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N. gentle

Well, one of my Gentle's two existing pitchers is withering, but the other one's still alive.

It's very slow-growing, it's only produced two new pitchers since I've got it, but both are tiny - about 2cm compared to the existing 13cm ones.

In addition, neither pitcher produces nectar or digestive fluid or catches its own food. Which made me wonder if N. Gentle may not be more suited to an intermediate setup rather than Singapore's lowland conditions. I know Island grows them as lowlanders, but maybe the large healthy pitchers require lower temperatures and higher humidity to develop?

Or perhaps it's just a really slow grower.

Any thoughts on this?
 
I grow my N. 'Gentle' as an intermediate/highland in the UK. Both my plants grow rapidly and pitcher well, with pitcher size increasing rapidly with each successive pitcher.

This hybrid is thought to be a N. fusca x maxima, so I would be suprised if it thrived under true lowland conditions long-term. However, all the Nep clones that are mass-produced by the Belgian tissue culture company Deroose Plants, have been selected for their vigour and ease of growth, so it is probably tolerant of quite a range of conditions.

Vic
 
yeah that happened to mone also, my big pitchers are dying up and the other small one grow very slowly
 
Intermediates and highlands are a no-no for us unless you can find a suitable place.

I have one maximaXventricosa at home together with my lowlands and another at work in an air-conditioned room. Trust me. The one in the air-conditioned room has maroon pitchers on every leaf and the pitchers are fully formed. The one at home has green "juvenile" pitchers.

My highland alata and n.tobaicaXthorelli are also prone to scale insects which doesn't affect the lowlands next to them.

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OH NO!!! I've forgotten to water my neps at work for a week!
 
Oh dear Cindy, that could be trouble
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Better do so tomorrow...

Hmmm...this is very distressing news. I can't possibly keep the Gentle in an air-conditioned environment all the time...would moving it to an air-conditioned room at night help? I don't think so, as daytime temperatures are still high, but maybe it's worth a shot...
 
My plants have experienced some very hot temperatures (for the UK) in the day this summer, with no problems (37C outside and a bit warmer than that in my greenhouse), but have experienced a drop to much cooler temperatures at night. Moving to an air con room at night might be better, as long as its humid at night.

Vic
 
Thanks for that, Vic, I'll try and do that.

Although I'm not quite sure how to get humidity around the plant up in an air-conditioned space.
 
colin,

Take a look here. It shows clearly the differences given the two conditions.

I've brought the plant back to my office and as soon as the "third tier" pitchers open, I'll post the photos.

I received the maximaXventricosa that I passed to my student today and it did extremely well in her hands, I must say. In a couple of months, the pitcher and leaf size quartupled! Now I'm going to ask her where she placed it.

Sigh...as the saying goes...the student shall exceed the teacher...
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Regarding pitcher size, I've a N.atala/ventrata. It was initally grown in a hanging basket and its pitchers were quite small then. But when I put it on top of a drain, the pitchers got larger. Could be the increased humidity (provided by a drain
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) or it's just that it's getting older, I guess.
 
  • #10
I am growing N. X Gentle since 7 months under extreme lowland conditions 'outdoors' in the Philippines (Temp around 31C during daytime around 23C at night). It is growing quite well. Sure it could always be faster, especially the pitcher forming takes long and usually there will be only two pitchers at a time. Well I have also a problem that some pitchers don't make it due to insect damage. But the pitchers are 5" inch tall and very  pretty.
It get's sun from 12 to 5 pm and some of the older leaves are turning red. Recently I allowed it to topple over and now there are many new growth point emerging from the base.
Volker
PS: Maxima is not necessarily a highlander. It can be found at highland AND lowland locations in nature.
 
  • #11
Okay, that's good to know. leucophylla, is that full sun? Mine only gets filtered sun because I don't want the leaves to burn.
 
  • #12
Colin,

Highlanders love the sun. And although I don't own a n.gentle, I've seen one and remember that it's leaves are pretty thick. Give it more sun and observe the plant. One thing about a nep is that once it's happy with the condition, it pitchers really fast!
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  • #13
Colin,

Yes it is full sun. Nepenthes can often be found in nature on mountains tops (not in the forest 40 meters below! ) or road banks. Places where there is no shade at all. When I got my gentle I also placed it on a shady shelf, because I didn't know the parentage yet. Also it had relatively large leafes, which might be a hint for a shade loving plant. Then one day the sun decided
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to shine on that shelf, without harming the plant. The leafes turn red, but that's it, they don't turn brown or anything. Actually the leafes last very long. Sadly the pitchers last only about 3-4 weeks, which could be due to the warm climate. They do capture all kinds of stuff, even large centipedes. Meanwhile I burried the pot into the garden soil.

If you had bad experience with direkt sunlight in the past it is probably because the transition from shade to sun was too fast. Leafes grown under shady conditions might 'brown' off once you expose the plant to too much sun.

Then, I don't want to encourage you putting this plant into the sun. I just don't have enough shady places right now (all occupied by baby Neps
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). It did nice green leafes and also very colorful pitchers in the shade before. If it is in a sunny place chances that the whole plant will die, when you forget to irrigate, are a lot higher. Been there, done that
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Especially when the pot is small.
 
  • #14
Hmm. The problem is that I hang most of my neps on trees for a "natural" feel, so the leaves of the trees tend to shade them.

How can I move them from shade to sun without burning them? What kind of adjustment process is advisable?

My pitchers don't seem to catch anything, actually. I'm not quite sure why that is.
 
  • #15
Normally your plant should be fine hanging in a tree, if it is not too dark underneath.
To try something else, you might want to try placing the pot on the ground. Here the humidity is a little higher, especially when you can spray the area around it occasionally. Spray as often as you can, it will also lower the temp. Then the plant doesn't move that much. Some Neps don't like motion. Even though they grow on windy mountain tops they usually try to not expose themselves to strong winds, especially their pitchers are usually well secured. Swinging pitchers = swinging plant = root stress.
With the pitchers touching the ground it will also catch more insects. however, make sure that the water can still drain properly from the pot. i know it is prettier when they hang in a tree.
This is just me, trying to think why you plant couldn't be happy. Don't take it too serious  
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  • #16
Actually, I exaggerate. Most of my pitchers can catch their own food, when hung just about anywhere, it's only my N. x Gentle that seems pretty helpless. Maybe it's having trouble adapting.

Recently it's been very rainy and cloudy, so they've not been getting much sun at all.
 
  • #17
Anyway the food catching is not that important as of now. if the plant is not growing properly it shouldn't be related to food. Food is just to make it grow better.

It is really hard to judge from a distance what is wrong. Maybe the soil is too wet and doesn't drain well enough? I have it in very rough coco fiber with some lava rocks. Maybe your plant is still in shock, how long do you have it already?
 
  • #18
I've had it for about a month now. It could be the soil, it's in a peaty substrate. I didn't repot because I was so enamoured with the large pitchers I didn't want to risk it.

I think maybe it's just a slow grower?
 
  • #19
Hello Colin,

My N x gentle is under partial shade, hanging from my porch. It's currently pitchering quite heavily. I can't say that these will grow to be large pitchers since they are all still closed. But there's one abt the length of my little finger now and it's covered with red specks.

I repotted it in a larger pot with sand/peat/vermiculite/perlite. It didn't look like it grew for abt 2 weeks then last week or thereabouts, it started pitchering wildly. (small undeveloped pitchers, that is)

Maybe u cld try repotting it?
 
  • #20
A month is not really much. It is still adjusting to the new environment and you should just leave it alone for a while (say two months) and observe. Compared to others Gentle is a slow grower (at least in the tropical lowlands! ) especially the pitchers.
That pitchers are turning brown after moving the plant (store to you) is quite normal. Wait if the next pitchers are increasing in size. Maybe the first ones just reacted on the 'disturbance'.
 
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