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N. macrophylla on a windowsill
- Thread starter TunaSurprise
- Start date
Tuna-
As a young plant your N. macrophylla will be more tolerant of less than ideal humidity, temps and light. But be forewarned that this is only a temporary stage. As your plant matures it will be far more demanding of conditions that are similar to its natural habitat. Many highland Nepenthes species are easier to grow as babies and juveniles but can become extremely challenging and intolerant of those same conditions when they get older. Your dealing with a very high elevation plant that likes very cool and very humid nights. Most true highland or ultra highland montane species have strict condition requirements that are very difficult to duplicate on a windowsill.
I'm not trying to burst your bubble or steer you away from this project in any way. You have a VERY valuable and rare species and all caution should be exercised. I live just south of you so I know what our summers are like. During the fall, winter and early spring you should be ok, but keep a close eye on it for any signs or a crinkled or reduced growing tip or pits and creases in the newer leaves. That's a sure sign of stress and if not nipped in the bud immediately it is irreversible.
Much luck to you with your plant. Keep us posted through the months.
Phil
As a young plant your N. macrophylla will be more tolerant of less than ideal humidity, temps and light. But be forewarned that this is only a temporary stage. As your plant matures it will be far more demanding of conditions that are similar to its natural habitat. Many highland Nepenthes species are easier to grow as babies and juveniles but can become extremely challenging and intolerant of those same conditions when they get older. Your dealing with a very high elevation plant that likes very cool and very humid nights. Most true highland or ultra highland montane species have strict condition requirements that are very difficult to duplicate on a windowsill.
I'm not trying to burst your bubble or steer you away from this project in any way. You have a VERY valuable and rare species and all caution should be exercised. I live just south of you so I know what our summers are like. During the fall, winter and early spring you should be ok, but keep a close eye on it for any signs or a crinkled or reduced growing tip or pits and creases in the newer leaves. That's a sure sign of stress and if not nipped in the bud immediately it is irreversible.
Much luck to you with your plant. Keep us posted through the months.
Phil
Tuna,
Macrophylla is not a toy. Do not be decieved by tolerance as philcul mentioned.
In reality, I would try to steer you away from this project. Why not start another project. i.e. buy a portable fridge and convert it by adding a fluoro light. They only run on 12Volts or a car battery. At aquarium shops they keep brine shrimp and blood worms or mealworms in them. If you really want to keep it alive I would try that. On a windowsill for that species is like playing with fire.
P.S. Same with inermis and villosa should you get one.
Cheers,
Christian
Macrophylla is not a toy. Do not be decieved by tolerance as philcul mentioned.
In reality, I would try to steer you away from this project. Why not start another project. i.e. buy a portable fridge and convert it by adding a fluoro light. They only run on 12Volts or a car battery. At aquarium shops they keep brine shrimp and blood worms or mealworms in them. If you really want to keep it alive I would try that. On a windowsill for that species is like playing with fire.
P.S. Same with inermis and villosa should you get one.
Cheers,
Christian
Yes, i have found some plants to be tolerable of more than most people give credit for, but why will it get more intolerant over time?
I'm not able to keep the macrophylla in the greenhouse, as i stated earlier, and converting the fridge is out of my budget. Maybe i'll try my luck with the remains of my greenhouse once it gets older.
So, if it starts to get black on the top of the grow point, i have to hack it right away?
My rajah and lowii are still intact, is it the same story with them?
EDIT/UPDATE: I am now able to keep my greenhouse up for reasons i have explained elsewhere. I will still keep my mac here to test how it does, and move it to the Ghouse if problems arise.
I'm not able to keep the macrophylla in the greenhouse, as i stated earlier, and converting the fridge is out of my budget. Maybe i'll try my luck with the remains of my greenhouse once it gets older.
So, if it starts to get black on the top of the grow point, i have to hack it right away?
My rajah and lowii are still intact, is it the same story with them?
EDIT/UPDATE: I am now able to keep my greenhouse up for reasons i have explained elsewhere. I will still keep my mac here to test how it does, and move it to the Ghouse if problems arise.
There is anecdotal evidence that seedlings of highland species are more tolerant of less than optimal conditions than mature plants. I don't know how much of that is based on empirical observation and how much is "passive subjective empiricisim", i.e. casual speculation.
In my view, macrophylla is not the hardest species to grow, certainly it's no more difficult than lowii, maybe a touch easier. It will tolerate warmer than preferred nights for months on end, although it does require cool nights for at least part of the year to grow well. It obviously wouldn't grow well in lowland conditions.
Like most highland species, it will tolerate low humidity, with varying results. Sometimes it will pitcher well, sometimes produce small pitchers, and sometimes fail to pitcher. However, leaf growth should be steadily larger. If it's not, then you know your experiment is not going well.
I would say that if you can get hold of a not-too-expensive TC macrophylla, go for it. It certainly will be easier than trying to grow villosa, lamii or even aristolochioides in similar temperatures. I had a greenhouse incident a few weeks ago where temps got into the high 30s and maybe the low 40s for a few hours. Whilst the lowii and macrophylla were fine, several of the aristo had marked negative reactions, with bleached leaves and deformation of the growing tip.
Cheers,
Hamish
In my view, macrophylla is not the hardest species to grow, certainly it's no more difficult than lowii, maybe a touch easier. It will tolerate warmer than preferred nights for months on end, although it does require cool nights for at least part of the year to grow well. It obviously wouldn't grow well in lowland conditions.
Like most highland species, it will tolerate low humidity, with varying results. Sometimes it will pitcher well, sometimes produce small pitchers, and sometimes fail to pitcher. However, leaf growth should be steadily larger. If it's not, then you know your experiment is not going well.
I would say that if you can get hold of a not-too-expensive TC macrophylla, go for it. It certainly will be easier than trying to grow villosa, lamii or even aristolochioides in similar temperatures. I had a greenhouse incident a few weeks ago where temps got into the high 30s and maybe the low 40s for a few hours. Whilst the lowii and macrophylla were fine, several of the aristo had marked negative reactions, with bleached leaves and deformation of the growing tip.
Cheers,
Hamish
Well I friend of mine grows N.villosa outside here in sweden in spring,summer and fall. Its a little shaded and in a small greenhouse.
He says it grows just fine.
Our temperatures here in sweden is about 15 C day and 5 C night in spring, Summers can be very hot about 36C and 18 C night. I dont know how he manages that, In fall its about 15-20C day and 5-10 C night.
He says it grows just fine.
Our temperatures here in sweden is about 15 C day and 5 C night in spring, Summers can be very hot about 36C and 18 C night. I dont know how he manages that, In fall its about 15-20C day and 5-10 C night.
nepenthes gracilis
Nepenthes Specialist
My advice, don't do it, lol. N. macrophylla will not take kindly to adverse conditions with low light, humidity and whatnot. Be really careful.
"What do I do if the growth point gets black, cut it off right?"
You'd better hope and pray it doesn't get black, N. macrophylla is not a plant to "recover" at a young stage, its too slow growing.
Hamish, why did your N. aristolochioides bleach? Too cold?
"What do I do if the growth point gets black, cut it off right?"
You'd better hope and pray it doesn't get black, N. macrophylla is not a plant to "recover" at a young stage, its too slow growing.
Hamish, why did your N. aristolochioides bleach? Too cold?
The aristo bleached because it got too hot. I have a timer on my extraction fan in the greenhouse at the moment. The timer fell from the ledge it was taped to and broke, thus the extraction fan didn't come on. I was out having my Sunday morning breakfast at a cafe, and it turned out to be quite a sunny morning. When I got home at about midday, I discovered that the greenhouse had become very hot without the extraction fan coming on at the apponted hour. Whilst the lowlanders which are kept in hanging baskets high up to get the heat loved it, the aristo, which are kept on a lower shelf, did not. Several had the growing tips a bit broiled, and the new growth is bleached and deformed. Several ramispina which are kept up with the lowlanders got really roasted, and all the old growth is crisped, but they were subject to much higher temps than the aristo.
The deformed leaves on the aristo should grow out after about 4 new leaves, but it has ruined the upper pitchers that I was hoping to take photos of for my website. It'll now be several months before I have good quality uppers (assuming they keep pitchering during the summer heat - it's still late spring here and already the nights are staying a bit too warm). I think aristo is particularly sensitive to high temps partly because it is from much higher elevations than most highland species, and partly because it is so gracile. Lowii and macrophylla, which are big, chunky species, don't seem to sulk so badly with the odd hot event.
The deformed leaves on the aristo should grow out after about 4 new leaves, but it has ruined the upper pitchers that I was hoping to take photos of for my website. It'll now be several months before I have good quality uppers (assuming they keep pitchering during the summer heat - it's still late spring here and already the nights are staying a bit too warm). I think aristo is particularly sensitive to high temps partly because it is from much higher elevations than most highland species, and partly because it is so gracile. Lowii and macrophylla, which are big, chunky species, don't seem to sulk so badly with the odd hot event.
TyFone, growing villosa in Sweden would not be much of a problem, I'd think, as it is a cool climate country, certainly much cooler than most of Australia and the Southern parts of the US like coastal southern California. Most highland species, even those ultrahighlanders like villosa and lamii, will cope with 3-4 months of warm weather if the rest of the year is ideal. This game is all about the law of averages.
Hamish,
I would say "lucky" to have your sources and get seed of so many rare species-if you can keep up with the greehouse space, you will have a plethora of genetic material for whatever purposes you want down the road.
Your comment about "law of averages" got me thinking: Most people who cool, I assume do it for the whole night period, but if you are using a cooling unit, how little a time period at that 45-50 F(or whatever your low) do you think you need? If the plant is at that temp for only an hour, does that fit the bill?
Just wondering..
Cheers,
Joe
I would say "lucky" to have your sources and get seed of so many rare species-if you can keep up with the greehouse space, you will have a plethora of genetic material for whatever purposes you want down the road.
Your comment about "law of averages" got me thinking: Most people who cool, I assume do it for the whole night period, but if you are using a cooling unit, how little a time period at that 45-50 F(or whatever your low) do you think you need? If the plant is at that temp for only an hour, does that fit the bill?
Just wondering..
Cheers,
Joe
Joe,
I have no idea whether anyone has done any serious experimentation on this point. I'm sure there'd be a sweet spot of warm v. cool temps, and it may have something to do with hours of light and dark, as plants photosynthesise during the warm periods when it is light, and do whatever it is they do in the cool, dark period. In the tropics, days and nights are pretty much 12 hrs / 12 hrs. There may be some correlation between the amount of cool time and the length of time before they start to decline in poor conditions. For example, 1 hour of cooling may make them last an extra month in very warm conditions, 2 hours they last an extra 2 months, etc.
It also depends on the size of the plant - seedlings are much less forgiving of less-than ideal conditions because, being small, they have poor energy reserves. Large plants have larger stores to rely on, so they last longer before petering out.
In cultivation, I would hazard a guess that having cooling on for at least 6 hours would do the trick long term. I grow seedlings of ultrahighland species during summer by putting them in the fridge when I go to bed and taking them out first thing when I get up, which is usually 7-8 hours, and that appears to be more than sufficient.
I have no idea whether anyone has done any serious experimentation on this point. I'm sure there'd be a sweet spot of warm v. cool temps, and it may have something to do with hours of light and dark, as plants photosynthesise during the warm periods when it is light, and do whatever it is they do in the cool, dark period. In the tropics, days and nights are pretty much 12 hrs / 12 hrs. There may be some correlation between the amount of cool time and the length of time before they start to decline in poor conditions. For example, 1 hour of cooling may make them last an extra month in very warm conditions, 2 hours they last an extra 2 months, etc.
It also depends on the size of the plant - seedlings are much less forgiving of less-than ideal conditions because, being small, they have poor energy reserves. Large plants have larger stores to rely on, so they last longer before petering out.
In cultivation, I would hazard a guess that having cooling on for at least 6 hours would do the trick long term. I grow seedlings of ultrahighland species during summer by putting them in the fridge when I go to bed and taking them out first thing when I get up, which is usually 7-8 hours, and that appears to be more than sufficient.
