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N.ampullaria pruning?

Exo

Tastes like chicken!
I have an N.ampullaria that refuses to make the "carpet of pitchers" that they are known for, it just sends up the occasional basal which ends up becoming a vine in about 6 months. As a result, my plant is currently a mass of vines with a single tiny basal forming at the base of the plant. I was wondering that if I cut all the old vines down to the soil level if maybe that would encourage the plant to send out some runners and start making a carpet of pitchers. I have tried trimming the vines to about half lenth before but the only thing that happens is the vine regenerates new growth points.

Thanks for any info you can provide.
 
how much light and what temps and what humidity , is it in a terrarium? mine do fairly well in my lowland terrarium, but have no basals at this time , but are pitchering nicely.
 
how much light and what temps and what humidity , is it in a terrarium? mine do fairly well in my lowland terrarium, but have no basals at this time , but are pitchering nicely.

The temps are 90F during the day and 78F at night, humidity is 75% day and 85% night. The lighting is 2 20W growlux wide spectrum bulbs about 1ft away from the base of the plant (Would have it closer if it wasn't for all those vines). It is on a covered growrack.
 
IMO , youll need a bit more light , i have mine at about 7" from 4 t-5 highoutput bulbs, thats about the only real difference, so you may need more light , if you go to 4 foot you can get 40watts per bulb and add a daylight bulb for a better mix of light , seems some one here will have more advise, but thats about all i can add im still learning too .
(N.amp x talangensis), and amp boreno sunset. they are very close to the high output lights, and in a terrarium.
my conditions other wise are very close to yours.
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IMG_2473.jpg
 
IMO , youll need a bit more light , i have mine at about 7" from 4 t-5 highoutput bulbs, thats about the only real difference, so you may need more light , if you go to 4 foot you can get 40watts per bulb and add a daylight bulb for a better mix of light , seems some one here will have more advise, but thats about all i can add im still learning too .
(N.amp x talangensis), and amp boreno sunset. they are very close to the high output lights, and in a terrarium.
my conditions other wise are very close to yours.

How big is your terrarium?
 
25 long ,14 deep, 17 high, its going to be tight when they get larger but i intend to build a much larger one in a year or so.
 
25 long ,14 deep, 17 high, its going to be tight when they get larger but i intend to build a much larger one in a year or so.

So you make your own terraruims? How expensive are the building materials?
 
one this size maybe about 60.00 to 90.00 after all is said and done, this is without lights and misting, of course, but this terr doesnt have a misting sys on it , just an old fogger , it still pumps out enough fog to keep the humidity up in the 80 to 90 range all the time ( fogger in a dish of water on a timer runs about 10 hours a day, it goes on and off many times in a 24 hour period). i will have to replace the disk soon , and it will go for another 6 months, most dont like this type of humidity control but it works in my lowland terr just fineIMO.
 
one this size maybe about 60.00 to 90.00 after all is said and done, this is without lights and misting, of course, but this terr doesnt have a misting sys on it , just an old fogger , it still pumps out enough fog to keep the humidity up in the 80 to 90 range all the time ( fogger in a dish of water on a timer runs about 10 hours a day, it goes on and off many times in a 24 hour period). i will have to replace the disk soon , and it will go for another 6 months, most dont like this type of humidity control but it works in my lowland terr just fineIMO.

So is it 60.00 to 90.00 for the one you have, or the one you intend on building?
 
  • #10
the one i have. The one i intendto build will be over 200.00 im sure, but i havent even begun the plans on it , will probably be out of some thing other than glass, as it would be very hard to handle in glass.
 
  • #11
the one i have. The one i intendto build will be over 200.00 im sure, but i havent even begun the plans on it , will probably be out of some thing other than glass, as it would be very hard to handle in glass.

So I assume the one you have is glass? Would plexiglass be cheaper or more expensive?


I'm considering building my own because my current cart is to small for a better light fixture.
 
  • #12
similar in price, but it would warp over time i did do half of the upper top to the back of the tank in plexiglass, so i can add holes easily if i need to in the future.
 
  • #13
Exo, my old N. ampullaria green form made a very nice carpet of pitchers in a 6" Azalea pot. The plant was about a foot away from 240 watts of normal output fluorescents in my old 75 gallon fishtank (days 85-100*F / nights 70-80*F) the pots in the tank sat on a false bottom made of lighting grid and PVC couplings with 1-2" water beneath for evaporative humidity. The original plant had become an 18" vine in the pot and then the basals started popping up and after a year or so the pot was jammed with pitchers on miniature rosettes. So perhaps being root bound is a key to this "carpeting" habit as well as bright light?

If you're going to DIY I urge you to use real glass, I've come to the conclusion over the years that Plexi just sucks. Even that Lexan (humidity/heat "proof") sucks in comparison. Real glass is easy to cut once you get hang of it (scary to get started I know cos it is expoensive when you screw up in the beginning) but once you "get it" it's like a switch gets thrown and you can do it no problem ever after. It's a feeling of total freedom to build whatever kinda tank you want. (Custom T tanks? ;) ) If you don't wanna learn glass cutting you can just buy your glass at Lowes or a glazier shop and they will cut it for you. If they don't polish it (smooth the sharp edges) just get a sanding block and some ultra fine sandpaper you just need a few seconds to smooth it out. If you haven't seen Jimmy's tank construction videos on youtube check em out.
 
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  • #14
Thanks swords.....right now my combined lighting is about 80W...I'm getting the feeling tha it gust isnt enough. My amp is in a gallon pot that it has been in for about 3 years, so I would assume it would be rootbound by now.

If I want more light I'm gonna have to either get a fishtank big enough or make my own....I can't change the lighting output in my current setup.
 
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