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New to Neps, is this a bad sign?

Hello all,

I've recently acquired two new plants, an N. ventricosa and an N. sanguinea. They are growing in my bathroom right above the shower. They seem to be doing well, but, being a newbie Nepenthes grower, I'm not a very good judge of that. They seem to be displaying some unexpected characteristics, and I'm sure you guys can tell me if these are bad signs.

My N. sanguinea is developing a new pitcher (good sign), but one of the leaves is turning a reddish brown:

img_0002.jpg


Is this a bad sign or is it just getting a tan? The other leaves are a solid green.

My N. ventricosa has a lot of dead leaves around its stem:

img_0003.jpg


I assume this is normal since it was shipped to me less than a month ago, but I'd like to know for sure. It also seems to be developing a new pitcher.

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
Looks great! It's perfectly normal for the stems to turn brown, and for a new leaf to have a different hue than older ones. Your new leaf looks healthy and vibrant - a sure sign of a healthy plant.

Capslock
 
Nepenthes and orchids will often pigment their leaves when introduced to a new light source that was stronger than their old one. As long as it remains humid that pigmentation will not progress into burning. If the plants dry out or the air becomes too warm the leaves can turn crispy along the edges. Looks just fine so far, like one growing in a well lit terrarium!

As far as dead leaves at the base, that's fine too, that's how Nepenthes age, the tip grows and the base dries and turns woody. I let my large neps go "wild" for two years unpruned in their grow chambers and all of them were almost 25% dry vine/dried up leaves at the base. If the leaves start to die at the top then it's time to start worrying.

So far so good!
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Great info, thanks guys! I'm a bit amused that the N. sanguinea leaf has a tan line.
smile.gif
 
wow for a beginner your doing great!
 
Hi all:

Whatever you do lee1dew keep those light levels steady. Many failures in growing neps are due to the poor lighting.

Gus
 
They're on the window sill of a south facing window with translucent glass, so they're getting several hours of bright, diffuse light every day. In the summer, however, we tend to get overcast weather over here (SF Bay Area), so I hope they'll still be getting enough light. I've thought about keeping them outside with the rest of my army (several VFT's, Sarracenia, and a D. capensis), but it's not particularly warm here even during the summer (60's-70's during the day, 50's at night), although the tips at nepenthesaroundthehouse.com seem to say those temps would be fine.
 
Hey lee, I'm in San Francisco as well. The neps I grow in windows do great in the summer. If you can put a desk lamp or something over them - all the better. That's what I do, but I only get an hour or so of direct sunlight. Outdoors here, the only nep I've grown successfully is N. rajah. It's just too cold for most. I'm sure others would work, and I intend to find out this spring. The bay area is GREAT for growing CPs in general. Stick with intermediate and highlander neps and all will be happiness!

Capslock
 
  • #10
Capslock,

Good luck with the experiment! Which ones are you planning to try?
 
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