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How long before seed grown nepenthes plants grow bigger/adultish pitchers

  • Thread starter Vidyut
  • Start date
Planning to grow some nepenthes from seed. I know they take a long time to grow, but was wondering about the juvenile pitchers - how long do the plants make them? When do they start making bigger ones? Getting color, size, some features that make them look less like any other nepenthes seedling and more of a young version of themselves... I know it will vary from plant to plant and highland/lowland + growing conditions, etc - more interested in your observations with your plants.

Mostly looking for when they stop making the green pitchers that look like every other nepenthes seedling and start showing *some* character - even if not fully adult pitchers.

I've seen many seedling pics with the newly germinated seedlings with the tiny green blob juvenile pitchers and seen many seedling photos with more defined leaves and pitchers, even if not adult ones. But there is no way to make out how long it takes for the pitchers to start showing some character. Yes, I really checked all available forums and blogs and finding nothing, finally got around to asking for myself.

Yeah. Not famous for patience and planning to grow nepenthes from seed ???

The seeds aren't even shipped yet and I've started a thread asking for when I see something interesting :jester:
 
Depends a lot on the species I suppose. For slower highland plants It would probably be at least a year or two before you saw pitchers with many mature features. I have heard that lowland species and hybrids tend to grow faster, so you could also expect to see mature pitchers more quickly too, maybe within a year of germination. What kind of seed did you order?
 
The plants do vary a bit by species; whether they're highland or lowland; some pissant clone; and through varying cultivation practices. These plants are a bit older than six months and putting on color . . .

Yes, I plan to post all photographs upside down in 2018, for your viewing pleasure . . .

Nepenthes sp. 30 January
 

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From my sample size of n = 1, I'd say it took a year. But as BigBella notes, it's very dependent on several factors.

Speaking of...

Yes, I plan to post all photographs upside down in 2018, for your viewing pleasure . . .

Those of us in the southern hemisphere thank you for your consideration.
 
The plants do vary a bit by species; whether they're highland or lowland; some pissant clone; and through varying cultivation practices. These plants are a bit older than six months and putting on color . . .

Yes, I plan to post all photographs upside down in 2018, for your viewing pleasure . . .

Nepenthes sp. 30 January

I'd be happy to stand on my head and watch the plants themselves upside down if they grew this nice in six months :jester:
 
Depends a lot on the species I suppose. For slower highland plants It would probably be at least a year or two before you saw pitchers with many mature features. I have heard that lowland species and hybrids tend to grow faster, so you could also expect to see mature pitchers more quickly too, maybe within a year of germination. What kind of seed did you order?

merriliana, rafflesiana, naga, sanguinea, hemsleyana, mirabilis var echinostoma, albomarginata red, northiana and veitchii 🙈

Several lowlanders, some not...

Hopefully the sheer number of them will keep me too busy to get impatient
 
merriliana, rafflesiana, naga, sanguinea, hemsleyana, mirabilis var echinostoma, albomarginata red, northiana and veitchii 🙈

Several lowlanders, some not...

Hopefully the sheer number of them will keep me too busy to get impatient

The only one of those I have grown from seed is rafflesiana and it took about 18 months under mostly substandard conditions to get some interesting pitchers.
 
Many of those are not commonly produced in cultivation...dare I ask what the source was? I know very few N. naga at least have flowered in cultivation and don't believe many people have produced seeds, let alone sold them.
The majority of Nepenthes won't produce pitchers with mature characteristics for at least 1-3 years, and highlanders like naga will be at least on the longer end of that if not more. Seedling stage is generally the slowest for many and they pick up only after starting to mature.
 
Ebay. From this seller I found recommended on a lot of forums. I believe his seed is wild collected, so it could be hybrids.

Edit: Ok, it seems I can't name him on these forums.
 
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  • #10
As others have said, the amount of time you have to wait before seeing representative pitchers is very largely dependent on the actual species in question.

Another very important factor is your growing conditions. I grow my plants indoors as terrarium/windowsill specimen in North America, and I have found that my plants are much slower to attain size and develop mature pitchers when compared to people that have climate-controlled greenhouses and live in more mild parts of the world.

There is a very direct correlation to how impeccable your growing conditions are to how quickly your plants will gain size. The factors that this depends on are: Correct lighting, regular and acceptable fertilization, precise temperatures, exacting humidity, and to a certain extent - not messing around with your plants except when absolutely necessary.

I have found that plants will grow best when they are left alone and not moved around or fiddled with (even in regards to positioning for photographs and such).

Ultimately, even the fastest growing Nepenthes in the best conditions are still relatively slow-growing plants and require a great deal of patience. If you need some plants that will satisfy your short attention span and need for visible improvement then I recommend picking up some Drosera, as they typically become full-grown in a matter of a couple seasons.
 
  • #11
I have them in an east facing balcony where they get fairly bright light all day (we are in a sunny place and there is open space, so bright shade till evening) and direct light till 11am (depending on where in balcony - which I use to place those who want more/less light). Good air circulation. Always light breeze. Misting system goes on for 10 seconds every five minutes except for monsoons. But this isn't like 100% humidity - more like 80% or so given the breeze and open balcony - the area is not closed and I don't think the plants would like it.

It is sort of like growing them outdoors, but not.

Plants liking cold get placed in areas that benefit from the cooling effect most, though given our climate, nothing goes below 20 degrees almost ever other than a few winter nights. Summers can get fairly hot, but I have plenty of plants that don't mind the heat to shade the ones that do.

That said, a small rajah x veitchii I got 3 weeks ago has almost made a new leaf (it seems almost the length of previous, but not yet unfurled), so conditions can't be too terrible. Plants generally like it here. I even plant TC plants out directly and stick cuttings directly in sphagnum in an open pot without any covering, etc without too much trouble - just place them closer to the misters and a bit shaded from the breeze.

Not many issues with fungus and such as long as I don't bag anything without sterilizing media, though there are pests. Not too bad right now, but with neglect.... it can get bad. At least no more birds after I installed netting. They loved the greenery and were massive trouble.

That said, this summer will be a major test. So far, every summer has killed loads of plants - some from my inexperience, some from drying out rapidly, others from the sheer heat. This is the first summer with misters and I'm hoping for a miracle.
 
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  • #12
Ebay. From this seller I found recommended on a lot of forums. I believe his seed is wild collected, so it could be hybrids.

Edit: Ok, it seems I can't name him on these forums.


Pretty sure I know who you're talking about, and over there "wild collected" invariably means poached. I strongly discourage purchasing seeds that were stated as wild-collected or the pictures suggest such, because it is breaking laws. Once again, naga in particular is among the species that are already imperiled in the wild and seed collection may decimate future generations.
 
  • #13
Noted

I'll avoid doing it in the future.

So I guess after this bonanza is over, it is back to the question of where one reliably gets fresh seeds from.
 
  • #14
You learn who reliable growers are and keep your eyes open. Nepenthes seeds in cultivation are sporadic and hybrids a lot more common; species are rare, usually sowed by the producer as plants are worth more, and when they are sold get snapped up rapidly.
 
  • #15
So if one wanted to buy some non-wild-collected Nep seeds, lets say within the next month, where would one start looking?
 
  • #16
I'll avoid doing it in the future.

So I guess after this bonanza is over, it is back to the question of where one reliably gets fresh seeds from.

If by "reliably" you mean "from a trustworthy source", then unless you are sourcing seed from a private grower who has produced seed in the context of his/her own collection, then there's no such thing as "reliable". After years of watching how things are done in this hobby, its pretty clear that most every source that seeks to monetize his efforts is far from trustworthy, on multiple levels: you can never be sure you are receiving "true-to-name" seeds, nor can you count on them being less than a year (or more!) old, and honestly - "ethically collected" isn't even remotely likely: sellers go out and gather whatever they can find, and the more the merrier.

If "fresh" seeds are all you're worried about, then befriend (local-ish) people who have significant collections and who hand pollinate their plants and distribute the resulting seeds.
 
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