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I'll be moving into an apartment and setting up a small-ish Nepenthes grow chamber in the next couple months. I will be in a cold climate, so indoor conditions (factoring in heat from lights/ greenhouse effect from growth chamber) should be intermediate. I am shooting for day temps of 80-85, night temps between 60-68. One of the Nepenthes species that I have always wanted to Grow is N. globosa, and I am also interested in the other mirabilis/thorellii complex species (N.anamensis, N.smilesii, N.chang, N.thai, N. konkandana, etc.)

I haven't heard much about the growing habits of these species other than that they are lowlanders and that they sometimes go dormant. Generally, how easy or difficult is N. globosa (and related species)? Are they tolerant of intermediate conditions, or do they need "ultra-lowland" conditions like N. bicalcarata or N. northiana? Will they go dormant under normal growing conditions, or only in response to water stress? Can cold stress make them go dormant? I am worried about my plants all defoliating when I am getting them acclimated to intermediate conditions. Also, do they need any specific kind of pot or potting media to accomidate the rhizome?

I have only seen pictures of N. globosa (same goes for other thai species) so I don't really have a feel for how large they get. I will have a reasonable amount of growing space (enough to accommodate several mature Nepenthes), but I know that some lowlanders become massive vining monsters that really need to be grown in a greenhouse.
 
First of all, you have the coolest screen name of anyone on this site. Second, you should be fine growing mirabilis var. globosa inside at room temps. My old neighbor had one growing pretty close to his T5s, with low humidity and basically room temps, and it looked and grew great. Just keep in mind that mirabilis and its variants seem to like being a little bit wetter than most Nepenthes, and have the root systems to prove it.

Since all Nepenthes are tropical plants, you don't need to worry about dormancy. The only way in which I could understand someone referring to Nepenthes "dormancy," is that they slow down (like all plants) when light levels and temperatures are not ideal - aka, no pitchers.
 
Yeah, N.globosa is pretty tolerant temperature wise, as long as nights don't drop below 60F you will be good. I grow N.smilesii and I can definitely say it's an unkillable beast, it needs lots of light, but will grow and pitcher well in low humidity and can be grown with nights down to 55F with no change in growth speed.
 
Nepenthes don't have a rhizome. I believe what you'd heard of as dormancy is the drought tolerance of some Indochinese species. N. smilesii, holdenii, chang, etc. have modified roots that function as tubers and store water for the harsher dry season. They're also adapted to survive wild fires, which most Nepenthes would die very quickly in.
 
Graham I actually disagree with you on the fact that Nepenthes don't have rhizomes. I need to show you the roots on the mirabilis x tiger, but I could be wrong maybe they are tubers. Also I think that almost any of the mirabilis plants (with the exception of mirabilis var. echinostoma) should grow just fine at room temps like Exo said. If you are going to put them in a terrarium or grow rack of some sort I would plan on giving each plant at least a foot wide per plant. I have four different forms of mirabilis in a single 12 inch pot and they take up about 2 feet diameter in my tank. They would be happier in a larger pot but i don't really wanna give them the space. As for what mato said about your name being totally awesome I completely agree. Check out my thread "Nep-stravaganza" if you wanna see some ideas about how to grow lowlanders.
 
That one has either bokorensis or thorellii in it, so it has the genetics to produce tubers.
 
Foot wide per plant is no problem. When I build my grow chamber, it will be somewhere around a 6x6x6 foot cube at minimum. I don't plan on getting that many plants either, just want to have room for my favorite varieties.
 
Well if you need help with mirabilis varieties I'll probably have cuttings come next spring/summer
 
Thanks! By mirabilis varieties, do you mean the N. smilesii and N. thai on your growlist (don't know if they are recognized as species)? I'll PM you in a few months once I get my grow chamber set up.
 
  • #10
smilesii and thai are species and I've also got two forms of mirabilis var. echinostoma, I've also got a typical mirabilis and mirabilis 'Pink thai', also regarding gymnamphora i've never heard of a highland form of it, and I'm pretty sure its just a lowlander. I know Wistuba has it for sale right now too.
 
  • #12
EDIT: globosa doesn't equal glabrata. Derp
 
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