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3 years in the life of a Nepenthes rajah

  • #21
OMFG! Reeeaaallly nice! Can I get some info on how you grow it? Compost,temps,shaded?
 
  • #22
Nepenthes gracilis
The last time I repotted I used 100% LFS. The first time I potted in that 4” pot it I added a little perlite. It is still in that 16” round pot like it the last few photos. As soon as I get my courage up I have a 24” pot that I will put it in.

fc3srx713b
I tried fertilizing it once but it seem like after I did a bunch of algae started to grow on the soil.

TyFone
For the first two years I grew it in my freezer grow chamber, but it grew to big for the freezer so a little over a year ago I built a highland GH for basically this one plant. I made sure that when the GH was finished it would have near optimum growing conditions. I use a misting system that keeps the humidity above 75% at all time, but it is almost always above 90%. The misting system also does all my watering and it is just tap waster. I have half the GH cover in a 60% shade cloth and the N. rajah is grown under that half. I keep the daytime temps at a maximum of 78 F and the nighttime lows are about 40 F on the coldest nights of the year most other night are about 50 F.

Thanks
-Jeremiah-
 
  • #23
[b said:
Quote[/b] (SydneyNeps @ Dec. 14 2005,9:16)]Puts paid to the myth that rajah is a really slow grower.
Exactly, this is what growing a nepenthes in its optimum conditions yeilds. While they may grow ok outside thier required/needed parameters growing them within optimum conditions for x/said species yeilds plants like Jeremiahs.



Nice looking N. rajah, dare I say the nicest?

That last pitcher is starting to show the more mature large valted lid of rajah, can't wait to see what the next few pitchers will look like.
 
  • #24
Thanks guys and as soon as my dad gets back with the my memory card I will take a new one of the last pitcher now that is has fully opened and colored up.

Thanks
-Jeremiah-
 
  • #25
Very nice Sir! Thats the biggest one I have ever seen in cultivation! Very nice.
Thanks for sharing!
 
  • #26
Hi all:

This comes to show that when one applies the so called "right conditions" to a specific species of Nepenthes, it should grow fast. Now what are those right conditions: i guess it'll depends on the particular species:

ampullarias: hot and humid and rajahs: cold and humid

as simple as that.

whoever thinks that they can grow "pitchering rajahs" in their backyard with conditions other than those found in Mt Kinabalu, must be deluding.

Gus
 
  • #27
Yes the last pitcher is one I am used to seeing in wild photographs! Boy I hope mine recovers and gets a move on!
 
  • #29
[b said:
Quote[/b] (agustinfranco @ Dec. 16 2005,12:55)]whoever thinks that they can grow "pitchering rajahs" in their backyard with conditions other than those found in Mt Kinabalu, must be deluding.

Gus
smile_l_32.gif
laugh.gif
now who are you talking about again? names please!
smile_m_32.gif
 
  • #30
Hi again:

I was not referring to anyone in particular. It's just that people in general fantasize in growing this plant in all kinds of conditions because of its reputation of having beautiful giant size pitchers in the wild. Unfortunately, the reality is different.

Perhaps you can tweak conditions a little bit to adjust it to new environments, but IMO the plant is not flexible enough to grow well and pitcher in all kinds of growing conditions. (Again, i know many people who grows rajahs in different environments, but i rarely see plants with pitchers: this is what i am referring to)

Now, if you mention ventricosa, sanguinea, that's a different story since these are flexible enough to grow in a wide range of growing conditions.

Villosa and lamii are inflexible neps and so on.

The morale of the story is: you can grow all kinds of plants and be happy with them as long as you can provide the right conditions for growth for each species. To lump them into one greenhouse or backyard and expect them to grow well is "looking for trouble". Furthermore, it gets more interesting when those plants who presumptively pitcher in artificial conditions for years, never get to flower. Then we ask ourselves what did we do wrong?. Who knows!

Gus
 
  • #32
Wow your pics have inspired me(once i can get somthing with stable conditions
smile_n_32.gif
) to get a rajah. Its definantly worth the wait. Do rajah's grow uppers and if so wouldnt they be just TOO big to be uppers?
 
  • #34
Yeah I would have to agree give a plant what it likes and it will grow.

Pray for me guys, I just finished repotting it to a 24” x 10” pot and if anything happens to this plant I don’t know what I would do lol.

-Jeremiah-
 
  • #35
Nor would I Jeremiah, if I lost such a prize plant. I have my fingers crossed for you, but given that you're so successful in cultivating these plants, chances are it won't notice the change.

Cheers
Amori
 
  • #36
IMO this is a big challenge now, because as you said it yourself there is no chest freezer big enough to accomodate your plant, but still managed to build a cold greenhouse for it.
I think the first 3 months will tell you whether your plant is going to make it or not. it'll get a shock, i'll not pitcher for a while (couple to several months) and then i'll adjust back or it'll die.
The good thing is that your plant is large enough to counteract more effectively any substandard growing conditions as opposed to the teeny weeny rajahs most of us manage to obtain and experiment with.


Gus
 
  • #37
[b said:
Quote[/b] (agustinfranco @ Dec. 17 2005,1:22)]... It's just that people in general fantasize in growing this plant in all kinds of conditions because of its reputation of having beautiful giant size pitchers in the wild...

Perhaps you can tweak conditions a little bit to adjust it to new environments, but IMO the plant is not flexible enough to grow well and pitcher in all kinds of growing conditions. (Again, i know many people who grows rajahs in different environments, but i rarely see plants with pitchers: this is what i am referring to)

Villosa and lamii are inflexible neps and so on.
thats why i try to stay away from plants such as extreme highlanders and lowlanders that i think i cant grow.
 
  • #38
Hi fc3srx713b:

Perhaps you should enjoy growing intermediate neps and/or Highland/lowland hybrids. They are generally more flexible and take more abuse than the other two categories.

Gus
 
  • #39
OK, just so people know it's possible, this N. rajah, which I took a picture of just now, has been out in my backyard for almost 2 years straight, never coming in. It only tends to have one pitcher at a time, but it does pitcher. I grows better in the summer here than winter. It barely hit 50 for a high today. I don't expect this thing to ever look like Jeremiah's, which is just a ridiculously impressive plant grown in perfect conditions. But I do expect it to live and keep growing and pitchering.

N_rajah_4.sized.jpg


Capslock
 
  • #40
Hi Capslock:

you definitely have a beautiful plant.
My question to you then is. does it suppose to have one pitcher at at time? and is that what normal rajahs do?

you can have these plants growing in conditions that may mimic to some extent to those found in Mt. kinabalu, but are they optimal for the plant to produce just one pitcher at a time?
I think anyone wanting to grow this plant has to have clear in their minds what their expectations are!.
Do I want my rajah to grow with every single leaf producing a pitcher or just one pitcher per plant or no pitcher at all!.

This is a big problem when discussing growing conditions for cp's. In most cases, Most people want optimal growth, but many growers confuse tolerating growth conditions with flourishing in optimal conditions. As long as the plant remains alive, that's what matters!: Does it really matter or we want more from our plants!


Gus
 
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