Hi guys,
Does anyone share my sadness in seeing how nepenthes cultivation is seemingly looming closer and closer towards orchid cultivation? What I mean is the fact on how increasing number of hybrids are being made and those are easier to grow + cheaper + greater availibility.
A perfect example would be trying to find species orchids nowadays. Almost every nursery has more obscure hybrids like "mountain red" or whatever which are complex crosses. Infact, I see nursaries which carry almost nothing else apart from hybrids in the hundreds. Now species of orchids are extremely rare and very expensive: perfect example is plants like Phrag bessae or whatever, P. lowii etc etc.
Nowdays we are seeing the same thing with nepenthes. Look at exotica plants. I don't mean to "undermine" hybrids and their potential...but you can see complex hybrids which are a total different beast in their own. Personally my cultivation of neps is to get a feeling of growing a true representative of the plant I see in the wild.
I guess the challenge is finding two different plants flowering in the same time of the same species.
I would be interested to know what the experienced growers here feel about this.
V
Does anyone share my sadness in seeing how nepenthes cultivation is seemingly looming closer and closer towards orchid cultivation? What I mean is the fact on how increasing number of hybrids are being made and those are easier to grow + cheaper + greater availibility.
A perfect example would be trying to find species orchids nowadays. Almost every nursery has more obscure hybrids like "mountain red" or whatever which are complex crosses. Infact, I see nursaries which carry almost nothing else apart from hybrids in the hundreds. Now species of orchids are extremely rare and very expensive: perfect example is plants like Phrag bessae or whatever, P. lowii etc etc.
Nowdays we are seeing the same thing with nepenthes. Look at exotica plants. I don't mean to "undermine" hybrids and their potential...but you can see complex hybrids which are a total different beast in their own. Personally my cultivation of neps is to get a feeling of growing a true representative of the plant I see in the wild.
I guess the challenge is finding two different plants flowering in the same time of the same species.
I would be interested to know what the experienced growers here feel about this.
V