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Are N. Alata popular?

I was wondering because the store I work at got some and I was thinking I could trade the extra three but no one replied to my trade post.
 
Your post there is still brand new. lol. Give it some time. No reason to keep resurecting a post like that either.. People will read it if it is the 1st post or the 4th. And yes, i think they are pretty common...
 
There's a lot of mistaken identity with Nepenthes alata - some big TC houses have released batches of Neps with misleading labels, calling them 'Alata' (capitalized and quoted to indicate a clone name) when the plant is acutally a hybrid. The plants change hands a couple of times, greenhouse staff replace the tags, and by the time they're in stores they've been labeled as a plain old N. alata and neglected for so long that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference if you knew what to look for.
I've heard of this happening with both alata x ventricosa and alata x (alata x ventricosa.) Apparently the naming convention of the nursery that these plants come from is to name plants after the mother of the cross.
I also believe that true N. alata are harder to find, thus many things sold as alata (especially 'Alata' - read up on naming conventions) are actually just the super-common x. ventrata or a slightly less common alata x (x. ventrata.) In your trade post, you're asking for N. x. Predator, which is has a market value of over $100, according to Neps Around the House. Most CPers - certainly the ones who would have a spare x. 'Predator' on hand to trade - are aware of these false N. alata and that's probably not helping your case.
Anyhow, do a little research, and best luck!
~Joe
 
I see that the N. Predator is hard to get and expensive so how about getting my hands on the two plants that would come together to make it, N. hamata or N. truncata? Are they easier to get?
 
Hehe, I admire your enthusiasm, but it could take a decade to reproduce a Predator-like Nep from parent plants. You'd have to grow the parents to flowering size, which could take as many as five or six years even in good conditions. Then you'd have to wait for them to flower, check to see that you indeed have a male and a female, and then find a time when they're both in bloom at approximately the same time. I don't know how long that would take, it could happen on the first flowering season or you could have sorry luck and it might take years. Once you get flowers pollinated and seed set, it can take up to a year just to germinate the seed, and then several years to get them to seedling size, at which point they'll begin to show adult traits and you can start looking for Predator-like offspring (which isn't to say that you'll necessarily get any.) Better to just collect some more readily available plants and save up some for an established Predator.
~Joe
 
Just knowing how hard it is makes me want it even more. I plan to be in this hobby a long time so why not try it?
 
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