Plant ID

[DNC]

Hi all,
About 5 years ago I ordered some N. lowii seeds on line. The seeds germinated and have now gotten big enough to produce pitchers to ID and they are definitely not N. lowii.
I looked through all my books and on line but can't ID it. Possibly a hybrid of sorts? Any one here have any ideas?
Pitchers are about 10-12cm tall (4.5").


On a slightly different topic, I have a beef with many seed sellers:

• What is to stop sellers shipping seeds of other species? For the time it takes to mature, it's loo late to ask for a refund or exchange. Maybe what happened to me.
• why only sell 5-10 seeds for an exorbitant amount? A single seed pod produces hundreds of seeds. The germination rate of Nep seeds is so low that 5 or 10 just aren't enough. Sell by the pod, and it'll ensure stocks remain fresh. When I was able to get pods, the germination rate was always higher than individual seeds in a pack.
• How is seed freshness guaranteed? Old seeds look like fresh seeds.

Cheers in advance

 

[Grey Moss]

Well this is just the risk you take when buying from sellers that deal in wild collected seed. They have no obligation or even any real motivation to make sure the seed they're selling are genuine. And selling the seeds in very low amounts is obviously to maximize profits. These people are not hobbyists and they may have never grown a nepenthes themselves.

From the looks of your plant it's probably something in the bongso group.

 

[hcarlton]

They're definitely in the bongso complex. If you buy from poachers or seed flippers, you have no guarantees for anything at all; you can research anyone for reputability, and there are many people who offer Nepenthes seeds that are horticulturally produced, reliable, and you can usually find people in same-country with ease. Species seeds will always be questionable unless coming from very specific people (ex. Jeremiah Harris, Jeff Shafer, and others who have flowered multiple adult rare plants), hybrids far easier to find (I have two varieties currently avaialble even).
Selling by pod doesn't necessarily guarantee much either; I separate seeds out so I remove chaff and ensure I'm selling actual seeds, rather than risking an empty pod, and poachers will happily sell old pods just the same as new ones.

 

[DNC]

They're definitely in the bongso complex. If you buy from poachers or seed flippers, you have no guarantees for anything at all; you can research anyone for reputability, and there are many people who offer Nepenthes seeds that are horticulturally produced, reliable, and you can usually find people in same-country with ease. Species seeds will always be questionable unless coming from very specific people (ex. Jeremiah Harris, Jeff Shafer, and others who have flowered multiple adult rare plants), hybrids far easier to find (I have two varieties currently avaialble even).
Selling by pod doesn't necessarily guarantee much either; I separate seeds out so I remove chaff and ensure I'm selling actual seeds, rather than risking an empty pod, and poachers will happily sell old pods just the same as new ones.

Thanks @hcarlton. I think you're on the money.
The seeds I have gotten have been from CZ Plants (webstore), and ID Seeds (ebay/etsy). Not sure if they're any good but most of the seeds I've bought from them so far haven't germinated (>1yr). only the bongso from ID Seeds (which was labelled lowii). Any recommendations on other seed sellers as they're hard to find.

Cheers

 

[Grey Moss]

Id seeds is pretty well known to be/obviously faked. They've got an impossibly large inventory of rare nepenthes seed. Any pots that haven't germinated yet I'd toss them. They were likely very old seed that they repackaged. The only consistent sources of seed that I know of that are legit are the Thai growers producing complex lowlander crosses and Carnivero in the US. The Thai seed are going to be closer to the price range you're used to. Just immediately disregard anyone selling seeds of pure species on fb or ebay. You'll get more experiences like with ID seeds.

 

[Mikes_little_oasis]

I know a couple reputable seed vendors. I have purchased seeds from them several times with great results. Check out carnivero, they started selling seeds too. I picked up about 15 different pods from him and so fare all but 2 pods have germinated.