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having problems with ampullaria

well i have this n. amp for a while now and it used to pitcher her and there about 3 months ago. now i have it in my greenhouse, about 65-75% humidity. i have tap water that sits out for about a week and i use that on all of my neps, most of them seem to be doing fine with it except for my rafflesiana. do you think it is the water i am using.? it is still growing, slowly and no pitchers are showing.
 
Leaving it sitting out will just let the Chlorine evaporate. Any minerals and elements in the water will still be there, and in fact if you do not replace any water that evaporates with RO/DI/rainwater it will auctually concentrate the PPM of everything in original water.
 
Need alot more information..

Is the N. ampullaria still growing fine just not pitchering? What do you mean by 'doing fine'? Healthy green leaves as large at least as the previous ones?

What do you mean when you say the N. rafflesiana doesn't appear to be doing well? Just slow growth and no pitchers? What do the new leaves look like compared to the old ones?

What do you mean by greenhouse?

What are the day and night temperatures?

What kind of light and how much?

Slowed growth and lack of new pitchers for lowland Nepenthes during the Winter is not unusual, unless you happen live in the tropics or have a tropical growth chamber or greenhouse to house them. Generally speaking though the new leaves should look healthy and green and not be significantly smaller. The pictures will help. But be sure to include as much information as possible to give folks the necessary details in assessing the situation.

Tony
 
well the leaves are about half the size of what they used to be. the growth has slowed down alot, it still has green leaves but it barley even grows.
so you think the water im using is a bad sign.?
 
bad water is my diagnosis. repot, carefully. those roots are already hurting, and if you dont grow a TON of plants, go out and get wholesale flats of aquafina water. they cost like $7, and one flat will last me a month, they usually have 24 bottles of water in them. i have one very large terrarium, and RO just seems excessive at this point.

i cant vouch for any other bottled water though. keep this in mind. a lot of time they add, as they call it, "trace amounts of salt to improve taste". trace amounts is too much.

plus, you can make sculptures out of the hundreds of plastic bottles you'll have lying around...
 
I doubt it's the water, Nepenthes are quite tolerant to hard water, but you haven't answered a fraction of the questions I asked so it's hard to say for sure. What is it potted in and how often do you water? Slow and hardly growing with smaller leaves sounds like it's too cold and/or has a root problem from being kept too wet.


Meaven why don't you get the 1gallon jugs of distilled water from the grocery store or walmart? It would be alot cheaper than bottled drinking water? Which often is loaded with minerals as well.

Tony
 
Im going to vouch that it sounds too wet to me. I know people say its a "swamp" species but really, most all Nepenthes should be kept moist, never soaking, unless of course their soil has a tendency to dry out fast, or it is a very large plant that requires much water. I had an N. bicalcarata that would take tray water every other day, of course it had pitchers the size of grapefruit on it and was about 3 feet across.

Dustin
 
What is the method of watering, how much, and how often?
 
  • #10
i have cut back on the watering a bit. now its about every 3 days, so its not swamped. i read somewhere that its alright to keep it sitting in water, so thats what i was doin.
the humidity is around 75 %
 
  • #11
Aquafina water? I admit, that's a new one for me. My plants prefer Dasani...:banana2:
Tony's right. Actually you might be able to go cheaper. If you have a small collection, your first gallon of RO or distilled water from your local grocery store (it's in a "fill your own" section and sold as drinking water) is around .50 and a refill a little more than half. Here in Lincoln, it's .47/.27 for RO water/gallon.

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #12
Drinking water's no good, gotta buncha stuff init "for flavor" I get supermarket brand distilled water by the gallon.. there's no refiller unfortunately.
Also what temps is the Ampy in?
 
  • #13
i have cut back on the watering a bit. i read somewhere that its alright to keep it sitting in water, so thats what i was doin.

Remember that one man's meat is another man's poison....or how ever that goes. Many growers who make these comments are basing their findings on what works for them. These methods could spell death for your plant. A little research into the habitats of your plants will give you the best advice.

N. ampularia may indeed be found growing in the lowland peat swamps of Borneo but for the most part the plants are found in these areas growing in very thick, spongey leaf litter sometimes with a base layer of sandy clay that is moist to wet; never usually in standing water. The only species I know of that can or has been known to grow in standing water is N. mirabilis. There may be others I'm not aware of but at this point who cares.

You should provide Tony with the answers to the questions he posted so that he and/or other members can make an educated diagnosis. N. ampularia can be a very easy species to cultivate provided you stick to the basic fundamentals of Nepenthes culture, but fixing only one componnent of their cultural requirements may not be enough. So, please give as much detail as possible. People want to help.
 
  • #14
ok thanks guys.
i think im gonna switch to distilled water and take it out of direct light.
 
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