N.amp

[nepenthes gracilis]

Hi all, I received my N.Amp "spotted" in late August and I have had it in lowland conditions along with my big Bicalcarata which has pitchered, and I got them both at the same time;same place. I am wondering if the stem is too tall and Amp, reportedly doesn't like to form aerial pitchers, and if it did form any they would be supended in the air. So fellow Neppers I am asking for your help on what you think is wrong with this beauty specimen. Stats of the plant are 1ft 6 inch diameter (45cm) and the stem is 8 inch tall (21cm).

 

[GEORGE-CP]

N.g., well it isn't because it is aerial the one i got is forming a pitcher right now that is like about a foot off the table hanging way over the pot it is potted in. i got it back in sept. i think from hydes stove house. a cutting of one. it is a slow pitchering plant to me and just this month it has started to form the first pitcher since i got it. the conditions are the same as from who i got it from due to it is right across the bay from me on a diff. island. from just reading up on the care of the plant you might want to give it more light to speed up the growing rate of the plant. read plants w/ attitude and neps university. don't know the size of your plant.
wow nice size Amp. missed the bottom reading. read neps. university. you can put the growing time right into the sun.

 

[swords]

I've have an amp which has had a persistant fungus problem (it arrived covered in fungus) but oddly it grows and pitchers very well despite the occasional uprooting and fuingicide soak.
When I planted it last (about Aug) the pitchers were about 1/4" in size and the rosette was 2 or 3" across now the pitchers are over 1 1/4" in size and plant about 5" across. It gets 90-93*F days/70-75*F nights with 90%+ humidity and is under 240 watts of flourescent lights. The rosette I have planted in pure LFS is doing better than a division of the same plant planted in peat and LFS but I don't know why exactly perhaps it likes the puffier LFS substrate?

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Hi Josh, my amp is in LFS. No problem growing but it doesn't pitcher. I have mine under a 4 ft. 2 tube flurescent fixture witht he light about a foot and a half away form the plant. (45cm). It can't be low humidity cause the Bical pitchered and the light shouldn't be too low or is it? My temps are a bit cool all around (70F and up to 75F) NEVER reaches 80F....wish I knew how I could get it that hot....

 

[NickHubbell]

I got my N. amp from the same place and about the same time as George-Cp. Mine has been pitchering very nicely. It is growing with very short internodes. So far, I have had 4 new pitchers form.

My temps are between 70-80°F. It was doing well at 68-75°F before I bought a heating mat. Humidity is between 70-90% depending on time of day. I also mist once a day.

My bicalcarata is very slow growing in the same conditions. However, my rafflesaina and sanguinea are doing wondeful. The sanguinea has put out a side shoot already. They are all the same age as far as when I purchased them. They are all from cuttings.

 

[GEORGE-CP]

N.G., get a 4 bulb light fixture. read the ends of the bulbs and see what lum. it is i think it might not be getting enought light from the fixture. josh, mentioned in his artical that the plants should be under 6500 lum or some where around that without going back and reading the artical again. that is what i went off of when i bought light bulds. except i went for a mixture of light. sunlight,2 grow lights and soft white. i was using a black light for the longest time cause i liked the color but changed it when i was told it was usless for light and only good for luminating the plants at night so i took it out.

 

[swords]

Bical and ampullaria are considered "lowlight" but there is hardly a nep I've met which dislikes the brightest flourescent light you can give it, even N. northiana burst forth with wicked colors under super bright flourescents, I was careful with this one because I was worried of "overlighting" it. Hes in the brightest tank and loving every minute of it. My lowlanders are anywhere from 6" - 18" under six 4 foot flourescent tubes (=240 watts) as well as light it really warms up their tank. Combined with fertilizing and feeding they grow what I'd call "quickly".

As far as heating is concerned according to Neps of Borneo lowlanders in the area he studied did not experience less than 22*C at any time of the year long testing period and sometimes temps were higher than 40*C. Heating the lowland enclosure sounded like a good idea and I noticed the plants grew faster in august when the tank was much hotter than in october when things seemed to slowdown a bit so I added that flourescent strip beneath the tank (and a few 10 gallon tanks of utrics to make use of the lights beneath). This heated the lowland tank above real nice and the plants seemed to have returned to more rapid growth. Anyway, you can get a reptile cage heater which lays flat under the tank (set the tank ontop of it) and you can set it to warm the tank to whatever you want. Any petco or Petsmart will have em. Sometimes they call em "hermit crab heaters" They run from about $8 to $40 depending upon what size you need. They also sell them at garden shops for seedling heat mats as Nick said.

Be wary if you increase your lighting/heating that your humidity doesn't drop too much. With the amount of heat & light I'm running the lowland tank I need to have a waterpump running in the false bottom of the tank while the lights are on to combat the dryer air in the upper 1/3rd of the tank.

Once you start experimenting with more and more artificial lighting you will always want to add more when you see what can be done, it becomes almost like an addiction! "How far can I push these plants?" Unlike window growing or even greenhouse growing, it's never a cloudy day inside a terrarium so your plants grow fast and steady as long as you change your tubes every 6-8 months to keep them in 'peak' output.

hope this ramble helped some, I need sleep!

 

[Patrice]

Hi all ,

I can only agree with Swords...ampullaria just LOVES high humidity levels AND high temperatures...mine ar growing very fast since the day (a few months ago...) I put them in a special "Nep enclosure"...

Temperature is never under 20°C=70°F  (maximum of 45°C=110°F this summer) , humidity level never under 70% in the air (in my conditions)

since that day , my ampularias is pitchering correctly , as for the moment they're also pitchering from the stem ! I have two different clones , but the two same phenomena. my plants also build roots that comes out of the stem....as if the plant wants to re-implant itself !
this happens in perticularly special places : the upper parts of planting-medium from the other pots on wich the long stem (80cm) is lying on...

maybe this are good conditions for re-implantation , I dont know...but it's funny to observe that

light : I can also agree to Swords...the more light , the more they like ! but not to near to the bulbs if there is no re-circulation of the air : in that sector , the air is too dry for ampullaria...it will burn out and become brown leaves if too dry...also pitchers are smaller...

in addition to all that , I must tell you I have a enclosure with a 10cm heated water level uner the plants. the plants are in single pots , and are standing on a PVC-layer what is a few cm over the water surface (I drilled 1000ands of holes in it , what a job ! )
there's also a humidyfier (working with the ultra-sound principle) that works for half an hour every three hours....

hope it helped

Patrice - France

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Hi, humidity is NOT an issue. I have an ultra sonic humidifyer that saturates the leaves when turned on for more than 10 minutes. My light may be the problem, I think i need to lower my fixture closer to the plants.

 

[GEORGE-CP]

N.G., that or move the plants closer to the light. if it was out in the wild and growing under the sun i don't think the sun would move but, the plant would change direction of the way it was growing. so what i would do is put a pot or something under the plant to get it closer to the light. that is alot easyer that ajusting the chain or what ever is holding up the light fixture.

just a thought

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Good idea! It would be MUCH simpler than adjusting the chain. Thanks.

 

[fatboy]

N amp is a true lowlander and despite the fact that I have seen it in intermediate conditions it is MUCH more common along with other lowlanders.

Amp likes the heat and humidity but it is definitely a species that can tolerate lower light levels than others. If you can, give it heat, humidity and light however if you have to compromise on one aspect I would go for the light level.

Josh I don't understand how putting a "flourescent strip" below your tank would make much difference?
One of the reasons people use flourescent tubes is because they produce almost no heat?

Cheers, Troy.

 

[neps]

Like others, I think that the problem is simply that your
temperatures are too low. Shoot for daytime highs of
about 30 C, or better, and nighttime lows of about 20 C.
You may be able to accomplish this with a heating mat, or
heatlamp, but be careful!

I've been growing many varieties of this species for years, and
have found that it does indeed tolerate low light levels. More-
over, don't worry about the length of the vine. The length
you specified is not very great and is a non-issue. The leaves
at the end of the vine should pitcher fine once you
provide the plant what it needs.

 

[swords]

Troy I am using an unused 75 gallon fishtank as my lowland enclosure (which will have to be discarded and a bigger enclosure made soon as the bicals newest leaf is against the lid glass now). The tank is sitting on an open bottomed oak aquarium stand . I put a couple 10 gallon tanks inside the stand and put some lights over them.
The air inside the stand (under the tank) is trapped and warmed. Certainly not a tremendous amount but in combination with the heat already generated by the 6 tubes ontop the tank it rises the temp about 7-10*F higher than it was before doing so, bringing the daytime highs to 92.3*F on most days and 75.4*F most nights.
Flourescents are much cooler running than other bulbs - you can lay your hand on the tubes of flourescents without burning your hand but it still feels warm (apx 90-120*F). My siamese cat loves nothing more than to sleep on top the bank of flourescents over the lowland tank to warm himself up.

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Troy, I think the ballasts produce quite a bit of heat.

Jeff, thanks for the info! You are most always right and yes I do think the heat is low.....and I've had enouhg of it, moving the growchamber to a warmer part of my house, my family members must accept this!