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My nepenthes grew in sub-standard conditions !

MY NEPENTHES GREW in ! my basement only thing there to make it happy is west face sun and furnace room so warm all winter, its spring and its growing pitchers !!! ones half an inch big !!
its ina plastic bag someone here shipped to me, and i think ill get a bigger bag or something cause some of the pitchers touching the sides arent growing and their leaves are browning !
problem - stem is brown, well theres two nepenthes one is shorter and its biggest pitcher is smaller than the bigger nepenthes and not opened yet,  both stems are brown is this a problem,  their in one pot, peat moss, in a bag slightly bigger than the taller nepenthes, should i feed the opened nepenthes with an ant and see if itll make it stronger?,
also, whats is the cheapest way that i can keep this plant alive, since its tropical i heard it can grow all year but where i live (toronto, Canada) the conditions in the winter of light wont make it grow, so i need a lightbulb, and would a plastic container do or would i need a glass terrarium to keep it, warm in. plz i cant spend more than 100 dollars

if someone can answer all my questions plz do i need help!
 
Actually, I've had good luck growing highland nepenthes on a windowsill, right across the lake from where you are. They grow slower in the winter, but they still grow. I also grow them on a west facing windowsill, so it definitely can be enough light for them.

If it's small, and you want to grow it in a terrarium, any that it can fit in works fine. If you've been growing it in that same bag, it's going to need the humidity reduced slowly, so a terrarium would probably be good. A plastic terrarium would work just as well as glass, though it might be harder to set up lights for it.

Do you know the species, or is it an unidentified hybrid plant from a local store?
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (carnivorous23 @ April 28 2003,02:41)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Actually, I've had good luck growing highland nepenthes on a windowsill, right across the lake from where you are. They grow slower in the winter, but they still grow. I also grow them on a west facing windowsill, so it definitely can be enough light for them.

If it's small, and you want to grow it in a terrarium, any that it can fit in works fine. If you've been growing it in that same bag, it's going to need the humidity reduced slowly, so a terrarium would probably be good. A plastic terrarium would work just as well as glass, though it might be harder to set up lights for it.

Do you know the species, or is it an unidentified hybrid plant from a local store?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
umm someone from this website sent it to me before the winter im sure... and im amazed its growing, i saved it on a file but my computer got deleted.... it was someone with an r in their name ? if their still here ill remember when i see their post, umm yeah i think it is highland, OH ! i think its a madagascar ! im not sure tho i have pictures! ill put them up in a few minutes, what kind of lightbulb would be the cheapest for growing, i hear this one can grow all year sooooo.....
ps. pics up in a few minutes
 
Welcome to the forums!

It wouldn't be an N. madagascariensis as it is a true lowlander but you mentioned it is next to your furnace room so maybe it is quite warm and growing well...this species grows quite fast if hot temps are provided. For light you'll want at least a 2 ft 2 tube fluorescent fixture about 1 ft or closer to the plant. You will probably be looking at about 15$ dollars right now.
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (nepenthes gracilis @ April 28 2003,03:16)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Welcome to the forums!

It wouldn't be an N. madagascariensis as it is a true lowlander but you mentioned it is next to your furnace room so maybe it is quite warm and growing well...this species grows quite fast if hot temps are provided. For light you'll want at least a 2 ft 2 tube fluorescent fixture about 1 ft or closer to the plant. You will probably be looking at about 15$ dollars right now.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
15 dollars sounds good ill look into this i already am holding the plant with some regular pot plants on the window in the room, where the top of the whole window is about 15 inches high.... so if i put the lightbulb at the top i hope thatll be good
heres some pictures

about the light, would that provide some heat too ? and is there a specific type of flourescent bulb im lookin for?
 
Hmm guess I was wrong! Looks like an N. madagascariensis to me! Congrats! You should keep it int he temps you have now..it looks quite happy. It depends on the bulbs you want to buy..if you get cool white no heat...warm white then the lights will provide some heat which is preferable for lowlanders. Also the ballast in the fixture will throw out ALOT fo heat. Be sure the light is secure so it won't topple down and crush your plant.
 
nepenthes gracilis,April 28 2003,03:39]

>>Hmm guess I was wrong! Looks like an N. madagascariensis to me! Congrats!

thanks!

>>You should keep it int he temps you have now..it looks quite happy.

so madgascariensis is a lowlander ?

>>>It depends on the bulbs you want to buy..if you get cool white no heat...warm white then the lights will provide some heat which is preferable for lowlanders.

sounds good and only 15$ wow ! this is one of my goals.... to breed a few nepenthes to remarkable size, and then  few from seeds
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>>Also the ballast in the fixture will throw out ALOT fo heat.

its gonna be in the ceiling, how much heat do you think it throws out ? and how high do lowlanders like it.

>>Be sure the light is secure so it won't topple down and crush your plant.

i will
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ps. until these pitchers grew i thought id give up on nepenthes, now i got some various seeds of different plants someone from this site also sent me (i used to be here for a few weeks) and ill try to plant those too
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pps. do you really think it looks healthy? i could send another pic but did you see the first one, is the stem of the plant supposed to be a mushy brown colour?
 
Welcome to the forums!
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Great looking Nepenthes! No, the mushy brown colour is natural, when the bottom of the stem turns a woody brown colour it means that it's old enough to take cuttings from...
-Spec
 
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Spectabilis73 @ April 28 2003,05:10)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Welcome to the forums!
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Great looking Nepenthes! No, the mushy brown colour is natural, when the bottom of the stem turns a woody brown colour it means that it's old enough to take cuttings from...
-Spec[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
thanks for welome
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wow brown is normal ? wow ! got me all excited about growingnepenthes again! im so happy
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  • #10
Lowlanders like temps in the range of 70F and higher but don't exceed 100F. Also the browned lower stem is perfectly natural just squishy and mushy stem is BAD, firm tough stem is great.
 
  • #11
i fed the big opened pitcher a head of an ant and the abdomen of the ant.
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