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Local nursery got Nepenthes in!

I've never seen any carnivorous plants outside of death cubes/tubes here in Colorado, so I was rather excited when I walked into one of our local nurseries today and saw this:



Of course, I went home with one. Now I gotta figure out where the heck I'm going to put it. But here's a few crappy/flash shots in the meantime.









I'm guessing N. ventrata?

There's at least 3 separate, mature plants in there, so for $22, it's a steal as far as I'm concerned. It needs to be repotted as I'm sure it's root bound in that tiny pot. I don't have any "gourmet" mix stuffs, so what I'm thinking is 1/1/2 shredded LFS/whole LFS/perlite. Thoughts?

Thanks!
 
There are a lot of those around. When I got one I just kept it in the pot for a 'bushier' look. However, when I did divide them, their roots weren't that long.
 
yup. ventrata is correct. good find!
 
N. x. ventrata is a good guess. Could also be "DeRoose's Alata" which is alata x (x. ventrata) - I think DeRoose distributes plants in 6" hanging baskets like that. Whatever it is it's in great condition; nice catch.
That mix should be a good place to start. I like to add orchid bark or something similar, but the weather here is cool and moist so aeration is one of my top priorities with my media. If you keep your plants someplace where they dry quickly then you'll likely have different results.
~Joe
 
We have a nursery here that get's ventrata's in about that same size from time to time. I actually went into the shop today to work on the Nep Showcase.. and low and behold.. one of the managers stuck an ugly ventrata basket in there that he bought today from someplace.
 
Despite what some may say a well grown N. x ventrata can look very nice. It was my first Nepenthes way back when, given to me as a cutting from my uncle who grew it in a window unpitchered for many years. I brought it home and put it in my first terrarium - a 75 gallon fishtank with six 40 watt daylight tubes over it. Under this intense light I got nice big 6-8" bright yellow and pink pitchers and much smaller more compact leaves. It was a fantastic grower in true lowland conditions, I propagated more cuttings of this plant than any other. Get that thing under some bright light, high humidity and warmth and watch it color up and blast off!
 
o man i wish i could find cps anywhere but lowes.......i think i gota move out of the cold north country and get farther south...
 
Man, cannot find these anywhere in denver, i was just out and about looking all over town on sunday.


Well, i went on an adventure from Denver to Fort Collins today and got one of these....i will keep looking at this thread for further info on what to do with it now.
 
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  • #10
That's an awesome find! I haven't been able to find any Nepenthes (or any other cp) around here except sometimes in little cubes at lowe's =/.
 
  • #11
i will keep looking at this thread for further info on what to do with it now.

Earlier I wrote:

Get that thing under some bright light, high humidity and warmth and watch it color up and blast off!

Super easy plant will grow feet in length over the year if you have warm conditions. Bright light and high humidity brings out nice colorful pitchers.
 
  • #12
The Deroose 'N. alata' is N. ventrata

Interesting - you're definitely the most knowledgeable person I've seen weigh in on the matter. It's alata x ventricosa? Or are ventrata backcrosses stable enough that it just doesn't matter?
~Joe
 
  • #13
Hmmm, well it turns out it is in fact a DeRoose plant. Now to find out what it actually is!

In other news! (Sorry, agunn, you were just out here, >.<; )
Encouraged by one of the local nurseries here having the above plant, I went to another today (Fort Collins Nursery, for anyone in the area) and got myself a huge (what I'm guessing is) Nepenthes "Miranda". It was one of four there. I chose the one with the healthiest-looking leaves, even though it only had two pitchers where the others had around half a dozen. The leaves look good for the most part, though, and there are a lot of pitchers on the way, assuming it doesn't now abort them all. The larger of the two pitchers on the plant is a good 8" I'd guess. It's really encouraging to see some local nurseries getting some decent plants in, especially outside of death cubes. It's late and I gotta get up early, but pics tomorrow. ^.^
 
  • #14
You probably made the right choice on the Miranda. As long as you avoid any really major flubs it should be looking spectacular in no time.
~Joe
 
  • #15
Interesting - you're definitely the most knowledgeable person I've seen weigh in on the matter. It's alata x ventricosa? Or are ventrata backcrosses stable enough that it just doesn't matter?
~Joe

Hi Joe,

Deroose never lets any info go on what their plants are comprised of other than they have a history of using the female parent's name. So most likely it was a N. alata x ?
Based on the time frame when N. ventrata was registered (1979) and some of the more common Nepenthes species got back into cultivation (1970's). It is most probable that the Deroose N. ventrata which has been available in garden centers etc worldwide since the early 1980's is simply N. alata x ventricosa.

So I can't say for 100% certainty that the Deroose plant is N. alata x ventricosa and not N. alata x ventrata. It doesn't make sense though to be the latter. I don't think there is enough time to make the latter cross and start distributing thousands of full grown plants worldwide. Don't forget even before they started shipping plants they ran trials and grew many clones to find the one they wanted to use for large scale production. I am not certain how the idea came about that it was N. alata x ventrata. Probably someone said something on a forum because they think it looks more N. alata like. Personally I don't see it at all, either in the plant or the pitchers. If indeed it is N. alata x ventricosa this might explain the more N. alata appearance some people perceive? Or maybe the N. alata used had a much more dramatic shape to the pitcher? Either way there is no evidence that it is N. alata x ventrata and any available evidence points to it being simply N. alata x ventricosa.
Hope that helps! guess that was a bit more than a couple pennies worth hehe

Tony
 
  • #16
got myself a huge (what I'm guessing is) Nepenthes "Miranda".
N. Miranda is a nice grower for warm, humid and bright conditions too. Hefty 14" pitchers on a 4 ft+ diameter plant even under metal halides! A nice N. Miranda is a great looking plant if you have the room. Too bad the commercially available male N. Mirandas are sterile... :(

I also had from them:
N. Gentle
N. Velvet

But I haven't seen the last two available anywhere for a long time.
 
  • #17
Amazing i wish i had a place around that sell that many nepenthes or nepenthes at all! Lucky!
 
  • #18
I'm gonna see how this goes and adjust things as necessary, but here's where they're at now:



And the Nepenthes "Miranda" pitchers:





EDIT: That's a south-facing window.
 
  • #19
A local nursery here in denver has a miranda, it was in awful condition, and i decided not to get it. holes in the leaves and only 2 pitchers, one was at a 90 degree angle, the other was brown and i know right now there is no way i could revive it. I am willing to make a second trip there after i get some cash, can you PM the name of the place?
 
  • #20
What?!?! That never happens in my area! What's the nursery called?
 
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