N. ventricosa problems

[swords]

Hi folks!
I'm curious as to what (if anything) could be wrong with my ventricosa.
I've had it since about Jan/Feb and it's only making pitchers about 1/2" tall but when I got it it had a few (dried out) pitchers that were about 3" tall on 10"+ leaves. This was a 3 foot long vine cutting which the orchid shop had rooted in NZ spagnum. I Cut it down (made some cuttings and gave the to my pals) and then the main rooted part I kept and all the new leaves from the growth nodes are short, only about 4" long with those tiny pitchers. They are fully formed pitchers and they open up like on my other nep pitchers but they're just sad looking -a housefliy is almost bigger!
8-(

It's being kept with my other neps in the following environment:
29 Gallon terrarium 30" L x 18" H x 12" D
80 watts of daylight & coolwhite bulbs (4x20 watts)
75*-85* F night and day
80-100% humidity

Will the plant eventually even itself out as these growth nodes age or is something wrong here?
I CAN see the roots winding round at the bottom of the clear deli pot it's in-should I repot and things will improve or are there dedicated highland species of ventricosa and I need to let it chill at night?

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Is the pot drained or undrained? It may be too wet if the pot is undrained. Also, perhaps you should move it to more milder conditions like interrmediate conditions like my Vnetricosa is in, and it is a weed! Have a look.

 

[gr8oz]

First, I would pot it up into a larger container. My ventricosa seedlings go through a serious growth spurt when they get moved from a 3" green round to a 6" basket. The cuttings you took from your plant probably had some effect on the size of your present pitchers. Sometimes, a nodal shoot will begin by producing very small leaves and pitchers. As long as the plant looks healthy and is growing, I wouldn't panic. Give it some time and it'll get back on track. Oz

 

[Tony Paroubek]

I would agree. You just need to be patient. New growth from a dormant node (particularly from one at the base of a plant) will often take 6-8 months to get back to size.
T

 

[swords]

OK, thanks guys!

It came in a clear deli type container with 1/4" drainage holes at the bottom but until just a week ago the pots were just sitting on the bottom of the terrarium so if I accidentally overwatered they would be sitting in 1/4" of water or so til it evaporated. since this one is nearing rootbound status at the bottom of the pot that could be it. Also, yes these were dormant nodal shoots near the base which are producing the leafs and tiny pitchers as I cut all the leaves by 1/3 to force the nodes.

Now all the pots are sitting on eggcrate with space for up to 3" of water under the plants but i will repot and put it in my larger terrarium (about 5*-7* cooler and more air circulation).

(Edited by swords at 12:37 am on May 29, 2002)

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Sounds good to me.

 

[Travis]

I hope I am wrong but did someone mention that N. ventricosa requires dormancy? I doubt it sense it is a tropical plant but I do not want to assume. I swear I remember someone mentioning it but unable to find the post.

travis

 

[Statik2426]

I'm sure if somebody said that, a swarm of people would have already corrected the post by now.

 

[Travis]

All I have to say is...Thanks Statik2426. That would not be a good sign for my N. ventricosa as my plant survival rate after dormancy is 0%.  On a positive note it can only go up.

travis


(Edited by Travis at 8:28 pm on May 28, 2002)