which one is easier to grow, rajah or villosa?

[nepizumiae]

hi,

I just wanted to know whether somebody has attempted to grow rajah and villosa as intermediates. I know that these are difficult to grow, but if i can only grow them in intermediate conditions, which of the two would you choose.

would it survive intermediate conditions? anybody's point of view is welcome

Thanks

 

[swords]

I do not think you will have luck growing either of them as intermediates. At it's lowest elevation N. rajah (the "warmest" growing of the two) is still 1500m and is a true highlander which should regularly experience 50*F/10*C at night in cultivation to grow well and remain healthy for the long term.

I grow all my highlanders as upper highland with temps as cold as possible year round. This time of year I am getting regular nighttime temperatures of 40*F/5*C and a rise to 65-75*F/18-22*C during the day. All my highland plants grow noticeably faster in the coldest part of the year. Even the species occuring at lower montane and "intermediate" elevations seem to enjoy the steep temperature swing.

I have only had N. villosa for a month or so. I can tell you that N. rajah will grow big quickly if it's in good conditions. My latest leaf is 25 cm (10") and the one before it was 22 cm, the pitchers are about egg sized. It is now in need of moving to allow for unobstructed new leaves. I got it as a 5 cm (2") plant in June of 2002. Not really as slow or difficult as it has been touted IF you have the right conditions.

Many people have tried to grow it in non-highland conditions and failed. Choosing a non-montane or known easier species would be more of a guarentee of success and better investment of your money.

 

[neps]

I am quite confident that N. villosa will not do well
grown under intermediate conditions. Yes, you might
succeed for a brief time when it is small, but as the
plant grows larger, it will probably sicken and die.

N. rajah is slightly more tolerant, but in my opinion, it
is also not a good candidate for intermediate conditions.
Some good choices for such an environment are NN. maxima,
stenophylla, ventricosa, khasiana, or alata, among
others.

Remember: it's better to grow a common plant well than to
grow an exotic plant poorly.

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

In intermediate conditions you could probably get away with N. burbidgeae, N. veitchii, and the ones Jeff has reccomended.

N. villosa and N. rajah in my collection are given very cool nights. I hang mine right around 50F (10C) but I know it gets's colder than that due to the delay time the heater has to take in ignition and combustion to heat up the radiation fins then kick the circulation fan on.

I also must stress not only is sufficent night-time temperatures cool but day time climate must be mild as well. My plants get a mist every day and humidity is generally above 60% With temperatures in the low 70's to high 80'sF on a sunny day. Sometimes I will get 80% readings on certain days. So far with this climate I've been getting very good results. I have a 27cm diameter N. rajah and a 8cm diameter N. villosa at the moment with my cultivation techniques. Of course I've had my N. rajah much longer as well.

 

[The Griffin]

Remember: it's better to grow a common plant well than to
grow an exotic plant poorly.


This is a great quote by Jeff, as I have seen lots of pics of people's N. rajah or whatever that are little green spiders that they have had for months, and they don't look nearly as nice as those giant N. x coccinea that many have.
I have given up on growing some highlanders, for the moment, as they seem to do poorly. Even though I have a basement growing area, the lowlanders are growing out of the tanks(in some species) and this is without any heating. This includes the giant red amp, which someone mentioned is a harder amp to grow(I have not noticed this myself).
That all said, I have some higlanders like N. spathulata that are doing well. Has anyone else noticed that species tolerating more intermediate conditions?

Regards,

Joe

 

[agustinfranco]

Dear Dustin and others:

That's interesting to hear that you give your rajah and villosa mild temps during the day. Mine get 45 F at night (artificial chamber) and about up to 95 F during the day and they are doing great!!. Humidity is between 90-100% at all times. Just over the summer season though. In winter time, they'll get temps no higher than 75 and no lower than 53 F (these temps are given by mother nature).

Another myth i may want to break is that of N. rafflesiana. Although this plant is a lowlander, it's been known to grow in colder temperatures without problems. I live in Sydney and the temperatures get as cold as those as i have mentioned before and i know a couple of people growing rafflesianas without problems.

Agustin

 

[schloaty]

Quote[/b] ]Another myth i may want to break is that of N. rafflesiana. Although this plant is a lowlander, it's been known to grow in colder temperatures without problems. I live in Sydney and the temperatures get as cold as those as i have mentioned before and i know a couple of people growing rafflesianas without problems.

Reaaaaaaallllyy?? Good to know. My raf is rapidly approaching "display" status as it's growing like there's no tomorrow. I have been thinking how nice it would be to display it in the living room..... But night temps get into the 50's.

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Howdy,

Agustin, I think the trick to "getting away" with growing ultahighlands in less than ideal conditions by giving them their correct temperatures at the right times of day, like 45 at night and 95 in the day is a big swing, which most of the plants experience.


Dave, rafflesiana doing ok? I'd leave it! Rather keep in where it is growing beautifully than move it to a new spot and have it go downhill.

 

[neps]

Quote[/b] ]Mine get 45 F at night (artificial chamber) and about up to 95 F during the day and they are doing great!!.

How large are these plants? I think that you will find that
they will become increasingly demanding as they mature,
particularly N. villosa.

 

[agustinfranco]

Hi Neps

The rajah is about 3 inches in diameter and the villosa 2.5 inches in diameter. What i  have noticed is that even though they may tolerant to high temperatures (temporarily), avoid direct sunlight, otherwise, they'll be nice steamed veggies.

If you look at Joel's site (neps around the house: he grows villosa outside) how daring!!

Gus

 

[trashcan]

My raffs were nearly killed by a short drop in temps .. Down to about 20C for two nights. All of the leaves and pitchers died within a few days, and the plants are still recovering, a month later.

 

[Trent]

I've noticed our raffs are enjoying the cool nights in our greenhouse here in south Florida. We're getting some huge traps on our raffs right now, and the amps and bicals are looking good too. In fact-everything seems to be enjoying it. Nights have been mostly down into the low 60's, with drops down into the low 50's when cold fronts push through. Day temps are up to about 85F, and humidity never below 70 percent. We don't even attempt to grow Nep species from above 1000 meter altitude: they simply cannot survive the summer heat.
Trent
Boca Raton, Florida

 

[The Griffin]

For those of you using the freezer box method of our esteemed colleague, Dr. Jeff Shafer, for ultra highland plants, er, where do you get one of the boxes? I work for a grocery store chain and the prices quoted by the vendors that have them are outrageous. I have been looking for one for over five years(I had a similar thought, but for using it to grow Darlingtonia, ie keeping the roots cool).

Thanks,

Joe

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

I am interested to build one in the greenhouse, this way it could kick on at night to cool to around 45F or so, just have the plants set in it with no cover (cold air falls anyway so it would be quite cooler inside of the "ice perimeter") So also they would get nice humidity and temps in the day and at night the good crisp temperatures. I also plan to build a lowlander heat mat which will keep the pots warmer whilst the air will be somewhat cooler.