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Thinking about Nepenthes

pedersonplants

The Obsessive Gardener
Hi:

I received a Nepenthes ventricosa (sp?) from a New England grower to replace a sarracenia he had run out of.

I really like this plant and am thinking it would be nice to have a few since they grow year-round rather than needing to be dormant for the winter.

I am reading very confusing information from my several books on the subject. Is this a lowland or a very adaptable highland nepenthes?

Which ones would do best in a terrarium (have to keep them undercover or my pet birds will gobble them down as a nice snack. :-)) PLEASE--my birds come first, so no wisecracks about this requirement?

I have a 20 gallon long aquarium that could be used. Can't decide if it should sit with the opening at the top (with reptile screen over it) or on its side with opening from the front.

I'm gathering that these plants don't need to sit in water perpetually.

Any advice? I've killed several of these and don't want to go that rather expensive learning route again.

Am thinking of N. Sanguina for one.
 
why would your birds want to eat a nep???
what nep did you receive?
don't sit them in water.
they need to be wet but not sitting in water, exept for a very few lowland neps that like having there feet wet.
Do you have a window that gets good light. If so sanguina will do VERY well in the windowsill without any additional humidity.
 
If you got a N. lowii your birds could use the upper pitchers as a toilet.

xvart.
 
Haha, N. lowii is one of the slowest Nepenthes (except for N. medusa), and kind of hard too :p.

I grow my Nepenthes outside in full sun in Wisconsin... my birds don't eat any of my plants, birds have even been lured to my deck because of cat food outside for the cat in case it's hungry and we're all asleep, and it only eats the food and leaves all of my plants alone. I've seen them do it.

N. bicalcarata would appreciate a good sized, bright, hot and humid aquarium/terrarium. But they can grow kind of big, but that'd take a few years.
 
Jupiter and Liberty think any plant in the house is good "greens" for them! I have to be careful.

I have N. ventricosa. Have it outside right now but within another month I'll have to protect it from the cold!

They will grow under 4-40 watt daylight equivalent lights.
 
Neci, I wouldn't be surprised if an N. bicalcarata outgrew a 150 gallon tank within a year and a half. The other day I was at home depot and saw a 2 person sauna with a glass door. I thought "WOW! I could put a metal halide in there and it would be perfect for a bical!". This is how you know you have the addiction, when you start thinking like this. I'm sick :(

N. ventricosa is a fabulous beginner plant. Technically it's a highland plant, but it does well in lowland conditions. It'll outgrow a 20 gallon terrarium in no time, however. Most things will. To be honest.... pretty much anything crossed with N. ventricosa is going to be very easy, even when the other plant used to make the cross is one of the fussier Nepenthes.

What are equivalent lights? Do you mean the energy saving compact fluorescents? If so, the "equivalent" is irrelevant. If you have 4-10 watt lamps, for example, that's 40 watts, not 160. In fact, you get less than 40 total watts (just making up an easy number of 10) because of re strike.
 
Daylight equivalent have the full light spectrum--mimics the outdoors as well as possible! I also use them over my birds' cages to help them stay healthy too. Makes a big difference.
 
That's not what I meant :) I meant, is it one of these? http://pelmatp.doe.gov.ph/images/articles/Image/File0053.jpg

If so, then go by what the actual wattage is. Not what the "equivalent" wattage is.


With nepenthes, you don't need a special spectrum like you do with birds. Simple, cheap cool whites will do. Anything from around 4,000 K to 10,000 K is good, it really doesn't make a difference what you use if you grow indoors when it comes to Kelvin temperature as long as it's within reason (too low or too high is bad, but you're not going to find those without looking for them, knowing what you're doing). A higher K rating also doesn't mean it has more blue, it could mean the lamp just has less red. Unless you just like the color of the bird lamps. I'm partial to 10,000K myself.


I think I know what threw me off :) I thought you meant CF's that are also equivalent to daylight, not lamps that are daylight equivalent. Wow that's confusing lol.
 
No. It's a regular fluorescent light. I only use the compact ones in fixtures in the ceiling and for my reading lamps.

The lights I use for the birds and plants are regular 40 watt lights in shoplight fixtures.
 
  • #10
Well then your ventricosa should do fabulously. Nepenthes are easy to please when it comes to light. You might have to hack it back sometime, but luckily it tends to be a pretty compact plant.
 
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