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Bical

elsantaclause

A windowsill grower
Do you think I can grow these on my windowsill?
 
Nope, it's lowlander and likes it warm and humid, I recommend a highland nepenthes truncata, nepenthes 'gothica', nepenthes ventricosa, sanguinea, nepenthes 'red leopard' (ventricosa x maxima).... the list goes on and on but mainly highland and intermediate nepenthes are suitable for windowsill growing provided that they can tolerate low humidity.
 
Alright I just wanted to be sure because I liked how these plants looked in pics
 
I understand these can grow to gargantuan proportions rather quickly also.
 
I have never been able to grow N. bical as a windowsill plant. Although there are some who have had success, I find that bical needs constant high humidity to pitcher consistently. As soon as I moved the bical from the windowsill to terrarium placed on same windowsill. Plant now pitchers on every leaf. Only change is constant high humidity >85%.
Also N. bical's get big fast. I have a Red x Orange seedling I got last July in a terrarium that now has a leafspan of >24", in less than a year. Will be going into the greenhouse soon.
A good windowsill candidate I found is N. khasiana. My indoor humidity fluctuates between 40 to 60%. Once acclimated khasiana will take off if given plenty of light. Grows well winter or summer for me on the windowsill, south facing max sunlight exposure. Pitchers look really cool too. Maybe not as cool as bical but still awesome.
 
Yes, you can. I grew my N. bicalcarata on an east-facing, low humidity windowsill for quite some time, and it pitchered well for me. Growth slowed down considerably in winter, but the plant was robust and healthy otherwise.
 
elgecko has a magic windowsill. If most people tried it (including myself), it would result in an embarrassing fail.
 
  • #10
I might be able to get a bical baby really really cheap so I ll try it out on my windowsill
 
  • #11
Um, that is a hard to get plant though, I grow my suspect bical. (I was supposed to get bical. x amp.) in a tank that keeps in humidity and makes a green house effect, it worked wonders on my ant plant and it has already grown a new leaf since I got it and the second is starting to open. Is it good if the leaves are smaller then the old but shiny and smoth like the more adult plants?
 
  • #12
N. bical on a windowsill is possible.
I started my plant from seed. I do not think it grows near as fast as what everyone says N. bicals grow, which I'm sure the reason is the lower temps I grow the plant at.

I have thought many times, can lowland plants be grown with a warm soil, or does there leaves and stem need to warm as well. What I'm talking about here is the thought I've had about growing N. bical and other lowlanders on some Flexwatt Heat tape set to 78 - 80 degrees. This way the soil the plant grows in would be at a warmer temp then the surrounding air, and would the plant grow faster because of it?
http://reptilebasics.com/Heating-p-1-c-248.html
I've never tried. Someday maybe............. right now I need the N. bical to stay the slow steady pace it is on. I do not have room for all the neps I have now, and if the N. bical took off, I'm not sure what I'd do..........


I'm starting to have bad thoughts about my N. rafflesiana. It's over 3' tall and has taken me over 4 years to get it to this size. It's about to open my first upper on this plant. The problem is that my N. x dyeriana is getting big and needs transplanted into a larger pot. The N. rafflesiana might have to go to make room for a harder to come by plant in the N. x dyeriana. :-(


All my neps had a set back in fall when I had an outbreak of Thrips, and sprayed all the neps. Early spring is when they finally decided to start growing normally again for me. This is why the plants do not have many pitchers on them and some are deformed. Usually I notice that I get the most pitcher formation at those times.

N. bical
Nbical-2.jpg


N. raff
Nraff-1.jpg


Nraffplant-1.jpg


N. x dyeriana
N-x-dyeriana.jpg
 
  • #13
I moved one of mine out of the tank and into the 4 tier "greenhouse" at my east window. The black bat plant in there is growing steadily and I've heard that they have similar needs so I figured "what the heck?"

I was surprised that the humidity is still up around 70% in there, although the temps hover in the low-mid 70s and then upper 60s at night. The tank that it was in was unheated so when the lights went out, the temps had been around the upper 60s already so I'm hoping that the plant transitions well.

I've wondered if a seedling propagation mat under a lowlander on a windowsill would help or would that not be strong enough?

If this new location works, I hope to gradually acclimate it to conditions out of the "greenhouse". Like elgecko's, mine have not been growing at a massive rate which I blame on the cooler temps at night without a heater in the tank, BUT pretty much every leaf pitchers. Unfortunately, I can't seem to keep more than 2 or 3 nice leaves at a time.
 
  • #14
dont mean to digress from the topic, but that raff is absolutely humongous...

I dont really know anything about bicals other than the fact that I'd want to own one some day...

I wouldnt assume that info would help anyone but I couldnt help but share
 
  • #16
has anyone here grown a bical from a window? If you did tips would be good
 
  • #17
Like i said, mine is in a small tank to give it a warm humid enviroment but, it is still in a window with no added light, I would just try to get a cheap little glass/plastic/plexy glass tank to give it a mini greenhouse.
 
  • #18
Like i said, mine is in a small tank to give it a warm humid enviroment but, it is still in a window with no added light, I would just try to get a cheap little glass/plastic/plexy glass tank to give it a mini greenhouse.



what direction does the window face?
 
  • #19
I have my judith finn and Sanguinea on my west-facing window. Ill take Ant's suggestion and put a baby bical in a little plastic contatiner with a lid and ventilation holes and put that on the same window
 
  • #20
Be careful not to cook your plant with sunlight and a small enclosed container.
 
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