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Bigger, badder bical

my N. bical which had the "tragic accident" (heavy glass terrarium lid fell on it and snapped the tip off) has just made it's first full leaf since the accident and it's the biggest yet about 16" long and 4" wide and just the starting pitcher bud is 2" - I can't wait to see the pitcher it makes! When the next leaf extens the plant will be about 30-36" across! I'm so glad the accident wasn't as bad as I originally thought and glad you folks told me not to throw the plant out.

However all is not perfect as I notice roots are starting to become visible on the surface of the pot (10" hanging pot) and so transplanting must be done and I'm thinking of using a more peaty mix (I'll just settle the current soil mass into the new mix instead of bare rooting it and shocking it) than pure LFS as before since this plant is a water hog I'll use a mix that holds more water.
But what size pot should I put it in? I got it in a 6" azalea pot in June and now as of Nov he's outgrown a 10" pot! How big of a pot will I eventually need? Into the 5 gallon pail size range or bigger?
I know this plant gets enormous but seems like it's also a very quick grower. Does anyone have a full grown one that they got as a smaller plant and know how long it took to reach that size?
Also, without a greenhouse where do I keep a 2+ meter diameter plant?
Can you read the panic there?
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post a pic?

;p


just like a 1-2 gal water pot would be cool i think, hey thats a good idea

i got a small 2-3 gal grey watering pitcher, ogm that would be so cool to plant it in there !
 
Sword, i got my cutting from steve stove house and another from someone else. right now they are both in 5 gal. pots. with talking to steve in person he said his where monsters i mean huge. i never got to see the beasts up front before he got reed of them. but, i would just go up 1 gal. pot size at a time. here in florida i can grow them outside. in your case it does get to cold there in the winter. you could set up a light fixture in a room and grow it out like that and during the summer when it gets warm enought for it but it out side under a porch or something like that. your plants do not have to be in a green house or a tank to grow. all my plants are in a fenced in yard,screened in porch, and my bathroom
 
yeh i had mine out by the vegetables

that thing was covered with ants man

i mean literally,, the pit chers were almost full of em, no damage to the plant tho. i washed em all out and put em inside my porch in a small greenhouse for more humidity, since its been getin perty chilly, its 66 now

getin colder at night
 
Well I got my 2 ft diamter Bical in a growchamber that's 3 ft wide. You have a very large Bical Josh! Mine is in a 10 inch diameter pot right now. Hmm 3 ft plant.....I would move it to a 1 gal nurseury size pot, or go to 2 gallons even.
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Bical is a very large Nepenthes and will get HUGE. I suggest you make a large growchamber once it exceeds 4 ft diamter. Put it in there all by itself.
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But so far I would say it isn't going to stop increasing in size that's for sure! SO keep it warm and give it lots of root room. Hope it all comes out good! E-mail me or post here if you want pics of my Bical or whatever.
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I'm using a pane of glass as a lid for my terrarium. If you can get a few you can make a growchamber for it, for the winter... Its probably not practical, but there are alot of places that have panes of glass they are throwing away... Think tradesmen... Refridgeratioin Mechanics (they work with those glass cases in grocery stores), construction........ You can find them in quite a few places... Oh. When I saw pane of glass, I mean from a door... Something ilke that...

Good luck!!!
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Josh, i just went back to where you posted that it broke off and it was Sept 25 till now nov. 17 almost 2 months to grow back what broke off. not bad amount of time to grow back a leaf.
one of my bacal. growing point has died off when i got it and i'm hoppen it will grow back. the rest of the plant looks healthy as can be but, i have only had that one of a week now and knew about its condition when i got it.
 
Here's a pic of the bical as it is today:

Nbical1102.jpg


The picture shows the full new leaf with the tendril which just turned into the "bud hook" over the last day or so. Just the uninflated bud alone is 1/4 the size of the last full pitcher! I can't wait to see the new pitcher. Perhaps since it could not expend the energy for the last two leaves it made this one enormous as an expending pent up energy? Is that possible in plants? But there is another new leaf coming out and it's pretty large too.

If I had a better digital camera I could have also taken pics of the nectar glands on this new leaf. It is like blackheads which leak clear fluid. there were drops of liquid on the tendril just above the bud and speckling the top of the leaf surface-like a sundew (not as many tiny droplets of course). Hopefully I'll be able to take some good closeups of that next week with whatever camera I decide to settle on.

I'm thinking of a large lowland terrarium 6 ft H x 6 ft W x 4 ft D with a sliding shower door but I think this guy will outgrow it very soon.Outside is no good here in MN cos neps won't make pitchers, only vine/leaves. It seems plenty humid to me but to the plant it's not enough even with daily watering.
 
Put your bical in a larger pot....preferable 3 or more gallon pot. Some of mine in 3 gallon pots are in pots far too small, as a couple of my bicals are about 4 feet across. They will take much more moisture as they get bigger, so if you have a five gallon pot, it won't hurt at all. The leaves are greater than six inches wide and nearly two feet long. I hope you have the room....good luck.

Kim
 
  • #10
As Kim pointed out Bicals are water guzzlers. That's why I grow mine on the tray system. Mike Catalani suggested it be grown on it and let me tell you, it works great. I would suggest if you plan on going that big of a pot which you will!, go with a more peaty mixture like a ratio of 2 parts peat to 1 part sphagnum moss. Mix it all up for moisture rentention and maby add 1 part perlite for drainage too. Good luck and hope you get a big pitcher!
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  • #11
Josh, if you have it in a 10" hanging pot that is alot bigger pot than a 5 gal. pot. dig threw the mix a little and see if it is actual starting to get root bound. it just might be rooting that way more to the serface nothing to worry about my judith roots have some growing on the serface but it is no where near root bound yet, if it is just go up one size to a 12" hanging basket or a 12 gal. pot which actuall has a little bit more room to root in due to shape of it.
other wise your Bacal. grow back in pretty good shape
 
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