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Easiest to hardest nep?

I thought it would be cool and useful to make a list of nepenthes from easiest to hardest to grow. I don't really know many because I only have one. I thought this might be helpful to someone who wants to find out what nep to get next (me). So please post a list of neps from easiest to grow to hardest to grow. :D
 
Hmmm... Really difficult to say because of growing conditions. One plant that is easy for one person, can be super difficult for another. Even if they are the same clone people can have almost exact growing conditions and one may have an easier time growing it. For plants that are seed grown that throws everything out the window. Same genus may come from different elevations or just for whatever reason be more adapted to a given set of conditions.

Experience with Nepenthes also lends to how easy it is to grow them. So someone who has raised say a ventrata for 3 years could possibly (notice I said could possibly) jump to another "level" of difficulty after being able to recognize how the plant reacts. Thus dropping a given plant more towards the "easy" scale when it may indeed be harder to grow for some people.

Everything is relative,
-J.P. :)
 
Well I like N. Bicalcarata. Does that have lot's of requirements like high humidity or temperature changes?
 
Bicals likes it hot and moist. With partly shaded conditions. It grows to be a monster when grown right. I just started growing mine in totally different conditions than when I first started growing them in and hoping they take off like they should. They are supposed to be some super fast growers when grown right.
 
Again, what JP said. The micro environments that Neps grow in are variable. One type of cultivation may work great for one person and may not work for another. The same for different species. One person may be able to grow a spcific species easily whereas another may have difficulty.
A prime example is me with N. hamata. I always thought it was a difficult plant due to what I've read. But in my micro environment I have 3 and they are thriving for a year and a half now. I now consider N. hamata an easy plant for me.
Some plants I consider easy:
1) N. ventrata
2) N. rafflesiana
3) N. bicalcarata.
4) N. "marbled dragon"
5) N. sanguinea
6) N. ampullaria
7) N. ramispina
Some I consider difficult for me:
1) N. "medusa"
2) N. lowii
3) N. rajah
 
So I might make a greenhouse for neps, but am I supposed to put lights in it or just use sunlight? I really like N. Bicalcarata, so that would probably do well in a greenhouse right?
 
Noone's mentioned N. Villosa?

I bet trying to grow a Villosa in the middle of some desert would be the most trouble.
 
I think more people have success, which is very, very few, with N. villosa compared to N. pervillei and N. madagascariensis (long term, that it), particularly the former which almost NO one has.
 
I would suggest going on a plant-by-plant basis. If you know you like a plant, do research on it and then decide whether or not you want/are able to provide the correct conditions for it. If you have some extra cash to spend and don't mind possibly losing a plant you can go ahead and try if you want but I would do as much research as you can on any given plant you want to grow.

So a N. bical for example, do a quick search. Search the forums for topics on them. After doing that make sure you have the correct conditions for the plant. Set up those conditions (assuming you still want to/are able to after finding out what they are) and only after all this obtain the plant. Then it should be easy to grow. It is only difficult if you try and grow the plant outside of its favorable conditions. Then you can easily find more plants that fit the same cultivation bracket, do your research and increase your collection!

Any plant can be easy provided you can give them the conditions that they want.
-J.P.
 
  • #10
Bicals likes it hot and moist. With partly shaded conditions. It grows to be a monster when grown right. I just started growing mine in totally different conditions than when I first started growing them in and hoping they take off like they should. They are supposed to be some super fast growers when grown right.

rofl of course unless your elgecko
 
  • #11
Agree with everyone. With a nice tank and shop lights, raffelsiana and bicalcaratas have done well for me. I had a N Red Leopard cutting in that tank and it grew 3 or 4 pitchers before I took it out and the original plant that I took the cutting from has never grown a pitcher sitting at the window and they aren't lowlanders (that I know of).

It really does come down to conditions. I have a large southern window with two big silver maples out front and the freakin' roof eaves sticking out blocking even more sun. The heat/AC vent directly under the window may help or may not. Someone with an equally large southern window but no eaves to shade it or no giant trees in front would probably have happier plants than mine due to the extra light. On the flip side, I have neps outside in the front so these big trees shade them during the middle of the day.

I also keep the humidity level in the house fairly high while others report readings in the 20-30% range. Macamus3's list is a good one, but may need a tank for some. Several intermediates do well in the lowland tanks as well.

Just drop several grand and build two large greenhouses on a patch of open land. Heat one for lowlanders and set up heat/cooling in the other for highlanders. Simple as that! You'll have gorgeous neps in no time.

Or move to Borneo and set up properties at various altitudes where you can just grow them outside.
 
  • #12
EASIEST: toss up between ventricosa and sanguinea
HARDEST: nepenthes villosa
 
  • #13
It varies a lot. Most people will say N. hamata is really fragile, but a lot of folks who succeed with them say that their hamata is the most reliable plant in their collection. There's a similar case for N. bicalcurata, except when you get bical's conditions right, it turns into an unstoppable weed.
Like folks have said, it depends on your conditions. Specifically, you want to match your plants to conditions you're able to provide easily, not just ones that are possible. Check out Neps Around The House for a thorough overview. You don't always need a sopping wet jungle; for example, so long as your potting mix, light, watering and temperatures are in line, most healthy Neps will tolerate household humidity (such as elgecko's famed hamata, or most of the plants detailed in the above link.) You can be a little off on one or two factors as long as the rest are well taken care of.
~Joe
 
  • #14
Well I have some huge buckets of rainwater, lot's of space (for now), bright-ish lights, 50-70% humidity, 75-90F temps in the day, lower at night, all that stuff.
 
  • #15
Ill just give you the easiest and hardest that Ive dealt with:

Easiest: Rafflesiana and Red Dragon
- These have not stopped growing or pitchering for me despite long periods (1 year) of extremely low humidity (under 10%) and low light. But one given higher humidity and light, they are my fastest growing plants and the pitcher size and color increases dramatically.

My rafflesiana brunei giant is very slow growing though. Not sure why

Hardest: None =)
They all do well for me but my slowest has to be the rafflesiana brunei giant for some strange reason. It still pitchers just fine though.
 
  • #16
Well I have some huge buckets of rainwater, lot's of space (for now), bright-ish lights, 50-70% humidity, 75-90F temps in the day, lower at night, all that stuff.

How much lower at night? How many nights of the year? Is it 75-90 degrees year-round? Is that indoors or out?
If there's a 10 degree or more drop at least 80% of the year, I think highlanders might be the way to go. If it's warm year-round, lowlanders might be easier as your household temperatures are probably pretty consistent throughout the day.
~Joe
 
  • #17
Really depends on what you want and what the temperature is before the drop. I get a minimum of a 15 degree drop year round, and I can only grow the most basic of highlanders. Few like nights at 70, even when the other conditions are more than acceptable. Even my N. ventricosa x aristolochioides isn't performing so well now that it's back up to the max temps it will experience. 70 at night, 85 at day. The newest pitcher is easily 25% smaller than that last.

Although the plant is starting to vine. But still...it's just an intermediate pitcher. Three others are about to pop open and they look like they'll be smaller, too.
 
  • #18
Seedjar, those conditions are all indoors under my lights. It's pretty hot and humid in the summer, but the winters are long and way below freezing. Probably much colder at night. I think the humidity in my room (where I have my plants) goes up at night, to around 75% with no terrarium. I think it might be about a 10 degrees F drop at night, somewhere around there. Probably much more of a drop in the winter.
 
  • #19
My rafflesiana brunei giant is very slow growing though. Not sure why

For my brunei giant, it grew quite fast with 90% humidity even with low light level until i had to reduce the humidity due to gnats. Now with 55% humidity, it grows painfully slow despite high light levels
 
  • #20
For my brunei giant, it grew quite fast with 90% humidity even with low light level until i had to reduce the humidity due to gnats. Now with 55% humidity, it grows painfully slow despite high light levels

Thanks for that info~ Ill see what I can do for it
When I gave my typical rafflesiana 90-100% humidity at a small size with a dome it grew extremely fast... almost too fast. Now with 50-70% humidity during the day is grows at a good fast pace.
 
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