New to Nepenthes few Q.

[bluebird]

I was at my local nursery looking at some LFS, soil, and plants and I see this very nice looking N.Gentle in a 8" hanging pot it looks very healthy with around 4 pitchers and a few small ones comming my question is a N.Gentle a good Nepenthes for starters and is $33 a good price for this kind?

I really love the look of the plant so I'd love to get it and learn more on it also if need be I'd make a growing shelf if needed for it also can you grow this outside in the spring and summer
I live in Lafayette Indiana so in fall/winter times I'd of coarse bring it in for warmth if it can be outside.

Thanks alot for the help.

 

[glider14]

your so lucky! yes. N. "gentle" is an easy hybrid. i should do well as long as it has proper water soil and light.
Alex

 

[bluebird]

Thanks you for the help I'll pick it up in a few days and post pictures when I can I'm pretty excited been wanting to buy a Nepenthes hopefully it'll adjust to the conditions in my house ok since it's been in a nice green house also I've tried searching this, but couldn't find it is this a highlander or lowlander?

I have a few different windows I can have it and I'm wondering is a south facing window a good choice to hang a N.Gentle?

The area I chose for it is in a basement since the humidity is higher than upstairs, but if I should have it at another location it shouldn't be a problem also can this type of Nepenthes grow outside ok in spring and summer in Lafayette Indiana I'm curious.

 

[bluebird]

I'll be picking up my N.Gentle tomorrow and I'm wondering do I need to do anything special to help it get used to it's new environment and what temperatures should I keep it during the day and night also a south facing window is ok to hang or should I find another window?

I'm not sure how high the humidity this needs so once I get a hygrometer and it's too low should I put a plastic container with water in it under where the pot is hanging, mist it every so often, or should it be ok with low humidity?

The plant I saw has plenty of pitchers so while it's adapting will it lose the pitchers or just slow it's growth and how long does it usually take?

I'm not sure what the media it's in so I'll ask the workers there about it hopefully it's the right stuff and one of the people who I talked to said I should fill the pitcher with water from time to time is that right?

I'll post pictures tomorrow when I can of it in the GH and at home.

Sorry for posting so many questions I never owned a nepenthes before so I want to make sure I treat it right.

 

[glider14]

like i said. Gentle is a very easy plant and can be really attractive to boot. the more sun you give it the more color youll get in the pitchers. it will be fine with lower humidity just put it in a spot it gets the most sun. it may lose those pitchers when it comes to yuor house...i said MAY sometime you get lucky. in the winter it will slow down in growth and may not pitcher. but thats from the decrease in light. but it will be back to normal in the spring and summer! keep the soil moist but not soggy.

about pitchers being filled with water. new plants often have no fluid in their pitchers. filling them with a bit of rain water or distilled water will keep the plant hydrated and the pitchers wont die as fast. but when i new pitcher opens under your care you wont have to put any water inside as it will have its own fluid.

lets see...did i answer everything?

Alex

BTW. what part of Indiana do you live in? im in Louisville, KY so im not to far from the Indiana border

 

[jimscott]

The water in the pitcher thing is for S. purpurea. Neps shouldn't have pitchers filled with water. Easy Neps do well in hanging baskets or planters and if kept at window sills, need supplemental lighting for about 6 months of the years. They will stop picthering if there is unsufficient photoperiod. They like what is referred to as an airy mix. Generally, that means a combination of peat, perlite, LFS, orchid bark, sand... or any combination thereof that will provide for good drainage. You want to water from the top and allow to drain. Most Neps don't do well if kept in water, as most CP's are.

 

[bluebird]

Well I had this plant since last saturday it's still looking good luckily there's been a few days where there's sun or mix of sun and some clouds so it's been getting plenty of light.

I had bought some better-grow brand Orchid moss from Lowes I think someone had said that's chilean moss or something like that is that ok to use for Nepenthes on top of soil and how much should I put on top of the soil?

There's no pitchers on it, but alot of tendrils(Developing pitchers correct?) one of them looked a tiny bit bigger than when I first brought the plant home so that's good I guess.

It's in a 8 inch pot and so far the soil seems ok the water drains nicely and the media seems to be made out of sphagnum peat and LFS that's what it looks like atleast.

Two of the leaves seems to have been damaged which is sad both of them were growing tiny pitchers I'm wondering should I cut the leaf atleast where it's been torn I have pictures to show what it looks like, but it's taking a while to load the other pictures.

The tear is pretty bad pretty muchly it's allmost completly torn off, but its still on it and my guess it happened fairly new since the leaf that's been torn is still green also it seems I have a few fungus gnats buzzing around I wished I've seen them before I did my running around hopefully they will stay away from my Nep till I can get some sticky paper to help get rid of them.. :-(

Here's a few pictures of it I hope it's not too big if so I'll try to resize it.

Picture of it during the day.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/bluedogt/DSC01493.jpg

A close up of one of the tendril.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/bluedogt/DSC01516.jpg

This was taken at night to show the distance from where it's hanging from the window.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/bluedogt/DSC01517.jpg

close up of inside the pot looks like there's another one growing.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/bluedogt/DSC01511.jpg

same as above at a differant angle.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/bluedogt/DSC01512.jpg

Picture of the torn leaf the other one that is torn is like this too, but a little more torn.
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii318/bluedogt/DSC01505.jpg

I live in Lafayette, Indiana or maybe closer to Buckcreek.

 

[Its_a_friday]

i bought a n. gentle online, turned out to be n. miranda

 

[Nepenthes]

That better-gro orchid moss from Lowe's is good stuff. You can put it on top of the peat/perlite mix to dress it up a bit, but it isn't really necessary. Just put like a half inch to an inch, depending on the pot size (keep it wet or it will look horrible and won't help with the local humidity). I wouldn't worry about the torn leaves, this happens all the time and the plant won't suffer from it especially at its current size. You can tear the remainder off now, or later once they dry up and die. I would probably just leave them there till they die off normally. As for the gnats, these pose no danger to the plant. In fact they will make a nice snack once some pitchers develop.

 

[neon-eon]

bluebird, I wouldn't cut off the torn leaves until you get it acclimated and it's growing steady...make sure it's grown a few new leaves first... and that tendril looks like it should develpe a pitcher! show us a pic when it pitchers!

-Gabe

 

[bluebird]

I'll be sure to not cut the leaves intill they dry up thanks for the tip and I've put the LFS around it looks pretty nice I'll be sure to keep it nice and moist when needed.

Yeah the picture of the tendril is the biggest one on the plant maybe I'll do a day by day picture or just weekly picture or something so once it's formed or starting to look like a pitcher I'll snap a few pics to show. =)

Thanks alot for the help I really appreciate it.

 

[bluebird]

That better-gro orchid moss from Lowe's is good stuff. You can put it on top of the peat/perlite mix to dress it up a bit, but it isn't really necessary. Just put like a half inch to an inch, depending on the pot size (keep it wet or it will look horrible and won't help with the local humidity). I wouldn't worry about the torn leaves, this happens all the time and the plant won't suffer from it especially at its current size. You can tear the remainder off now, or later once they dry up and die. I would probably just leave them there till they die off normally. As for the gnats, these pose no danger to the plant. In fact they will make a nice snack once some pitchers develop.

I know fungus gnats pose no threat, but their larva do or Nepenthes do fine if they have them?

I'm thinking of getting yellow sticky traps to controll them right now my mom had bought window fly catchers by a company called Aeroxon it's a clear color sticky trap that goes on the window not sure if this kind is good to use also I think I read somewhere that fungus gnats are attracted to the yellow color is that true?

 

[phissionkorps]

The only arthropods I ever do anything about are scale. Everything else I leave, but that's just me

 

[JB_OrchidGuy]

You might want to take care of mealy bugs too phission. They are also sap suckers! Oh and if you get a mite infestation you may want to take care of them too. They can deform leaves.

 

[phissionkorps]

The only thing I get are scale, fungus gnats, and some other tiny black flying things that don't seem to do any harm. I had spider mites once but they died and were only on one plant. I don't understand where people get all these awkward arthropods from. I don't even use insecticide or anything unless I need to, and I only get a scale outbreak once every year or so that only effects 1 or 2 plants.