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Newbie at Nepenthes

I just ordered a N. ventricosa from petflytrap.com and I need a little help from my new friends (you guys are the only ones that understand my new obsession!). I have never grown a Nepenthes before and need some tips for terrarium growing of the N. ventricosa. How big will it get, and in what kind of time frame. It will be sharing a 20 gallon tank with a D. capensis and a VFT, all in removeable pots.
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I've had mine for about six months. It's in a pot of LFS and sits among a bunch of orchids and a few Neps and Cephs under 2-bulb fluorescent fixture. More light would be better, of course, but that's what I have. It has continued pitchering and my smaller N. sanguinea has too. This is surprising because my N. x Ventrata has stopped each of the two winters I've had it. So much for hybrid vigor.

The humidity is low in my house because the dewpoint outside is usually in the teens or lower this time of year and was -16 a couple days ago. I have a humidifier that boils two gallons of water per day. That's enough to take the edge off the indoor aridity but I doubt the humidity is even close to what is recommended for Neps.

I think the terrarium will be a great place to start the new Nep and will help it adjust to its new home. But the plant is more durable than one would expect from reading CP books and don't be afraid to try growing it outside the terrarium. My N. x Ventrata, by the way, is hanging in a south window. It's growing fast, but without new pitchers.
 
N. ventricosa does not get overly huge so it should be happy in your 20gal tank. Keep it moist but not sopping wet.

I am curious to the light your plants are receiving. Do they get any sun through a window or is it all artificial light?

Tony
 
Nice bulb. 5000k is not coolwhite. It is more daylight which is actually better for the plants since it has much more blue light so a higher portion of the light produced is usable by the plants. I agree a 3rd bulb would be a good plan. 2 would be bare minimum particularly for things like the Drosera and vft. You can raise these lower growing plants up closer to the light to help.

Tony
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (herenorthere @ Jan. 18 2004,02:53)]I've had mine for about six months.  It's in a pot of LFS and sits among a bunch of orchids and a few Neps and Cephs under 2-bulb fluorescent fixture.  More light would be better, of course, but that's what I have.  It has continued pitchering and my smaller N. sanguinea has too.  This is surprising because my N. x Ventrata has stopped each of the two winters I've had it.  So much for hybrid vigor.

The humidity is low in my house because the dewpoint outside is usually in the teens or lower this time of year and was -16 a couple days ago.  I have a humidifier that boils two gallons of water per day.  That's enough to take the edge off the indoor aridity but I doubt the humidity is even close to what is recommended for Neps.

I think the terrarium will be a great place to start the new Nep and will help it adjust to its new home.  But the plant is more durable than one would expect from reading CP books and don't be afraid to try growing it outside the terrarium.  
My N. x Ventrata, by the way, is hanging in a south window. It's growing fast, but without new pitchers.
My N. x Ventrata is on an east/south window and that is the exact same case as mine. It pitchered fine during the summer but when winter came it stopped pitchering and started climbing.
 
ignore the top quote. I'm still learning how to post
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Hey, don't worry about it. You can edit your post if you want to try and fix it. There is an edit button near the top of each of your posts. It looks like the problem is that your last [ QUOTE] should be a [/QUOTE].
 
Mine has grown best for me in about 1cm tray style water aloud to dry for a few days between watering in a 10 gallon aquarium with 1 20 watt light of some kind and a little fountain to up humidity to near 100%. This is not exactly what I would call an ideal set up or anything, but it's traps are usually red and it grows 1 to 1.5 new leaves a week and swells new pitcures one after the other continuiously. It made a new basel sprout not long ago and it went from ground hight no open leaves to about 2 inches tall with 7 leaves all with open pitchure on them in about 2 months. This species doesn't seem too picky, although mine usually slows in growth when I move it to higher light levels (don't know why, it just does).
 
  • #10
I grew mine in a plastic PFT terrarium with some other plants it didn't belong with.  I upped the light fairly soon by moving it to a new window.  It liked that.  I transplanted it into an aquarium with more appropriate neighbors.  Gave it even more light.  It liked that.  Said "the heck with it" and moved everything outside.  Oops!  I burned a few of the leaves while it was in a hanging basket I had again retransplanted it into.  I mean the leaves were scorched in one day. Three days of that and
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.  

Then, as it got cooler again, and finally "cold" (for Florida), I transplanted it about two more times as I figured out that hanging baskets were too big and inefficient for my new regime (covered grow racks along the fence in the sun).

Now, after all that, it's growing better than ever.  So much for "Leave them alone."  I would if I could.  I use the scoop, pray, and try to get the whole root system method of transplanting.  It's an art.    

From now on, I'm using the smallest containers I can get away with.  I guess that's obvious to some people...    Doh!

Anyway, now I'm buying a lot of four and six inch glazed ceramic pots. If your plant grows out of whatever you are growing it in, consider yourself a nepenthes genius. I only have older plants, not ventricosa exactly (hybrids), that vine like crazy. They were at least a couple years old when I bought them.

If it vines too much you can cut it to make more plants.
 
  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Beagle @ Jan. 22 2004,16:15)]I grew mine in a plastic PFT terrarium with some other plants it didn't belong with.  I upped the light fairly soon by moving it to a new window.  It liked that.  I transplanted it into an aquarium with more appropriate neighbors.  Gave it even more light.  It liked that.  Said "the heck with it" and moved everything outside.  Oops!  I burned a few of the leaves while it was in a hanging basket I had again retransplanted it into.  I mean the leaves were scorched in one day.  Three days of that and
ghostface.gif
.  

Then, as it got cooler again, and finally "cold" (for Florida), I transplanted it about two more times as I figured out that hanging baskets were too big and inefficient for my new regime (covered grow racks along the fence in the sun).

Now, after all that, it's growing better than ever.  So much for "Leave them alone."  I would if I could.  I use the scoop, pray, and try to get the whole root system method of transplanting.  It's an art.    

From now on, I'm using the smallest containers I can get away with.  I guess that's obvious to some people...    Doh!

Anyway, now I'm buying a lot of four and six inch glazed ceramic pots.  If your plant grows out of whatever you are growing it in, consider yourself a nepenthes genius.  I only have older plants, not ventricosa exactly (hybrids), that vine like crazy.  They were at least a couple years old when I bought them.

If it vines too much you can cut it to make more plants.
Yah, N. ventricosa is not fond of direct sun... at least mine isn't. The things can take a beating and thrive though
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just don't put it into direct sun and you're probubly good to go.... You fit one in a PFT bubble? Mine fit for maybe a month before it outgrew it and had to be moved. It's thretoning to outgrow my ten gallon now >_< Good thing I know it can live free standing.
 
  • #12
I just wanted to clarify something. Nepenthes ventricosa loves a lots of light.The fact that your plant got burned leaves if because of the heat generated by the light and not the light itself. This plus lower humidity levels is a recipe for disaster.

Gus
 
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