What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Planting nepenthes plants in the ground

Hello everyone.

Just asking for advice on this... I know that most people will say that you can't plant these plant in the ground, but I want to experiment a little with this.
smile.gif
I was thinking about using maybe a N rafflesiana or a N gracilis, since they seem to be the most tolerant of all Neps. How would I go about doing this?

Thanks

Jœl
 
Troy or Rob would probably be the best people to talk too as they both live in lowland climate as well.

I would imagine that you could find an area that doesn't collect water and dig out a section. Fill it back in with a suitable Nepenthes type soil .. maybe something like peat, bark, lava rock.. I deffinately would use some inorganic ingredients to keep it loose and airy...

Alternatively you could use a big buried tub with a few holes punched in it near the bottom so it doesn't hold too much water. Then you wouldn't have to worry quite so much about surrounding soil sucking your Nepenthes dry or some other unforseen difficulty.

Tony
 
mindmaze, i do recall seeing a picture some where of a N. Raff. growing in beach sand. also you could try digging a hole filling it w/ a mix and planting it in that. that sounds like a good exsperament to do. let us know how it turns out.
 
nooooooooooo! not beach sand! it has way way way way way,ect. too much salt in it, and it will kill your nep.! hey, I see rain out the window! rain! it hasn't rained for about 7 months here. I'm outta here.
tounge.gif
 
Spec73, well the plant wasn't right on the beach but it was suger sand. hey since it is raining there catch some and sent it to me i'm running out of rain water here. a gal. would be cool.
 
We plant Neps out in the ground sometimes.   One of our sites has very sandy soil which suits some Nepenthes just fine.  The site where I live has clay, so as Tony guessed, we dug a trench and filled it with coco peat.  The plants get watered by runoff from the nursery next to it.  These are mostly N. mirabilis and are always in flower.  Being next to the nursery means they get sun only in the afternoons.  This is quite similar to Nepenthes that grow alongside bushes or on forest margins.  Here's a rather poor photo that I just took:

outdoor_neps.jpg
 
I have planted many neps right in the ground here in Hawaii. It is quite easy. Just pick a place with proper lighting, dig a small hole, make sure it has good drainage, put your nepenthes in, water it in and forget about it. They grow just great. Many of the plants I have sold are growing up trees in people's yards here in Hawaii. We will soon be a great place to come see nepenthes growing in the wild without having to go to Malaysia, Philippines, etc.

Kim
 
Kim, how are the people hanging them in the trees? potted,on a peace of wood, or right onto the tree??? i would like to try one that way
 
yeah that would be cool! if you had alot of land, call it kinibalu island. or "the island of hawaii kinibalu reserve" plant a bunch of ventrincosa and BAM! Nepenthes in North America.
------------------------------------------------------------
but what if there was a drought? you would have to water all of the neps in your yard. (it would take a long time
tounge.gif
and water) but it would be cool to leave it for like 10 years and come back to a yard of millions of nep!
tounge.gif
and what if there was a slight rare frost? (not just in hawaii) they would just all die... or would they?
confused.gif
 
  • #10
Some of my friends have put them on trees strapping them like orchids. The neps do fine. Others have just planted them in the lava cinders in damper rain forest areas. The plants are doing great. Eventually, there will be many places to see nepenthes over here in the wild. It does not freeze here on this island unless you get about 7000 ft on Mauna Kea or Mauna Loa. Below that you have great areas for highland neps and great areas for lowland/intermediate neps. Drought is normally not a problem as we have over 125 inches of rain a year here on the east side. Enjoy.

Kim
 
  • #11
Hey Kim, Howzit?
   Sounds like you are on the Big Island...I was just there on my honeymoon....let me say this.....I am REALLY  jealous of people who live there....Are you near Hilo? Man, I wanna live in near Hilo... I could deal with the Kona coast to..

Man, I wanna go back.....
New York sucks in the winter...
sad.gif


Hang loose!
 
  • #12
We live about a half hour southwest of Hilo.

Kim
 
  • #13
Kim, with the higher elevation spots in your area does the night time temps drop at night and to what degrees?
 
  • #14
Where I live at present, we are only about 50 ft or so above sea level. Summer lows and highs are usually 68-70 F for low and 83-84 F for high. Winter is usually 60-62 lows and 80-81 highs. Some highland neps I keep at friends living at 3000 ft where winter lows and highs are more like 52-54 lows and highs 72-74 and about 3 degrees warmer each end during summer. I have another friend growing some up near the volcano where lows can be in the mid to upper forties in winter and daytime temps 68-72. I am quite surprised that a number of highlands such as N. burbidgea, N. lavicola, and N. lowii do just fine where I am.

Kim
 
  • #15
Kim, that is really remarkable that the plants do grow just fine there. the enviroment in the areas there do meet the requirements for the plants also. with the Highlands that you mentioned it sounds like they adapted to be grown at 50' above sea level. i do belive if a highland plant is slowly brought into a lowland enviroment such as yours it will adapt to it. you do have a drop in temp at night but not as cold as it would be by the volcano or at 3000'.
 
  • #16
George,

I am also growing N. spathulata, N. spectabilis, N. stenophylla and several other "highlands" with no problem here at 50 ft. I was quite surprised that all of our Sarracenia do quite well here. I thought for sure they would all go down with the lack of cold winter temps, but so far (four years) they seem to do just fine. S. alata, flava, and leucophyllas seem to grow to full size with no problem. They are going dormant now and will probably be back out in January. I doubt they will even see one night below fifty five to fifty seven degrees.

Kim
 
  • #17
Kim, with the Sarr's. that is about normal for some of them to grow in but it does get a little colder up in the panhandle during winter 32-55. depends how close you are to the gulf of mexico.
the neps i do think they adapted to the enviroment that you have just like some of the highlanders hybrids i have here growing outside have adapted to the climate.
 
Back
Top