Contrary to belief, nepenthes are quite hardy as im sure alot of you know. but a few people have recently asked me how i grow mine outside during the summer months here in the Northwestern US.
As many people know, Western Washington is part of a temperate rainforest, and the temperatures in summer are rather mild. rarely reaching above 85ºF in the mid day with nights down into the upper 40s and low 50s, perfect highland/ultrahighland conditions.
the heat and direct sun that people worry about can be easily avoided with shade cloth or a shaded part of the house. neps obviously arent full sun growers like VFTs or Sarras.
complications do occur with this, especially here in washington. the first being overwatering
with so much rain, plants can easily become waterlogged and have issues with root rot or "wet feet"
raised pots or hanging pots easily overcome that, or a simple coldframe or shelving unit to allow drainage. shade cloth keeps excess water from reaching the plants. humidity is not an issue so the cold frame cover is not needed. gets too hot that way, i tried it once and almost killed my plants
got over 110ºF inside, i caught it on time. so allow that airflow.
the second issue is mites.
uhg, the dreaded pest of any rose or garden owner. aphids occur here as well, but not in the damaging numbers seen in the warmer climates, but a good spray of a slightly diluted orthene or miracid mix seems to work well for those pesky insects, ive also heard flea collars help, as long as they dont touch the plant or media. just lay em around the pots.
and another is animals.
how to keep them from your babies?
chicken wire helps, i never had a problem with animals so i never worried about blocking them off. but you might need to set up a fence for your plants or a gate of some kind to prevent squirrels, deer, raccoons, birds, or other animals from uprooting and eating/disturbing your plants.
washington state gets alot of rain, so you can collect rain water, or if the shadecloth is the right kind, the plants might get nice and wet through that. i never had a problem with the plants outside, the plants only went downhill with mites. which i quickly stopped. and im now having problems with them indoors...another week or so and they should be gone x_x
when winter comes along, its always nice to have backup plans for your plants...my tropicals come inside, and are placed into my growrack unit, which will be replaced with a greenhouse shortly. But the cold nights allow me to cool my room with just opening a window, allowing the plants to continue getting those cold nights into the low 50s upper 40s and days into the 70s. now, however i have added the coldframe cover to aid with humidity for my ultrahighlanders like villosa. and also a small humidifier, which i just use tap water through since the water is not very hard here, but i do not water with it. this is where storing that water during summer comes in handy. you can always melt snow as well. either way its cheaper than the RO water, although its 45 cents a gallon. later on just upgrade to your own RO unit.
As many people know, Western Washington is part of a temperate rainforest, and the temperatures in summer are rather mild. rarely reaching above 85ºF in the mid day with nights down into the upper 40s and low 50s, perfect highland/ultrahighland conditions.
the heat and direct sun that people worry about can be easily avoided with shade cloth or a shaded part of the house. neps obviously arent full sun growers like VFTs or Sarras.
complications do occur with this, especially here in washington. the first being overwatering
with so much rain, plants can easily become waterlogged and have issues with root rot or "wet feet"
raised pots or hanging pots easily overcome that, or a simple coldframe or shelving unit to allow drainage. shade cloth keeps excess water from reaching the plants. humidity is not an issue so the cold frame cover is not needed. gets too hot that way, i tried it once and almost killed my plants
got over 110ºF inside, i caught it on time. so allow that airflow. the second issue is mites.
uhg, the dreaded pest of any rose or garden owner. aphids occur here as well, but not in the damaging numbers seen in the warmer climates, but a good spray of a slightly diluted orthene or miracid mix seems to work well for those pesky insects, ive also heard flea collars help, as long as they dont touch the plant or media. just lay em around the pots.
and another is animals.
how to keep them from your babies?
chicken wire helps, i never had a problem with animals so i never worried about blocking them off. but you might need to set up a fence for your plants or a gate of some kind to prevent squirrels, deer, raccoons, birds, or other animals from uprooting and eating/disturbing your plants.
washington state gets alot of rain, so you can collect rain water, or if the shadecloth is the right kind, the plants might get nice and wet through that. i never had a problem with the plants outside, the plants only went downhill with mites. which i quickly stopped. and im now having problems with them indoors...another week or so and they should be gone x_x
when winter comes along, its always nice to have backup plans for your plants...my tropicals come inside, and are placed into my growrack unit, which will be replaced with a greenhouse shortly. But the cold nights allow me to cool my room with just opening a window, allowing the plants to continue getting those cold nights into the low 50s upper 40s and days into the 70s. now, however i have added the coldframe cover to aid with humidity for my ultrahighlanders like villosa. and also a small humidifier, which i just use tap water through since the water is not very hard here, but i do not water with it. this is where storing that water during summer comes in handy. you can always melt snow as well. either way its cheaper than the RO water, although its 45 cents a gallon. later on just upgrade to your own RO unit.
