N. Ventricosa coming

[JMurphy97]

I have a N. Ventricosa soon and I was wondering if I should plant it in live sphagnum or the dried kind? Should it have anything else mixed in like peat or sand or whatever else there is?

 

[SydneyNeps]

Either live or dried is fine. I wouldn't add peat or sand as they're too dense, Nepenthes like a light airy mix. There are other things that can be added, coarse coir, orchid bark, perlite, vermiculte etc but straight sphagnum is also OK.

 

[JB_OrchidGuy]

Really?  I have 3 Nepenthes groing in Peat/perlite mix and doing good.  One is a sanguina orange, truncata, and ventrata hybred I think it was a NoID I got from my OS Doing great though.  I just planted the other three I got in straight peat, but if its not good I am going to repot them when I get home tomorrow.  I do not want to kill my bicalcarata or the other two I just got. Sorry I can;t remember the name.

 

[SydneyNeps]

Some swamp-dwelling lowlanders will do OK in peat, but for highlanders I'd stay away from it. They'll do OK in it for a while, but the roots just can't penetrate it as well, especially as it compacts, and root rot is an issue. A bit of peat mixed in with other aerated materials should be fine, but pure peat, or peat and sand mix like you use with Sarras should be avoided.

 

[schloaty]

JB, I would avoid the dense mixtures with the truncata. From my experience (i.e. from what I learned by killing one), they prefer lighter mixes where the water just washes on through.

 

[JMurphy97]

Should I soak and get the sphagnum wet and damp like someone would do for the peat for something like a VFT or keep it dry right out of the bag? How often do you water and kind of highland nep?

 

[SydneyNeps]

If you use dry sphagnum, then it should be soaked before us. Highland neps I generally only water when the surface on the potting medium starts drying out. It is safer to keep them slightly on the drier side than the wet - they can get root rot if kept too wet.