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!

I was just given some bench space in the horticulture club greenhouse at my university. I live in a tiny apartment, so I'm excited to finally have room to grow Nepenthes. Light and humidity seem perfect, but according to the greenhouse complex manager, the hort club greenhouse is heated to a constant 70f. In practice, I think that the greenhouse experiences a slight drop in temperature at night, because I seriously doubt that it is s perfectly insulated (I live in a very cold climate). I think that I will be dealing with a day temp of 70-75f, and a night temp of ~65f. These conditions obviously limit what I can grow, since the day temps are too cool for most lowland varieties and the night temps are too high for most highland varieties.

I've been looking over the some Nepenthes varieties offered currently by online retailers, and I am interested in the following.

N. sumatrana (Don't know much about this species, but I have heard that it is tolerant of cooler conditions than most lowlanders)

N. ventricosa x arisolochioides (have heard it grows well in both lowland and highland conditions, like the parent N. ventricosa)

N. spectabilis x aristolochioides (no idea)

N. truncata x merrilliana (have heard from growers that this cross grows well under a wide range of conditions)

Are these good choices for my conditions? Does anyone here have experience with these species/crosses?
 
I'd look into more intermediate to warm highland plants, sumatrana is a pretty strict lowlander in that while it likes shade and the cooler temps that go with that, it still doesn't really experience much in the way of temps below 70 F. The other ones may do well there, though temps might not vary enough for the spec x aristo, but look into plants like x ventrata, 'Miranda,' maxima types and hybrids, etc.
 
I talked to the greenhouse manager again, today. According to him, the greenhouse gets into the mid 80s during the day during the summer months. During the winter it will pretty much stay at 70f. The greenhouse is heated via. hot water pipes that run under and next to the benches, so I would have the option of placing plants closer to the heat source if needed.

As far as choosing plants goes, I will look for crosses between highland and lowland species, and/or crosses involving species like N.truncata, N.maxima, and N.ventricosa which in my past experience with Nepenthes, tend to grow well in both highland and lowland conditions.

I have true highland conditions in my apartment (all I have to do is open my window) but very little space. I should probably be able to get away with a few N.aristolochiodes crosses on my windowsill, anyway, as they stay very small by Nepenthes standards.
 
I'd say alata, veitchii from higher altitudes and maxima would be the way to go, I find all are tolerant of my lowland conditions and some other gorwers down south of me grow these with intermediates and highlanders, truncate x maxima is hybrid that is attractive and also tolerates a wide temp scale.
 
N. burkei, vogelii, veithcii, lavicola, ramispina, burbidgeae, gymnamphora, and stenophylla should work nicely with those conditions. I grow all but three of those as intermediates.
 
I'd love to get a N.gymnamphora, but I haven't seen any for sale lately. I had a really cool clone of N.gymnamphora (originating from the Atlanta Botanical Garden, I think) back when I was in high school. It made basal rosettes like N. ampullaria. Sometimes, the lowers had no "leaf" and the tendrils with traps just sprouted from the media like a cephalotus trap.
 
Back
Top