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N. raja 14 years old

  • Thread starter arie
  • Start date
  • #21
Sounds good rajah. I think Rajah is mimicking a cactus, it makes a large area of roots then it can absorb lots of water when it rains. But I am not sure just attempting a therory not a law! lol.
smile.gif
But yes I am going to aim for a shallower pot when mine needs repotting next.
 
  • #22
I think also that plants with a superficial roots system don't like to be always in a too wet media and need periods of drought.
Of course drought for a cactus is very different from drought for a N.rajah, the media of the last one is always enough humid.

regards
rajah
 
  • #23
I will say that rajah makes a huge root system for the size of the plant. Personally I don't think a wide pot in cultivation is necessarily the main concern, but a large volume is the issue. My own feeling is that they put out a very wide area of shallow roots in nature because there is something stopping the roots from going deeper. Probably insufficient air perhaps because the soil is too compacted and dense. In cultivation the pot contains a homogenous potting mix as opposed to in the wild.

I will also add that a wide shallow pot drains less than a deeper narrower pot of the same volume. I think risk of keeping the roots too wet is more of a concern in a wide shallow pot.
Tony
 
  • #24
Hi Tony !!
I'm agree with you that is better a deep pot than a shallow one. I planted roots superficially, but the pot is 15 cm deep and 15 cm wide so the plant (5 cm diameter) can decide where to go with its roots.
So if plant need much water will develope roots in depth.

In nature perhaps there is few soil where rajah live and rocks stop the roots.

kind regards

rajah
 
  • #25
As I mentioned on my posting about this species, my experience has been that a very wide
pot is quite helpful.  Two years ago, I had one of my largest rajahs in a 20 cm pot, in which
it had been growing for three years.  I decided to remove it from the pot to ascertain the
extent to which its roots had permeated the compost.  To my surprise, it was completely
rootbound, with the roots permeating the top three inches of the compost almost exclusively.
At that point, I put it in a shallow pot, 45 cm in diameter.  Within a few months, it increased in
size and produced new basal growth.  

Due to the rather extraordinary size of the leaves and pitchers of this species, it seems
reasonable to infer that it requires an extensive root system to satisfy its needs.  Even
some of the smaller specimens in my care have developed very robust root systems
rather disproportionate to their size....
 
  • #26
Well the perfect pot sounds like a deep and wide one then!  
smile.gif

Maybe like an Azalea pot? (as tall as wide) Or a custom pot, (very wide and deep) Just a suggestion.
 
  • #27
I'm probably too late posting this for anyone to see it since it's now and old thread, which is OK really since it's my first posting on the forum and I'm not sure if it'll work or not
biggrin.gif


In it's natural habitat, there is something that stops roots of N. rajah from going very deep - rock.  It sort of clings on to steep rocky slopes, often with little for the roots to penetrate into.  It rains an awful lot there, so the roots may be more important as an anchorage than as a water collecting organ.

We've found that when seedlings of N. rajah are grown out from sterile culture in trays, they tend to send out roots horizontally just beneath the surface.  If the seedling are planted too close together, the root systems can get matted together making the young plants difficult to seperate.  Yes, I reckon wide pot is good for this species, but there's nothing wrong with some depth too in MHO.

Rob Cantley
 
  • #28
Yay Welcome Rob!

Interesting additional information as well. Particularly since you have lots of first hand knowledge with these plants in their natural habitat.
Tony
 
  • #29
Wow, another very interesting name popping up - Welcome to the forum Rob!

My experience with the root system of small N. rajah is different. One of my plants grew its roots also quite deep into the soil. At a diameter of 3-4cm the roots were growing about 7cm deep into the pot and were very large compared to other Nepenthes. A friend of mine made a different experience, he grew his plant in his standard Nepenthes soilmix and added a top layer of living Sphagnum to increase humidty. When he repotted this plant the roots did only grew into this top Sphagnum layer but didn't grew down into the rest of the soil.

Small N. rajah from TC are also said to grow best in pure living Sphagnum which shouldn't be kept to wet - well it'll take some more time before I can comment on the experiment I've started some months ago...

Joachim
 
  • #30
This is my first post here as well!
I recently repotted my small 7 year old rajah which has been in a 5 inch pot. I was surprised to see that the entire pot was full of roots!
It is now in a large water lily basket 15" across 8" deep. I noticed that all the larger Rajah plants at Kew along with most of their Nepenthes species were in water lily baskets. So I am gradually repotting my plants into those as well.

I wonder how big this 14 year old Rajah was when Matthew got it? My plant was tiny and didn't do anything for the first few years. But since I added a Nepenthes section to my greenhouse has really put on some growth. I wonder what it will look like when it celebrates its 14th birthday??

cheers

bill
fly-catchers
 
  • #31
Welcome Welcome Rob!
smile.gif


flycatchers- Matt told me the Rajah was about a foot across when he obtained it.
 
  • #32
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (nathaniel @ Aug. 26 2002,01:06)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Please, don't start that again  
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![/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">i wonder if it could catch a squirrell

[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

Start what?
 
  • #33
A while ago, there was a topic concerning feeding a raja a squirrel. There was a lot of debating, with offensive remarks, and in my opinion, started to get out of hand. In any case, most people hated the idea of feeding a raja a live animal, ad it snowballed from there.
 
  • #34
what if they were those frozen mice from pet stores?
smile.gif
 
  • #35
Let's just stop the feeding a Rajah an animal regardless if it is alive or not. I wish to not get into the same debate all over again. Ok everyone? I am nto yelling at you Spect 73, but let's just stop it right here, before it getting out of hand like the last topic.
wink.gif
 
  • #36
there is only one thing to say about that Rajah WOW
 
  • #37
You know, looking back on that topic, it kind of makes me laugh. You know, how people can get so carried away with their opinions and emotions, hurting others for the most unworthy reasons. It'd be nice to read that topic again
smile.gif
. Oh well, that's enough of that.
 
  • #38
wow that thing is huge , at first i thought the second picture was a big toilet , eheheheheh . that things is really huge , where did you get it . i believe feeding plants or animald dead or live animals is not a bad thing , in the wild animals eat things and so do plants , vfts even eat flies in the wild so there is nothing wrong with that type of practice .
 
  • #39
Nice to know someone shares my opinion.....
 
  • #40
same here if it is reported to catch small animals in the wild then why not feed it what its teast buds are used to. i know i would get sick of eating bugs all the time. not to long ago like a week or so ago a Truncata was reported to have a small bird in its pitcher.
 
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