Hi All,
Robin, we'll have to get a pic of Big Mama's upper traps. Wish she would flower. Her vine is over 8 feet.
The bical in the pic is the old Agristarts clone, which has been discontinued for many years now. Our N. bicalcarata clone #38 'Big Mama' (not pictured) was given to us by our friend Steve Stewart, who bred and cloned his own bicalcaratas. #38 bloomed female and Steve crossed a few other bicals onto her. We have since given her the nickname 'Big Mama' - and it stuck. The only source for more #38 bical is from cuttings or plants still in circulation. The thought of cutting up Big Mama's vine is laughable! We'll need a chainsaw.
We are located in South Florida. Our winters are pretty warm, but we still need a heater on a few of the cold nights. We can't grow many of the highland species, and we enjoy seeing all of your photos posted here of plants that would just melt in our summer heat. For the next four months (or so) we won't get temps below 74 degrees F! Yes, good for the bical, bad for most highlanders.
The Viking growth habit (both leaf and stem) is nothing like a rafflesiana. I believe Dr. Kurata is describing the Vikings now. Looks like it is more related to mirabilis or the Thai thorelii (smilesii). We are going to make closer observation today as for specific scientific details (using a similar comparison chart that Charles Clarke used in describing N. rowanae). The leaves are thicker than mirabilis. Also interesting is the rhizome. These things have rhizome that only a Sarracenia could rival! It's thick and long, we'll try to post a pic later. The reason for the rhizome is because the natural environment where the Vikins grow is monsoonal and they experience a dry season. The photos of the Viking habitat looks very similar to the coastal bogs of the Florida panhandle where Sarracenia grow. Our Vikings in the pics are all different sizes, with the largest leaf span being around two feet, the largest pitchers are around four inches tall. Can't wait for some of the babies to mature.
Most of our Neps are grown in regualr ol' Nep mix (as listed in that other post) except for the bicals, which are in 100 percent LFS (and it's the cheap stuff from Wisconsin, they don't care). The Vikings are being grown in our regular mix (with the Corbitt Cypress mulch from Lowes). The mix is well drained and acidic. We find that sand is not a good ingrediant for any Nepenthes in our environment. We over-pot as much as we can, giving those lowland giants lots of room, which they seem to need (other than 'little root' N. truncata). Our humidity is always high, rarely drops below 60 percent. We water when needed. It's never sopping wet or bone dry.
Michelle used to fertilize regularly with a (1/4 of a teaspoon per gallon) high nitrogen orchid food, Better Grow Orchid Plus, 20-14-13 - two times a month in summer. This is a good choice because it contains essential minor elements and it's Urea Free. We have not applied this fertilizer in a while because we just had a baby girl in February. The plants also catch lots of bugs, even though we spray insecticide regularly. We will resume their fertilizing schedule soon, as it really helps produce gigantic pitchers.
Thanks for all the comments! We'll be back with more pics later.