Toothless hamata

[Thagirion]

I have had my first hamata for 3 months now. It has made about one new pitcher a month but never keeps more than two. I'm hoping one day it will make a rosette like I see in the pics. There are two probs I'm not sure what to do about. I don't think they are major problems but just annoying. Here's my hamata right now.


Hamata 3 months by Thagirion3, on Flickr

First off it's green. When I got it the two pitchers it had were beautiful mottled colors of burgandy on a green background. I know this plant gets enough light. Every morning it goes in the window and gets 2-3 hours of sunlight. Then it goes back into my tank where it is under two t8 lamps for a total of 4 bulbs. Two are cool white bulbs and the other are daylight bulbs of 6500k. Temps are as much as 80 in the day and nights are 50-52F. Humidity is around 70%-90%. Here's the other problem.


Toothless hamata? by Thagirion3, on Flickr

The latest pitchers seem toothless. When I look at this pic full size I see little ridges so it did try to make teeth but not as defined when I first got it and it has smaller pitchers. Yes it is a hamata and not a tentaculata. It had beautiful teeth when I first got it.


Toothless hamata 02? by Thagirion3, on Flickr

Here's the previous pitcher that without the camera also looks toothless. Other than that it seems very healthy and growing at a steady pace. It's just annoying that it's a hamata with no teeth.

 

[thez_yo]

They need lots of light to colour up if they're AW clones. And my villosa has the problem of not unfurling teeth on its tiny pitchers... I'm thinking it might be a humidity problem on my end, but it really seems like you might need more light or just give it more time to settle in?

 

[carnivoure12]

The plant seems very healthy. However you've only had it for 3 months, it could still be going through some adjusting process/ Also the new pitcher should colour up, generally the bigger the pitcher the more colourful and more developed it will be. So if the pitchers that were colourful and more toothy were bigger than the new ones, then that is the reason why.

I see little teeth on yours, it is just small, and the teeth aren't very defined. Usually colouration makes the teeth pop out more even if they're small. There is nothing wrong with it, with time you'll see bigger and more colourful pitchers with more menacing teeth!

 

[dsrtfox1942]

If your pulling it out of the terrarium and out of the humidity, for a few hours of sun, this might be a problem. Plants like stable conditions. If you have proper lighting, leave it be. Artificial lighting is never as good as natural sun light, but when plants are as particular as ours, steady conditions are most important. When I received my hamata, it was bagged up for around 2 months as I slowly acclimated it to my terrariums conditions, and it hasn't left since except for the occasional pic. Also, some plants just don't appear normal for a while when they are fresh out of TC. Under my lights, which I know aren't the best, my AW hamata's leaves are purplish and pitchers get nice and dark.

 

[BigBella]

The "toothlessness" is just a juvenile characteristic. The plant appears fine otherwise . . .

 

[lance]

The sphagnum seems happy in it's pot, so once again its probably just young. I've never heard anything about AW clones needing more light (the person I got mine from grows his batch in a little shade). If the plant is that green then I would recommend getting stronger UV lights. Those seem to bring in the color for me.

 

[Thagirion]

Thanks everyone. I had a feeling that I'm doing well with this guy but also probably worrying too much. Carnivore, this is the biggest pitcher (thought still tiny) it has ever had. Sitting still is not an option because it goes into my fridge every night for that 50 degree drop. I only have three highlands and they go into the fridge so the following morning it's very easy to put them in the East window for real sun light because I know that makes up for the 4 T8 bulbs. I'm planning to get a 4 T5 rig once I get some money, which is still a long ways off. It gets sprayed once out of the fridge to make up for the room humidity which holds well around 50%. It's in a 55 gallon tank so the lights are about 2 feet over the plants. It is an AW3 clone.

 

[Whimgrinder]

Moving the plant in and out of an enclosed space is not ideal:conditions should be consistent. That said, I see nothing wrong with your plant that won't be resolved with time.

 

[Thagirion]

Whimgrinder, the tank at night is in the upper 70's so that would kill hamata. I have to move it out into the fridge. I'd love to have a way to cool the tank but I don't. Other than that I'm glad you think it's looking good. Plus every Friday is tank cleaning day and I take out all the plants once a week to suck up the bad water condensed from the humidifier. Currently working on that now for both my tanks.

 

[Whimgrinder]

Whimgrinder, the tank at night is in the upper 70's so that would kill hamata. I have to move it out into the fridge. I'd love to have a way to cool the tank but I don't.

I was referring specifically to this quote: "Every morning it goes in the window and gets 2-3 hours of sunlight. Then it goes back into my tank where it is under two t8 lamps for a total of 4 bulbs." That suggests you are moving the plant from a very closed humid environment, into the open air of the house, where humidity is lower. I'd skip that part, if possible, and rely solely on your lights. Move the plant closer, if need be.

 

[lance]

Since you live in central florida, Im afraid theres no natural way to cool the plant. I grow my highlanders in the garage where all I need is that 50 degree weather with the fog to come through the window.

 

[Thagirion]

Nope, no natural way, Lance. But that's why I use a fridge.
Whim, Yes I did say that. I just put a hygrometer in the fridge. Humidity in there is currently 45%. Don't know what I can do to raise it. Humidity in the house, it's been raining a lot, is currently 66%. Plus my plant gets sprayed every morning while it's out in the room so the lowest humidity it experiences is in the fridge where it HAS to go every night for several hours. The 2-3 hours of sun it gets in the morning in higher humidity I think is really helping though still not enough. I know that real sunlight is way better than the lights I have and those few hours help. Though lately I have been skipping that step only because it's been raining and dark for a few day straight. And it is raised in the tank. It's the only plant that's on a pedestal.


New Nepenthes tank. Happy Plants by Thagirion3, on Flickr

Old set up but the principle is the same.

 

[thez_yo]

Whimgrinder, the tank at night is in the upper 70's so that would kill hamata. I have to move it out into the fridge. I'd love to have a way to cool the tank but I don't. Other than that I'm glad you think it's looking good. Plus every Friday is tank cleaning day and I take out all the plants once a week to suck up the bad water condensed from the humidifier. Currently working on that now for both my tanks.

My hamatas regularly experience 80's during the day. Sometimes even 90's and they're OK. As long as you have a temp drop at night, you should be fine.

 

[Whimgrinder]

If the RH in the fridge is only 45% at night, I would mist the plant lightly and put it in a Tupperware container to hold in the moisture. N. hamata expects very high humidity during the night, and it seems to me this is easily done, with a bit more engineering ;-)

 

[Thagirion]

Thanks Thez.
Whim, that's a good idea. I could think of something to put it in, though it will be a problem when it gets big.

 

[lance]

Its really small so I don't think it would be affected by getting moved into the fridge (heli's would fair worse with their nimble roots). Right now I think you should find a way to increase the humidity in the fridge when it goes in at night. I'd recommend getting a ultrasonic humidifier (looks like a round metal disk with a hole in the top) and placing it in a glass of water beside the hamata in the fridge. You could always hook it up to a humidistat if your worried the fridge will be "underwater" the next morning.

Edit: just posted this right after they did and now that I think if it I would certainly recommend the tubberware idea.

 

[Thagirion]

Haha that's ok. I have had that happen too when I'm typing and someone says the same thing first then it looks like I'm adding for no reason. Yeah, I like Whim's idea since it's easy to do.

 

[Whimgrinder]

Thanks Thez.
Whim, that's a good idea. I could think of something to put it in, though it will be a problem when it gets big.

Well, its not a HUGE species anyway, so you have lots of time to worry about that. And lets not forget, zip-loc type bags come in some mighty large sizes now, hint, hint.

 

[Heli]

Thanks Thez.
Whim, that's a good idea. I could think of something to put it in, though it will be a problem when it gets big.

I have done a couple experiments with my mini cooler. What I would recommend is put a tupperware of water with a little salt (to prevent bacteria growth) at the bottom of the fridge. You should also put a humidistat in the fridge to make sure its getting the humidity that the tupperware of water should supply.

 

[Thagirion]

No, Heli. I like Whim's idea and want to keep this simple. I'm not going rig extra stuff up for my fridge when it works fine.

Whimgrinder, that's something I have been meaning to ask on here. When I order plants they come in all size of sandwhich bags. Where can I get those. I have only seen the regular ones and the gallon ones.