terrarium going-ons

[Meaven]

some news from my terrarium! aside from putting in a base of spagnum to start a farm, a few cool things have happened!

for starters, my truncata successfully digested (that is, without development of mold) its first toad, and is growing pretty nicely... might be time to take it outside soon thought.

next is the seeds that i got from Tropics, i have quite a few god-knows-what-kind-of-nepenthenes growing.

finally, although its not nepenthene related, my D. aliciae is flowering. which is kind of hard to accomplish, i guess.

oh, and i almost forgot.... what could this be?

 

[phissionkorps]

Hamata.

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Very nice N. truncata. What kind of lighting are you using for your terrarium?

Also, what a cute little N. hamata! I hope to try growing that plant again someday when I'm more experienced with Neps. I managed to kill two or three of them I think...I've tried very hard to suppress those memories. Haha!

 

[phissionkorps]

LG,

Wait until seed-grown hamatas become available. The TC ones are weak and can die from being shipped.

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

See, I can't tell if it's just that my growing conditions are too hot or the plants I bought were weak. Probably a little of both. I wonder when the seed grown ones will become available...

 

[Meaven]

hamata is pretty sensitive to temps. i got lucky though, i found it at a local nursery for $45! so happy!

 

[phissionkorps]

Hamata should actually be pretty tolerant if its not a weak clone. I know someone who grows multiple huuuuge plants under "lowland" conditions outdoors in Hawaii.

I also am wondering why hamata isn't more readily available.
Depending on the clone/size, the plant is actually pretty tolerant and grows rather quickly. I can guarantee you plenty of them are in TC, but of course they are being "leaked" out to keep the price artificially high...a scenario we see too often in the Nepenthes market. I can think of many plants rarer than hamata both in cultivation and in the wild that are cheaper.

Another reason hamata is expensive is because the people that have them are either 1) not cutting them at all because they want flowers, or 2) cutting them but only giving the cuttings to their friends

 

[Meaven]

by the way, i grow my plants under a mix of 4 fluorescents. 1 "plant and aquarium" fluorescent, 2 "cool whites", and 1 "natural sunshine".

it works incredibly well.

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Hamata should actually be pretty tolerant if its not a weak clone. I know someone who grows multiple huuuuge plants under "lowland" conditions outdoors in Hawaii.

I also am wondering why hamata isn't more readily available.
Depending on the clone/size, the plant is actually pretty tolerant and grows rather quickly. I can guarantee you plenty of them are in TC, but of course they are being "leaked" out to keep the price artificially high...a scenario we see too often in the Nepenthes market. I can think of many plants rarer than hamata both in cultivation and in the wild that are cheaper.

Another reason hamata is expensive is because the people that have them are either 1) not cutting them at all because they want flowers, or 2) cutting them but only giving the cuttings to their friends

Hearing what you have to say about this friend of yours and his lowland conditions gives me hope. I just don't know if I should purchase another one within the next few months and give it another try or just wait a few years until the plants are cheaper.

 

[phissionkorps]

You should probably wait...unless of course you can get a cutting/plant thats over 6" across.

There are many plants I want to try...jacq, izumiae, blah blah blah...but the prices they go for are borderline ridiculous. If I killed one of those things, my wallet would start crying.