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Increase in Pitcher Size from Leaf to Leaf

In general how much do pitchers increase in size from one leaf to the next. I know there are a lot of variables to be figured in here; like highland vs lowland, maturity of the plant, time of the year, type of nepenthes, etc…. I would be interested in your observations. The reason that I ask is that I was looking at my plants today and realized that one of my plants had jumped from a 3.5” pitcher to an 11” pitcher in just six leaves. The plant in question is an N. truncata x ventricosa that I got from one of the forum members via eBay last fall.

Here are some pictures to illustrate what I am talking about. Notice the little pitcher to the left of the monster pitcher; these are the two pitchers I am referring to.
NtruncataxventricosaII26Jul09.jpg

Ntruncataxventricosa26Jul09.jpg

NtruncataxventricosaIII26Jul09.jpg


I got a pleasant surprise when I was moving the plant around to take pictures… a basal….
NtruncataxventricosaBasal26Jul09.jpg
 
Your right about there being a lot of variables. Its different for every species. On stenophylla the pitcher size increase is less dramatic than the leaves. Maybe 1/4 of an inch for each new pitcher. Truncata gave me a 4 inch pitcher out of 2 inch ones when I started this hobby.
 
I think that the growth stage of the plant has a lot to do with the relative size of the pitchers. Wistuba (and possibly others) break it down with five stages, from seedling to flowering adult, with varying features such as leaf size, juvenile characteristics (fused pitcher lids, lack of distinct tendrils, etc.,) internode length, and - of course - pitcher size. For each variety (cross, species, form) there will be different rates, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that they're all related to the growth stage - seedling, rosette, juvenile, vine, and flowering vine (or however else you want to break it down.)
I tend to notice great leaps in pitcher and leaf size in my plants, with little variance in between growth spurts. In other words, my plants will occasionally double in size in the course of a month or two after certain events such as weather changes or repotting. But otherwise, they gain size very slowly, and some even seem to just maintain the same rough size and the leaves vary in length around an average.
~Joe
 
It could also be because of the truncata itself, i think. Since truncata grows slowly the pitchers are bound to get bigger and bigger each leaf. Since it takes its sweet time growing.. who knows what it could be doing in its xylems.
 
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