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A Day in The Life: Nep pitchers

Fryster

--Freedom Czar--
Some quick questions about Neps that I’ve never seen addressed in CP books nor found on the Net…….

• Do all new healthy and able leaves produce pitchers?
• What are upper and lower pitchers?
• How long do pitchers “live”? Or how long are they functional for capturing prey?
• When a pitcher dries up and dies, does it naturally fall off?
• Should a grower clip off a defunct pitcher?
• What causes a pitcher to die away? Age?
• Will a Nep leaf continue to produce pitchers throughout its existence? Or is a single pitcher all that there is for a leaf??




I’m sure that there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to all the various Nep subspecies, but what are the generalities concerning the life of a pitcher? In the wild and in cultivation...

THANKS,
 
1: Depends on what you mean by "healthy". If the plant is acclimated and the conditions are right, the on most leaves. Still not necessarily every single time. Theoretically, yes is a good simple answer.

2:Lowers are during the rosette stage, uppers are during the vining stage. Uppers are typically more slender, elegant, but usually less colorful. Most plants have uppers that loop at the tendril, a few don't. Some species don't make uppers, some rarely do. Uppers are for climbing so the plant can eventually disperse it's filiform seeds through the wind. Intermediate pitchers are, you guessed it, the transitional pitchers from lowers to uppers.

3: Depends on the species and conditions. Some can last many, many months. It's functional until it dies.

4: No, not unless something natural bumps it off. Many species can be HARD like leather and I believe some natives use N. ampullaria vines for rope or something along those lines.

5: I do, it makes the plant look nice. Some people don't.

6: Age, conditions, and the amount and type of prey captured.

7: No. One pitcher, one leaf. And while I'm at it, I'll say that the pitcher is the actual modified leaf and the "leaf" like we are saying now is really a modified part of the petiole. You said "all that there is for a leaf" and you should note that even if the pitcher dies, the leaf will still photosynthesize.
 
Hmm....

Not too many responses. Must be common knowledge to all but a newb like me.

I knew JLAP would cough up some answers though. Many thanks dude. You 'ol Nep-Maniac you... ;)

Too bad the leaves don't continue to produce pitchers. So, when a Nep reaches a certain age, does it stop growing or slow down? So no further pitchers are made? In essence you get a "bald" plant? = NO pitchers? :(
 
I'm not sure what you mean. They can grow indefinitely and produce basals and side shoots. They can make barren woody stems if that's what you mean... and then they can make new sprouts on those stems.
 
neps grow non stop 24/7/365 and will for their entire life. in theory. a nep has no death age if grown in suitible contitions and not affected my diseases. it will also always produce pitchers once its settled in to it environment.
Alex
 
I always clip off dead material (leaves and pitchers). An ounce of prevention...
 
I'm not sure what you mean. They can grow indefinitely and produce basals and side shoots. They can make barren woody stems if that's what you mean... and then they can make new sprouts on those stems.


That's good to know. That explains their extreme popularity among CP and non-CP growers.

I hope I can keep my little runt Neps alive long enough for them to become like some of the beautiful monsters that I've seen here.
thumbs_up.gif
 
Honestly, most CP's are the same. Most PLANTS are the same. Given suitable growing conditions, they will only get bigger and bigger. Neps require some patience though...well, alot of CP's require patience. If you have small rosettes, don't expect them to become "monsters for 4-7 years. Yeah, that long. Depending on the species. And some will never become monsters. Some only have a max pitcher size of 2 inches, while others get up to 18. Some neps take a month to three months to produce a pitcher while the life of that pitcher can be comparable. But I've had some Neps hang on to perfect pitchers for up to six or seven months. It all depends on your plants. Growing conditions and species. If you want a fast grower, try Ventricosa or a vent hybrid. Anyway, final picture, have patience. And I clip off dying pitchers, too. Just leave the leaf so it can photosynthesize. If you are a newb, go out and by The Savage Garden by Peter D'Amato. Very good book. OK, hope I helped. :-D
 
If you have small rosettes, don't expect them to become "monsters for 4-7 years.

Even that is a low estimate for some......
 
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