i'm subletting the pots to the ants in exchange for them feeding my plants.

I definately agree with the statement on larger root masses. I've tended to start letting seedlings go almost dry every so often just so they put out deeper roots.

 

[trashcan]

Hey Vertigo,

Would you mind resizing your avatar - it's too large!

Pat