Vraev,
My problem with growing a TC rajah is just that, across the globe, most people are growing those clones. In fact, on another forum, I saw that one person had propogated so many of the TC clones that after 12 years, they ended up with over 250,000 plants, ranging from small, to in-ground, flowering-size plants, and now they have them at a facility tended to 24/7. That's a lot of rajah plants, but they are all of 4 (or less) unique genetic clones!
Plus, I don't have good highland conditions during the summer, and if I'm going to try to grow a rajah and provide it with the proper conditions as it gets larger - the big pot, the large grow chamber, the proper temperatures, lighting, and humidity - I'm going to want to grow a plant that I know will grow up to be a unique individual. Plus, with a seed-grown plant, there's a chance that it may be female, and then that would mean that seed from rajahs in cultivation could be distributed more easily, if not completely legally, to ease stress on the wild populations from which seed, whether it be in large or small amounts, is being collected illegally.
If I could move someplace that I could build a greenhouse that could be maintained without too much money put into heating, cooling, etc., then I might consider a normal TC clone. But not here in the desert of southern New Mexico, where I would have to pay more than a 1-of-4-male-TC rajah clone is worth, in my opinion, just to maintain the proper cultivation conditions. Unless I can have a magic window installed...but I only know of one of those in existence!
I know of at least four instances/people who have grown rajahs from seed, or obtained a seed-grown plant. One of those plants I have seen in person, and it is one of the most incredible Nepenthes I've ever seen in cultivation! But I haven't heard of the law carting them off to jail or even taking a ruler to the tops of their hands.
I don't know a lot about the CITES restrictions on N. rajahs, but if they allow absolutely
no collection of seed, that's rediculous. They should at least allow
controlled collection of small amounts of seed by authorized personel to be distributed to trustworthy and experienced growers. I know that I'd entrust the entire future of Nepenthes in the hads of certain growers. Conservation through cultivation. Ha, what would happen if Mt. kinabalu caught aflame and the destiny of N. rajah was worse off than N. clipeata, with no "legal" female clones in cultivation?
And, with all the troubles with rajahs and laws, I'd much rather dedicate similar efforts to growing new, awesomer species, currently without any CITES restrictions, like N. spec. nov. D.A.
Regards,
Jimmy