ok i'm new to this forum and i need some advice on growing my fly trap and cobra lily. I have a tropical pitcher plant already but these two plants a re different. Do i have to use terreriums? (i really don't want to) I've looked at a few care sheets and they all say different things. Thanks in advance for your help!
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Newbie needinh help!
- Thread starter prizmbatch
- Start date
I'm not sure what they are. someone gave them to me and i've kinda nursed it back to health.What's the difference and maybe I could tell ya. both of the new plants are in these plastic containers, do I leave them or take them out? they look pretty wet so i shouldn't have to water them right away? how do i tell if they are dormant or not?
no i live in texas. right now it's a mix between warm wet days and cold dry days. you don't think the window sills will get to cold? my neps seem pretty healthy besides the lack of pitchers. so i just need pots with dishes under them full of water? how big of pots? i just use peat moss right? i've got that b/c i have spiders and i use it for them. what about vericulite? when and how do i get my neps to bloom again?
Neps to bloom? They bloom when they feel like it, and they dont bloom often at all.
Do you mean pitcher them?
Not sure what the best mix for Neps is, but add some orchid bark tot he soil if you are reppoting them.
Dont sit the Neps in water. It tends to kill them.
Pure peat is fine for the VFT and Cobra lily though I would add some sand to the mix aswell.
The pot size depends on plant size.
Do you mean pitcher them?
Not sure what the best mix for Neps is, but add some orchid bark tot he soil if you are reppoting them.
Dont sit the Neps in water. It tends to kill them.
Pure peat is fine for the VFT and Cobra lily though I would add some sand to the mix aswell.
The pot size depends on plant size.
yeah thats what i meant, sorry i'm new to this and don't know all the terms. anyway- i've had my plant since about the middle of september and it had about 6 pitchers and all but 2 were dead. the remaining two were kinda crunchy and eventually died too. so i cut them off. The plant sizes of both the cobra and vft are very small it seems as if the just started growing. Should i replant my neps? i wasn't planning on it cause they seem to be doing ok.
jimscott
Tropical Fish Enthusiast
Hi prizmbatch and welcome to the discussion forums! Congratulations on your new plants. The combination of tropical pitcher plant, VFT, and cobra lily sounds suspiciously like a Lowes purchase - a plastic cube perhaps?
All three plants have different growing requirements. The Nep (probably a N. ventricosa) is an easy plant to grow. Since I cannot be sure what it is, your best bet is to keep it in a container, like a terrarium, to provide higher humidity. As was suggested earlier, a VFT does fine uncovered, but sitting in another container that has 1/2" of grocery store distilled water, at a window sill. The cobra lily is a more difficult plant, but for now, keep it in the same conditions as the VFT. Right now I would concern myself with either keeping out of or preventing them from being in shock. Store bought plants are ofetn neglected and taking them home could put them over the edge. Dead leaves is a good indicator of possible neglect.
Could you describe the soil that they are in, like how moist it was or how green or brown the leaves were when you purchased them? Any chance of posting pictures? Need help with that? We can help.
All three plants have different growing requirements. The Nep (probably a N. ventricosa) is an easy plant to grow. Since I cannot be sure what it is, your best bet is to keep it in a container, like a terrarium, to provide higher humidity. As was suggested earlier, a VFT does fine uncovered, but sitting in another container that has 1/2" of grocery store distilled water, at a window sill. The cobra lily is a more difficult plant, but for now, keep it in the same conditions as the VFT. Right now I would concern myself with either keeping out of or preventing them from being in shock. Store bought plants are ofetn neglected and taking them home could put them over the edge. Dead leaves is a good indicator of possible neglect.
Could you describe the soil that they are in, like how moist it was or how green or brown the leaves were when you purchased them? Any chance of posting pictures? Need help with that? We can help.
they are in those plastic cubes and from my experience with peat moss i'd say that's what they are in. The VFT is moist but not drenched.The plants is very small if just a baby. the leaves are for the most part green. As for the cobra lily, it is in the same enclosure with the same substrate. It is a little more wet than the vft.the leaves on it are also for the most part green. theres a little brown and red on them too.(on the lily)
I tryed growing fly traps and a purple pitcher plant inside with no luck I live in ohio since you live in texas. I say up them outside right away. I put mine outside in october and in just a few days the purple pitcher plant turned purple and the fly traps are doing better. as long as the temp. does not fall below 20. my tropical pitcher plants do fine sitting by a window I also have 4 40 watt GE plant lights over them.
General rule of thumb.. Plants DO NOT like sudden and drastic change. If you want to take them out go ahead but do it gradually by letting in a little more fresh air each day for a few days or so. Want to grow them in enclosed containers go ahead. Plenty of people grow plants indoors in terrarium type situations. Just watch they don't get cooked if the sun hits them and watch you don't keep things too wet in an enclosed terrarium because fungus can become an issue with reduced air circulation.[b said:
As for the Nepenthes in a hanging basket. You probably won't see pitchers again until next Spring and the humidity increases in your area. While many Nepenthes will grow as houseplants, pitcher production might be sporadic when the air is colder and drier during the Winter months.
Tony
Finch
Whats it to ya?
is it a true cobra lilly, or a saccerenia hybrid mislabled as a cobra lilly? they get mislabled often
Yu live in texas. dependin g opn the locationm, the releteve humidity can get pretty dry there at some times of the year. that happens in the mountanis of the west and great plains alot. i do not live in a deset, but with a avrage humidity of 10% a terrarium is a must for me for most parts of the year. true, at wetter parts of the year they dont need it, but it gets pretty dry here in the winter and summer (espec. in drought) so they probably wouldnt make it trough those seasons without the help of a terrarium, and im pretty shure my new nep
wouldnt.
tony, you mean they can make it rhrough tose times of the year out of a terrarium without drying? do u think they could where i live?!
[b said:
Yu live in texas. dependin g opn the locationm, the releteve humidity can get pretty dry there at some times of the year. that happens in the mountanis of the west and great plains alot. i do not live in a deset, but with a avrage humidity of 10% a terrarium is a must for me for most parts of the year. true, at wetter parts of the year they dont need it, but it gets pretty dry here in the winter and summer (espec. in drought) so they probably wouldnt make it trough those seasons without the help of a terrarium, and im pretty shure my new nep
tony, you mean they can make it rhrough tose times of the year out of a terrarium without drying? do u think they could where i live?!
ok so do i open the containers or not? i don't have a different pot to put them in right now. i was planning on going tomorrow. should i do it now? i just bought themand was going to let them settle before i transplant. they are small and i was just going to open the cubes for tonight and then transplant tomorrow. oh yeah and i got pics how do i post them?
Finch - I think there are a few Nepenthes that can handle quite dry air. Whether they will be super healthy and pitcher all the time is another question. On my West windowsill I grew things like N. truncata, N ventrata, N. khasiana for extended time frames (greater than 1year). In the Summer they would get baked all afternoon with full sun. During the Winter the hotwater baseboard was right below them along the wall and a woodstove was running in the basement. They lived and increased in size. The N. Ventrata and Khasiana pitchered all year the N. truncata would only pitcher during the more humid Spring/Summer months. Sometimes they would need a nice soaking every few days.. they went through alot of water! During the Winter the pitchers were sometimes dry inside. Can it work for you? I don't know for sure. Is it worth a try? Probably if you select an inexpensive plant with a known track record for durability. Maybe you can pick up a candidate in the trade forum..
Prizmbatch - If you want to take the tops off. Go ahead. I would put the container into a clear baggie with the top opened a bit to let in a little fresh air and yet hold some moisture. Keep an eye on them and if you see the leaves flopping over or geting curled or wrinkled then close up the baggie a bit.
Just a side note. I do better with Darlingtonia (cobra lily) potted in long fiber sphagnum moss.
I would also suggest stopping at a decent book store and picking up a copy of The Savage Garden by Peter D'Amato. It covers all the major Genera and has very good information on culture etc. Nice and easy to read too with good pictures.
Tony
Prizmbatch - If you want to take the tops off. Go ahead. I would put the container into a clear baggie with the top opened a bit to let in a little fresh air and yet hold some moisture. Keep an eye on them and if you see the leaves flopping over or geting curled or wrinkled then close up the baggie a bit.
Just a side note. I do better with Darlingtonia (cobra lily) potted in long fiber sphagnum moss.
I would also suggest stopping at a decent book store and picking up a copy of The Savage Garden by Peter D'Amato. It covers all the major Genera and has very good information on culture etc. Nice and easy to read too with good pictures.
Tony
