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nepenthes species wanted+ advice needed

Joined
Feb 16, 2015
Messages
171
Location
Nalasopara (near Bombay/Mumbai)
No, I absolutely would not grow lowii in your conditions, even with misters running. Your summers would still be likely to kill it. As for burbidgeae you might be able to. But consider acclimatization time. It took mine almost a year to settle and begin producing pitchers consistently in conditions more favorable than yours. Do you want to be staring at a pitcherless plant for that long if it'll be one of your only nepenthes?

Good point on the lowii. Also it is expensive. I am growing them, but right now I can't call them robustly acclimatized (can't call them that without a full year, including blazing summer survived well). They do pitcher (stingily for now). Burbidgeae definitely pitchers. But then I have also been at this for a while and killed plenty of plants before figuring out the best "tuning" of everything. If I were doing this from scratch, I'd head straight for the maxima family till I have my conditions NAILED. Also fast growers, so they can accomplish a lot of pitchers that hang around when they get conditions they like.

I suspect the pitchers are smaller than what I'd get in better climate, but they are beautiful, so definitely worth it. If I can't move and I want to grow neps, well, this is it.

Your handle reminded me: Another thing that really helps is growing moss. The more moss, the better. It helps make that rainforest feel from the misters stick around better. Getting it started can be very difficult in hot weather, but once it is started, it takes care of itself.

BTW, [MENTION=14713]nepenthes05[/MENTION], one BIG advantage of having a misting system is that once you've figured out where your soggiest spot is, you can use it to grow TC plants - which can be cheaper. Also cuttings. Anything that the rest of the world uses plastic bags for will grow right there in open air happily and you can simply move it further from the misters as it establishes. They also root much faster and stay healthier.
 
Joined
Aug 25, 2020
Messages
84
Location
petah tikva, israel
soryy for the (maybe stupid) question, what is TC plants? and what is hard about getting it started?

- - - Updated - - -

so you say in your opinion I should start with a maxima?
 
Joined
Feb 16, 2015
Messages
171
Location
Nalasopara (near Bombay/Mumbai)
soryy for the (maybe stupid) question, what is TC plants? and what is hard about getting it started?

Tissue culture. You can buy plants propagated in vitro for much cheaper. On down side, plants will be small and they need to be acclimatized carefully (research, research, research). May not be best to start with, but a good option for expanding collection once you have some experience.

so you say in your opinion I should start with a maxima?

Yes, that is what I would do in your place. That said, there isn't any single formula to fit all. What works in my conditions may not be same as yours. Please research, and decide for yourself. It is your money, effort, risk.
 
Joined
Aug 25, 2020
Messages
84
Location
petah tikva, israel
my favourites of the lastest list from ultra lowland to intermediate which I can afford are burbidgeae, clipeata and palawanensis. what about them? and I'll try to form a highland species list.
 
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
1,950
favorite highland species (ultra highlands were dropped):
nepenthes aristolochioides
nepenthes attenboroughii
nepenthes rajah

I'd strike all three of those. Aristo is much more of an ultrahighlander. Att requires high humidity and high light to grow its best. Rajah is going to be very difficult to get. Wistuba is one of the few producers of that species and he does not export it outside of the EU due to the paperwork needed for CITES I species.
 

thez_yo

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Joined
Sep 12, 2009
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5,673
Location
Virginia, USA
Is there a home improvement or hardware store that sells plants out of a nursery section where you can go check out to see if they have any Nepenthes? Or just a nursery that sells only plants? You're pretty close to Tel Aviv so surely there must be some plant shops for city-dwellers to decorate their places with. Your best bet to get into them is get some cheap ubiquitous cross from a regular plant store, and see how it does for you in your growing conditions before you potentially kill something more expensive. Usually it's either N. Miranda or some combination of N.ventricosa and N.alata. All three of those are pretty nice plants so you can't go wrong with them, and most likely you'd get a hybrid which is more robust than just a pure species too.
 

thez_yo

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Joined
Sep 12, 2009
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Of the three previous that you listed? I only have personal experience with one of the species you listed, clipeata, and it's grown fine in household conditions. I just barely got burbidgeae so I can't say about that one yet, and the last one I've never grown. YMMV but clipeata seems pretty easy as a regular houseplant.
 
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Messages
1,950
Again, specific information like that you'll need to research for yourself since no one here is from Israel. Reach out to Wistuba and see whether he has any distributors that ship to your region.
 
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