What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Hi guys, I got a large shipment from Borneo Exotics and I want to be sure I am handling them right. Some of the more temperamental ones are wilting and not looking too good.

The weather in Sri Lanka has been extremely rainy and dark for about the past 4 months according to Robert Cantley, and then they spent a week in shipment during which time they did not have any light at all and were enclosed in plastic bags which equals extrmely high humidity. This is good for the lowlands, but I am having trouble with a few of the more temperamental highlands. The Ramispina is the main one, but there are others that are wilting, pitchers are drying up, and they just don't look good. I did expect this to happen, but I just want to be sure I'm doing what I can to help them survive.

Since they have been in a box enclosed in plastic bags for a week, I decided to put them all inside a high humidity grow chamber with a flourescent light. It's not particularly bright, and the humidity is high. Temps are about 75 degrees F without fluctuation. I know that generally the highlands don't like high humidity, but I thought this would be a good way to harden them off to lower humidity after their shipping stress. The temperature is steady and I can control the environment better. I plan to gradually decrease the humidity while increasing the light, and then eventually move them to my outdoor greenhouse where they will get lower temps. So far the high humidity grow chamber doesn't seem to be helping.

Should I move them to my outdoors greenhouse? The temperature out there right now is 60 F at night and getting up to 80+ F during the day, and the humidity is between 60-75%, and they get more sun. I do plan on eventually getting them out there, but I wanted to harden them off to lower humidity, temps, and higher light levels gradually. I can't control the degrees of temperature fluctuation very well in that greenhouse, so that is why they are inside in a steady environment for now.

These are the highlands that I have:
Densiflora
Diatas
Eymae
Izumae
Petiolata
Ramispina
Sibuyanensis
Truncata Q of Hearts x K of Spades
muluensis x Lowii
spectabilis x talangensis
sibuyanensis x ventricosa

Most of these look great or have only milld shock symptoms which is expected, but the main one I;m worried about is the ramispina. I also have a few Intermediates that are also not looking as good as I want. I just wonder if it is my growing conditions that are causing it, or if these might just be more affected by stress and there is nothing I can do to help but give them time.
 
Nepenthes, across the board, are going to require a good period of acclimating (with the possible loss of some leaves); and placing them all under lights with high humidity is the route that I would choose. The trip from Borneo is seldom a smooth one and those touchy, largely tissue-cultured plants pass through several hands -- including the lowland gorillas employed at US Customs . . .
 
That's what I was thinking, but some are doing better than others.

I'm not sure the USDA inspectors even opened the bags to look at the plants. They were sealed in plastic baggies with no evidence of having been opened.
 
That's what I was thinking, but some are doing better than others.

I'm not sure the USDA inspectors even opened the bags to look at the plants. They were sealed in plastic baggies with no evidence of having been opened.

Give them some time. Nepenthes can takes months, on some occasions, to settle in and renew growth. The most important thing is to keep a consistent environment (like you have described), regardless of any highland or lowland origins; at that very young age, it doesn't really matter when it comes to a short period of acclimating . . .
 
Back
Top