pot size

[whispersiren]

Um... you see, my terrarium is kind of small, and full and I was curious about repotting,: Have babies in tall 4" pots, and they seem happy.

(1) How do you know when/if you need to transplant them?

(2) if nepenthes have shallow roots and don't depend on their them for nutrients, what are the benefits to planting them in large pots? (0ther than stability)

(3) Doesn't transplanting cause shock? I read somewhere that you should transplant every year to revive the soil?

(4) Will keeping them in small pots in essence "bonsai" them?

 

[Tony Paroubek]

1. When they look waaaaay to big for the pots they are in. Or they are not growing well and you suspect something wrong with the roots and potting mix.

2. Nepenthes in cultivation don't necessarily have shallow roots. In the wild they may or may not. By stability do you mean physical? ie to keep the plant from tipping? Larger pots are also more stable with respect to moisture...ie they dry out slower.

3. Careful transplanting will cause minimal shock. It depends how much the roots are damaged during the process. Sometimes you have to get rough with them a bit and some damage is unavoidable. Repotting should be done when the plants are way overgrown or there is something wrong with the current potting mix. How long your potting mix is good for depends on the mix and your cultural practices.

4. No, however you run a higher risk of stunting them. Again it depends on your cultural practices. Larger pots will certainly give your plants more room for a larger root system which will make it easier for the plant to take up moisture and nutrients. Can a mature 3 foot tall 2 foot across Nepenthes be grown in a 6 inch pot? sure but it requires more optimal conditions and careful monitoring.
Tony

 

[Joachim]

For me repotting in bigger pots always result in bigger plants. This may be due to the nutrients in the soil I don't know - not depending on nutrients from the soil doesn't imply they can't use it. Plants which I thought of beeing mature sized because they produced a whole batch of similar sized leafes increased quite fast after repotting.

1: Repotting about every two years seems to be fine for my plants under my conditions. Some plants like N. rajah have very big root systems and they will profit of a bigger pot even when they are quite small.

3: I want to add this also depends on species. Most nepenthes aren't shocked if you do it carefully but some simply hate it. My N. ampullaria clone dislikes it most and a friend mine told me bigger N. talangensis plants are impossible to repot they just die afterwards.

Joachim