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lots of questions

viper

James
I have a new nepenthes Ventricosa. when i got it its all leaves were short and fat. but now it is growing it's leaves long and skinny.
what does this mean?

When a nepenthes isn't pitchering (just say because there is not much humidity) and then you add more humidity so that it can grow pitchers, will the non pitcherd tendrils flare up and become pitchers or do they just stay little buds and only the new leaves grow pitchers?

Why isn't my nepenthes ventricosa pitchering?

I am new to growing nepenthes and i am not sure of how much light to give my nepenthes ventricosa.
how much light?

when does a nepenthes flower?
what age?
what season?

I have a young nepenthes ventricosa and some of it's leaves are going yellow.
what is going on?

at about what age and size does a nepenthes start growing upper pitchers?

what does the digestive fluid of a nepenthes pitcher consist of?

What is the minimum humidity a nepenthes needs to pitcher?

Hi all. just wanted to know What type of insects are attracted to a nepenthes pitcher?

there are about 3 green leaves on top of the yellow ones. is this normal?
 
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You might wan't to give us some information... What are your conditions, how long do you have the plant...
 
when it are leaves at the bottom of the plant it is just the natural growth habbit of Nepenthes: the older leaves die and the stem becomes woody.

You might google up some things, or use the search butten at this forum. Most of your questions have already been answered.
 
my nepenthes is growing outside in a ganging basket wich is ganging just over my pond.
it gets alot of filterd light from morning to afternoon.
i give it a foliar spray fertilizer once a week wich i spray over the leaves.
i have had it like this for about 2 months.
it grows very fast.
the average humidity in melbourne ranges from 40-55% but i think it gets more than that because it is just ofer my pond.
night temps range from 13-15c and day is about 16-21c. this is in winter.
my nepenthes is a highland ventricosa.
 
Yes, the older leaves on the bottom are supposed to die first. The new leaves are green which is a good sign.
 
It still might be in shock from transporting it. I would be careful about fertilizing it, as it could also be the reason for the lack of new pitchers.
 
I agree, watch out with that feeding. You can fertelise Nepenthes but you have to watch out with it. I think that foliar feeding it once a week might be a bit to much.
 
Once every other week is good. I fertilize the pitchers and foliarly. Don't fertilize the media unless you have little or no LFS in it.

Next time don't post ELEVEN posts in a row. Just make one thread asking all your questions at once. I'm sure a mod will integrate them all soon. I know you're enthusiastic and all, but you'd get your answers INFINITELY faster if you'd research them yourself.
 
Ahhh so many questions! Please, we have a good search function!

Try reading The Savage Garden by Peter D'Amato or nepenthesaroundthehouse.com.
 
  • #10
two words: Search Feature

If you do a little more research first, you will a) answer some of your more basic questions and b) be able to ask more direct, you-specific question.
 
  • #11
Neps are notorious fore reacting to significant changes in their environment - temp, humidity. So I would suggest that it is a temporary reaction - like a few weeks and need time to acclimate.
 
  • #12
about how long will this take?
 
  • #13
A few weeks to a year.
 
  • #14
Wow! does the time it takes depend on the type of nepenthes?
 
  • #15
It seems like it depends on a multitude of factors. But to answer your question, yes, some species are quicker to adapt than others. Also, the conditions you are able to provide it would make certain species adapt quicker than others. It seems like the average humidity in Melbourne, Australia should be high enough for Nepenthes, and some of the best temps for Highlanders (at least according to a weather tracker website). This of course depends on where exactly you're located, and how close you are to a large body of water... and of course windcover. Ventricosas are known to be good beginner neps and very hardy, so your nep should bounce back fairly quickly. I noticed you said you keep it near your pond, so this added humidity should definitely help. If you have a fountain or waterfall in your pond, the splashing should help increase humidity some too. You also said it was a fast growing plant when you transplanted it, and generally speaking, larger nepenthes have more problems with transplant shock than smaller ones. If I were you, I would stop foliar fertilizing altogether, and let your plant adjust. It seems like it has enough nutrients stored up to create a pitcher once it needs to. Once it does this, it will attract many different types of insects:flies, bees, gnats, and possibly even a colony of ants. I even had one move into my truncata orchid potting bark (The ants create a symbiotic relationship with nepenthes by drowning a few members and eating the nectar... I even saw them standing on top of the floating dead ants to lick the sides of the pitcher). The digestive fluid contains enzymes and bacteria which help to break down the insects drowned inside. When a new pitcher opens, it seems as though there is some fluid already in there, but mine will start to dry up, so I just replace it with distilled water. I figure this is completely natural, seeing as how they receive much rainfall which undoubtedly overflows their pitchers from time to time. Make sure to put distilled or RO (reverse osmosis) water into the pitchers however, as this most closely matches rainwater, and normal tap water may or may not be suitable (depending on your local water source). I am not sure what the minimum humidity necessary for pitcher formation is, but I have seen a few posts around here with people having success at 50+%. So long as the filtered light isn't too dim, then the lighting should be fine as well. As far as flowering time and upper pitcher formation goes, I am still learning about that (It seems like it can take up to many years, dependent of course on how large the plant is to begin with). Then again aren't we all still learning? :-D Good Luck and happy growing.

-Daniel

P.S. It should all bounce back and be healthy pretty soon, but get some close-up pictures so everyone can give you some better advice. Maybe take a pic of the pond with the plant in the pic and which direction is North/E/S/W. This way you can determine which area across the sky the sun's path takes up, and at which times in the day the plant would receive optimum lighting.
 
  • #16
Thanks. that information is very useful.
 
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