Nepenthesis
Formerly known as Pineapple
I bought a N. lowii x spectabilis in June and it has been growing well, however the sphagnum topping on the top continues drying out and even though I have been trying to keep it wet, it is turning white. Like it has been wet for the past like two weeks, but because it dried out one day (a few weeks ago) it turned a bit lighter in color and now the growing tips are turning white.
One thing I noticed about the N. lowii x spectabilis is that the medium drains extremely fast. I have kebab skewers in all of my pots to monitor moisture levels in the soil, and usually when I pull them out you can get water off of them, but the one in my N. lowii x spectabilis post is just a tiny bit moist. The medium doesn't have much sphagnum in it, if any, and it is composed of primarily things like lava rock/pumice/perlite, rocky stuff. Maybe some sand and peat too. Does N. lowii x spectabilis do best in these conditions, or did the grower just pot it with what they had? I would like to repot it to hold more moisture and keep the sphagnum on top from turning white, but I don't want to drown a nep that does best in very rocky conditions.
(It can be more humid in there, but all of the sphagnum in the other pots is bright green and growing well with no issues. I have about 50% daytime humidity with my swamp cooler running and about 80% humidity from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM and 90% until like 12:00 PM the next day. For Christmas I'll be attempting to get a fogger, humidistat and thermostat.)
One thing I noticed about the N. lowii x spectabilis is that the medium drains extremely fast. I have kebab skewers in all of my pots to monitor moisture levels in the soil, and usually when I pull them out you can get water off of them, but the one in my N. lowii x spectabilis post is just a tiny bit moist. The medium doesn't have much sphagnum in it, if any, and it is composed of primarily things like lava rock/pumice/perlite, rocky stuff. Maybe some sand and peat too. Does N. lowii x spectabilis do best in these conditions, or did the grower just pot it with what they had? I would like to repot it to hold more moisture and keep the sphagnum on top from turning white, but I don't want to drown a nep that does best in very rocky conditions.
(It can be more humid in there, but all of the sphagnum in the other pots is bright green and growing well with no issues. I have about 50% daytime humidity with my swamp cooler running and about 80% humidity from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM and 90% until like 12:00 PM the next day. For Christmas I'll be attempting to get a fogger, humidistat and thermostat.)