Nepenthes veitchii care

[SWAGnum]

While I am mainly interested in hybrids, N. veitchii is probably my favorite of the "pure species" and one I am very interested in growing successfully. A nursery only a couple miles away has several varieties available, N. veitchii "highland" from Bareo and Hose Mtns. locations, N. veitchii "lowland" from Bau,Sarawak, and a couple highland clones from Exotica, so I have access to several forms. Most are quite expensive, so I will likely start with a smaller plant of a less valuable variety.

From what I have heard from other growers, N. veitchii is not particularly "difficult", but is slow and a bit finnicky. It seems to do very well fro some growers, and poorly for others. What sort of conditions are key to successful cultivation of N. veitchii? Are some forms/localities easier than others? While I would assume "highland" N. veitchii would do better in cooler conditions than it's lowland counterpart, it would be interesting to hear if any particular forms are more tolerant/vigorous in general.

 

[Cthulhu138]

N.veitchii has proven to be a very easy, strong grower for me. It's very adaptable to a wide range of conditions regardless of provenance. My N.veitchii "Pink" from Malesiana is supposedly a LL plant but grows just fine for me in HL to UHL although somewhat more slowly. I grow 3 different forms and they're all just about equally as easy and hardy.

 

[Adelea]

I have a couple veitchii forms, they grow at very different rates, Bau seems to be the slowest, "pink" grows super fast (for a veitchii) and my other one (something from exotics, I think mudu or muaradi mountains or something) is again very slow growing.
They like bright light or morning sun, so not full sun all day, they love spag soils, expecialy spagerlite or orchid bark, and they don't seem to appreciate change, my plants go into shock for a few weeks when I move them from the greenhouse to my polyhouse, then back.
Avoid a water tray, this is one of a very select few of nepenthes that I don't grow in a tray, the idea or the perlite or bark in the soil is so it can breath/drain.
All in all they are pretty easy, but it all depends on your conditions, I am tropical and in a lowland region, you may be temperate, which could effect what soil or lighting works best, or which oe will grow best for you.

 

[SWAGnum]

Thanks for the info on substrate and light. I figured a sphag/perlite/bark mix would be good since N. veitchii is usually an epiphyte. I'm in upstate New York, so a (very cold) temperate region. However, I live in a small apartment that is centrally heated to around 19C. I am setting up a large grow tent with T5-HO lighting for my Nepenthes because I have seen other growers use these-set ups with great success.

Since temps won't be going below ~19-20 C at night in the grow-tent, I will be growing mostly "intermediate" hybrids involving both highland and lowland parents. Would this sort of night temp. be too high for a N. veitchii "highland"? I have heard of some growers who grow them successfully in lowland conditions, and others who say they need a temp drop to about 15C at night.

I also have some greenhouse space at work that drops to between 10-16C at night. I have some Nepenthes there now and they are doing alright, the humidity is quite low(for Nepenthes), though, dropping to 30-40%, or even a bit lower in mid-winter when the heating is on full-blast. Most of my plants are pitchering now, but some really have a hard time acclimating.

 

[Whimgrinder]

No matter what temperature range you work in, there needs to be a night-to-day differential of at least 10F (closer to 20 or 25F is better). You really should figure out a way to engineer a significant temperature swing. My plants get temps ranging from 52F at night to 82F in the day.

 

[Favian]

Like Paul has said, at least for my bareos' as long as you get a night drop of 10 degree or more, they should be fine. They grow easy for me and love plenty of light.

 

[SWAGnum]

No matter what temperature range you work in, there needs to be a night-to-day differential of at least 10F (closer to 20 or 25F is better). You really should figure out a way to engineer a significant temperature swing. My plants get temps ranging from 52F at night to 82F in the day.

As far as the grow-tent goes, a sufficient temp drop should be achieved when the lights turn off at night, and the fans(on both sides of the grow-tent) blow warm air out and cool(er) air in. In enclosed spaces like a grow tent, even T5s can put off a lot of heat, so day temps will definitely increase (from the ambient 68f of the room). The grow-tent unit I'm getting comes with dual vents to install fans on, so that's pretty convenient.

My plants in the greenhouse at work get a 25f drop from day to night.