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N. ventricosa (pitchering)

Hi all:

I would like to ask everybody, how often does N. ventricosa produce pitchers in winter time. does it slow down or not??.

I look forward to anybody's reply.

Thanks
 
Hmm well I have never done a study of it but I would say from casual observation that SOMETIMES they stop pitchering for a little while then just start up again. I cannot make a guess as to what causes them to stop and start. In the same greenhouse I have some that just grow and pitcher steady all year while others not far away may stop for a while. The majority however fall into the former. Perhaps it is just some are more likely to do this if conditions are less than ideal.

Tony
 
Are you using natural light? The N. ventricosas (and most other Neps) at Orchids Ltd. quit pitchering in the wintertime. I would say that it is likely due to the fact that OL's retail greenhouse is quite dim even on a cloudless summer day and in winter it might even be called dark some days! I dunno where you live (augustinfranco) but if you get lower light levels in winter and/or shorter light hours this change in lightlevels could certainly could trigger it.

If you're growing inside a terrarium with artificial light it should remain fairly constant until the lights start to weaken at about 8 to 10 months of age (normal flourescents).

Overfertilizing will cause progressively smaller and smaller pitchers but larger and larger leaves.
 
Yes, Swords you may have hit a nail here. Yes, I am growing it in a greenhouse, but it is wintertime and there are shorter light hours. However, I have installed 2 fluorescent bulbs inside the greenhouse and I am started to see a difference. I am getting other hybrids pitchering much quicker, My plastic cover is solarweave 20% shade but the green house receives about 6 hours of indirect light plus 3 of direct light and 8 hours of fluorescent lights which overlap with the others.

the leaves on the ventricosa look very healthy and bright green. I have yet to see pitchers. Something similar happened to my N. tobaica.

The facts mentioned above are shared by other ventricosa growers in temperate climates where the temperature at night does not go below 50 F during Winter. Then I would like to ask you all the following:

If N. Lowii, N. hamata, macrophylla do very well at these temperatures at night, why ventricosa which is considered a highland does not??. Maybe we may have to reclassify ventricosa as an intermediate not as a highland!!. Just a thought.



Gus
 
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