Savage q's

[Anoxos]

Read and re-read the section on Neps in Savage Garden, and wondered a few things...

It mentions that when using hanging orchid baskets, one should not use the metal ones because neps are suseptible to zinc poisoning? Is that something you all have seen as a real issue? I've seen pics here that appear to be of healthy neps in metal baskets. Am I missing something important?

How important is day/night temperature variation really? In my terrarium it will probably have very little variation day/night. Once I manage to obtain an appropriate hanging basket and wean it off the terrarium humidity it might have more, but I haven't really checked yet (ought to stick a thermometer in the windowsill).

Not in a hurry repot it right now, as it is still a really small plant, but I do try to think ahead. And since it is likely to be in the terrarium for a while, I figure I better ask.

 

[glider14]

yes i have the savage garden. 1. yes it can cause this if your soil is in DIRECT contact with the metal but if you have a lining such as coconut fiber it is okay 2. yes temerature is almost as improant as humidity. it helps to develop new pitchers and helps them to last longer. hope this helps

 

[Capslock]

It depends on the species. Some will do fine in stable household conditions. True highlanders require nighttime cooling, but most of the common hybrids will do fine with stable temperatures.

Capslock

 

[rattler]

if you are using a fairly closed terrarium and use florecent lights to light them placed really close to the top of the tank then you generally do get a day/night temp change of 15 or so degrees. i am just using a large humidity tent for my neps with the flourecents inside of it and the heat from the lights warms it up to 85 or 90 during the day and when the lights go off and our house cools down for the night they recieve temps in the low to mid 60's. normal temp for the house during the day is about 75 so the lights heat up the tent a bit.

 

[Anoxos]

Thanks for the responses all. I was hoping to get a hanging basket eventually, and I'm relieved that the type I can find around here will be okay with a fiber lining.

As for my terrarium, its a temperate terrarium. No lid. My VFTs and Sarrs loved it (they are outside for the winter now). I could in theory put the lid on now, but I don't know how my D. adelae in there with it would like that idea... Right now the daytime temps hover in mid-seventies in there, maybe drop to high sixties at night (the room temps).

I have no idea what type of nep it is, its whatever Lowes had which I would guess is just a hardy hybrid. I'll just have to wait and see. I've had it about a week, and I've been holding off repotting or doing anything with it other than light and water until I could figure out the best thing for it given my conditions (apartment with only east windows). In any case, it looks like the hanging basket I was hoping for might not be the best idea right now. Maybe if I move to somewhere with a nice south-facing bay window...

 

[rattler]

ahhh its one of those neps. it will probably grow fine without much help from you as long as you pay attention to keeping its soil just damp. i had a ventrata that once it was used to it, was happily pitchering away in 20% humidity. its an extream case, but some of these hybrids really arent to picky on conditions.

 

[shokuchuu]

The packaging of the grade AA New Zealand Sphagnum moss I buy boasts being high in zinc. Not quite high enough to stunt Neps I guess. Then again they're most probably in different available forms.

Cheers

 

[SydneyNeps]

Zinc is very toxic to nepenthes. I was growing some Neps under a spiral staircase in my courtyard. I didn't give it any real thought until after some rain several of my Neps went black virtually overnight. Then it occurred to me that the stairs would have been zinc coated to prevent rusting. Even though the stairs are more than 7 years old and have been exposed to plenty of weather, they still leach enough zinc to have been instantly lethal to my Neps. So I'd say err on the side of caution with using metal hanging baskets - make sure the chains are made of stainless steel and don't use galvanised iron (which means galvanised with zinc).

Temperature variation required will vary tremendously amongst species. But the higher an elevation that a particular species comes from, the less tolerant they'll be of warm nights.

Hamish