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!

Hi to all !!
Few months ago I asked information on cultivation of Nepenthes out of greenhouse, here are some result of my little experience after the first winter with these conditions:

-South facing window of a room with direct sunlight
-natural light (very few hours of photoperiod; about 8 hours in december)
-temperatures from 16°C to 23°C (from 60°F to 75°F)
-humidity from 70% to 90%
-misting two time a day

Some plants stopped or produce leaves without pitchers, I think for the reduction of photoperiod.
Nepenthes rajah
N.rajah1ex.JPG

1:weak and undeveloped leaf of January
2:follow leaf of March and relative "big" pitcher of 1 inch

Nepenthes veitchii: slow, but without stop.
N.veitchii(H).jpg


Nepenthes sanguinea: last pitcher
N.sanguinea.jpg


(All plants are from Wistuba)

Sorry if the image are large.

Waiting for comments
Kind regards

Rajah
 
Are these in a tank or just sitting on the windowsill? If the latter, they look excellent compared to what I would expect.

Joe
 
Hi Joe,
they are sitting on windowsill at 3-4 inches from window glass.

Regards

Rajah
 
Excellent growth. Looks like they need more light...especially the N. rajah..it should have reddish tinted pitchers at least. Might just be a newer pitcher on it too and it hasn't fully colored up yet.
 
Heavens, Rajah,
Where do you live that you get 70 to 90 % humidity during the winter? We're lucky to get indoor humidity above 15% here in the winter! Talk about statick electricity....

Nice looking plants, BTW.
 
Hi Dustin, You're right, but from May I'll put them outdoor in a North position, as last summer, they will take direct sunlight from 5 to 10 in the morning and from 15 to 20 in the afternoon.

Hi Joe, I live in North Italy at about 300 metres upon the sea level and I live near a little lake that makes a quite humid climate.

Regards

Rajah
 
Excellent! Very interesting, indeed!
One thing I noticed from the pic is that you are using some very course materials in your compost. One of those lava pebbles is about the size of the whole N. veitchii plant. Does that work out okay? I know Heiko Reischer(sp?) came out with an interesting article on non-organic compost consisting of lava pebbles, Seramis clay perles and another clay-like perle(maybe Alifor?), but I was thinking the diameter of the components were small.
I have been looking for cheap lava pebbles of the smallest size. I can get 1-2cm diameter in a good-sized bag for about $3. the tiny ones in a very small bag are also $3.

Regards,

Joe
 
The big lava rock in the photo lie only on the surface as decoration for Nepenthes veitchii.
The compost is :peat moss, perlite, small lava rock (about 1cm), bark (from 0.5 to 1 cm), silica sand (0.2-0.3 cm).

Regards

Rajah
 
I am thinking about getting some pumice for experimentation in soil mixes, especially for the ultrahighlanders. Since they live on ultramafic soils...maybe the pumice with some bark and perlite will make it "mimic" conditions...it's worth a try.
 
  • #10
Wish I could find pumice in these parts.
For some of the ultra highland plants that do not live in mossy forests, I think that is a great idea to experiment. I would think about 1/6th peat and some small, course components(lava pebbles, pumice, laterite,bark,charcoal,course sand,ect) would work well. Most people use pumice as a perlite sub, since perlite can collect flourides in it over time. I am not sure how it does that, if you use pure water only. I have seen some pics of fine plants grown in only 5% peat(75% bark,20% perlite), but they receive daily automatic watering.
Anyhow, doesn't "ultramafic" refer to serpentine soils, or am I getting that confused with "ultrabasic"?

Regards,

Joe
 
  • #11
Ultramafic is a gravelly soil that is rich in Mg and Fe. Ultrabasic I cannot remember but maybe it's Boron and Phosphorus?
confused.gif
 
  • #12
all the plants look in ok condition except for the little rajah. looks like it is in a little bit of shock from your experiment. well at least the new growth does.

the sanguinea you will find it will take lowland conditions very well. i grow it right out side with all the other and i get about 50-60% humdity here

the veitchii i really can't comment on i only got hybids with it in it.

keep us updated on how the experiment goes with the rajah.
 
  • #13
I do not know where you live, but if you have a decent natural humidity and temps that don't fall too low, your plants should do fine in broken light outdoors as long as a decent humidity is maintained. Here in Hawaii, I grow all neps outside. In fact, they seem to be much hardier that way and ship very nicely. Temps here where I am rarely get above 83 degrees F and even lowlands do very nicely. During winter, we get lows to 60 F. and sometimes a bit lower. This seems to have no effect at bothering lowlands such as N. rafflesiana, N. bicalcarata, N. albomarginata and others. They may not grow quite as fast, but they produce very nice full sized pitchers without any problem. Good luck.

Kim
 
Back
Top