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N.villosa

Hey everyone just wanted to know if anyone eles is cultivating N.villosa if so please give full details on how the plant is being grown and photos please.Wanted to bring this topic back to see other people's plants then my own as well other growing methos. I grow my plant in a highland chamber under 170 watts worth of light my day temps are 75-80 no higher then that ever! night temps are 40-45 i place my plant in my fridge to give it true ultra-highland temperatures.

My n.villosa photo is listed below .. ::Nepenthes villosa :: ..


Electric Carnivores!
wink.gif
 
I grow this species. There are a few details about it on my website, which you can access here. The important thing to keep in mind when growing it is that it really must have consistently cool temperatures, at least in my experience. Personally, I think you will find that the daytime temperatures you quote will be too warm for your plant as it gets larger. I also recommend that you reduce your overnight lows to at least 5 C, if possible.

Moments ago, I took a couple of photos of the latest pitcher to open on my largest plant. Sorry about the poor composition, what with the tendrils in the way and all, but there was not much I could do about it. This pitcher is around 10 cm tall.

villosa05012004A.jpg


villosa05012004B.jpg
 
Hi Neps:

I wanted to congratulate you on your beautiful villosa pitcher. How long did it take to fully develop such pitcher?. Thanks

Agustin
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]WOW neps, awesome villosa.
Thank you. It's one of my favorite plants.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]How long did it take to fully develop such pitcher?
At present, it seems that I get a new pitcher about every three to four months, on average.
 
Jeff im going to be seting up a chest freezer chamber for my plants i wanted to know if you could give me some advise on what i need to do. I already have the freezer so if you could please contact me i would really appreciate that. My villosa is starting to get bigger and is going to become more demanding. Jeremiah Harris is helping me as well but i could use as much advise on this as i can get. my e-mail is Nocturnalx@aol.com please contact when you have time thank you
smile.gif


Electric Carnivores!
wink.gif
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]i wanted to know if you could give me some advise on what i need to do....

Sure, I'm happy to be of help if I can. However, if you don't mind, I'm going to post my advice here, so that anyone else who has an interest can read and make of use of my reply.

I wrote an article about this which was published in the March, 2003 issue of CPN (I don't remember the volume number). I really recommend that you subscribe to the CPN; there's a lot of good information there! Anyway, I'm going to quote from that, because all the information is there. Before I do so, however, let me offer you a word of warning. The way I grow N. villosa involves the use of an electrically driven freezer, and as we all know, Nepenthes like water. Therefore, please be careful; electricity and water are a truly lethal combination! I recommend that you use a GFI (ground fault interrupter) outlet to supply electricity to your freezer. Failure to do so could be be fatal in the event of a mishap! And, please be aware that I am not responsible in any way if you kill yourself, burn your house down, etc. (Pardon the melodrama; I just want you to be safe!)
smile.gif


Anyway, here is some information:

Specifically, my approach has been to employ a chest freezer of moderate size as a large terrarium. The advantages are clear: such a device is readily available, and is well suited to cool its enclosure dramatically, if need be. Furthermore, it is well insulated, and can therefore allow one to maintain very cool growing conditions inside, even in a warm area. Finally, the modifications required to use such a device in this unorthodox way are really very slight!

Therefore, now having a reasonable plan of action, I immediately obtained a 5.2 cubic foot Frigidaire chest freezer from my local retailer. The cost of this bit of refrigeration technology is about $150 at present; not cheap, to be sure, but not incredibly exorbitant. Moreover, it is probably fairly easy to find such an item used for much less money, minding the caveat that one should always ensure that such a device is functioning well prior to purchase. In addition, be sure that the inside surface of the freezer is intact and waterproof. This is very important since one will not be using the freezer in the normal way, and water will quickly build up inside. Failure to observe this precaution will likely ensure immediate disaster!

Now, the only real modification which I made to the freezer was to remove its lid. This is attached with a few bolts, which are easily unscrewed. The lid may then be replaced with a transparent material of one’s liking. My choice was clear Plexiglas, about 5 mm thick, cut to the approximate dimensions of the now removed lid. This choice was predicated upon the fact that Plexiglas is cheap, does not pose the same safety hazard as glass, transmits visible light well, and is a reasonably good thermal insulator. To minimize transmission of heat by convection, I applied weather stripping to the edges of the Plexiglas cover and then simply placed it on top of the freezer.

The major remaining issue was to accurately regulate the temperature inside the freezer. This is accomplished by means of a simple 120 V thermostat, the likes of which are commonly available in garden supply stores; as I recall, mine was purchased at Tek Supply. This type of thermostat may be configured to supply power to the freezer as long as the temperature inside is above the desired set point. In my case, this is about 3 C, (37 F) which is appropriate for the nocturnal temperature range N. villosa requires. Once the desired minimum is set, simply plug the freezer into the thermostat and place the thermostat in the growing area, inside the freezer, making sure that it does not get wet!

Of course, there are a few other details to address before actually placing plants in the modified freezer. The most pressing of these is simply having a platform on which to rest one’s plants. This problem may be easily solved by construction of a small support frame, which one must tailor to the dimensions of the freezer. Mine was constructed from small diameter PVC piping. I chose this material because it is cheap, easy to cut, and will not rot. The amount of time required for construction is minimal; my recollection is that the entire process took well under an hour. Once the frame is in place, a suitable platform may be placed upon it. A good choice for this is the common “egg crate” type of light diffuser, which is commonly found at home supply stores. This material is light, impervious to water, and is easily cut to fit the desired space.

The choice of illumination is up to the reader, but I do not recommend sunlight, or any other source of light which will cause excessive heating. I employ two simple fluorescent fixtures, each containing two 40 W, standard, cool white bulbs. These fixtures are located about 10 cm (4 in) above the transparent lid of the enclosure, and are regulated by a timer to ensure a 14-hour photoperiod. This has proven to be more than adequate for the cultivation of N. villosa under these conditions. In fact, some leaf burning has been observed, and I have somewhat reduced the intensity of the illumination because of this.

When running one’s ultra-highland environmental chamber, (as I like to refer to my modified freezer) it is important to bear a few points in mind. First, one must either turn the freezer off during the day to allow temperatures within to rise to acceptable daytime highs, or readjust the thermostat set point to a higher value, appropriate for daytime growing conditions. I have found that during the warmer months, the latter course of action is required, but during the winter it is sufficient for the freezer to simply turn off; during the cooler months, temperatures inside have never risen above 15 C (59 F) in my experience. Secondly, after watering the plants inside for some time, a considerable amount of water will build up within the freezer. To date, this has not proven to be a problem, but it is probably ill-advised to allow excessive amounts of water to collect there. However, the presence of some water is clearly needed to maintain appropriate humidity inside the enclosure. Moreover, the presence of such water serves as an excellent source of thermal inertia. This is important since most freezers are efficient enough to lower temperatures inside themselves by several degrees per minute! Since living things are not accustomed to such rapid climatic variations, it is unquestionably beneficial to moderate these fluctuations, and I have observed that some amount of water inside the freezer serves this function well. The additional obvious benefit is that this same thermal inertia can help ensure that daytime temperatures do not rise too rapidly, or possibly to too high a value.

One may also wish to consider installing a small fan inside one’s freezer. I have done this to facilitate air circulation and to simulate the winds which Charles Clarke has informed me are very common on Mt. Kinabalu. My fan does not run continuously, but is regulated by a small humidistat which turns it on when humidity drops below 75%. This is especially useful when the freezer begins cooling the environment at nightfall, since the cooling process causes rapid condensation of moisture from the internal atmosphere.

Finally, in the interest of monitoring conditions inside, I recommend the purchase of an indoor/outdoor thermometer. Place the outdoor sensor inside the freezer, which allows for easy monitoring of temperature inside. This way, one can check the accuracy of one’s thermostat and adjust accordingly.


Well, that's it! BTW, I don't run a fan anymore. It took up too much room, and I don't think it is that useful. But, experiment on your own, and let us know what works for you!

Good luck, and remember: please be careful! Electricity and water don't mix.
 
Hey Neps,
Do you happen to have a pic of the growing chamber that the N. Villosa is growing in? Thanks.
 
Jeff,

Obviously N. lamii would benefit from these temps too. Is this too cold for most highlanders , or will they grow in there also. I guess what I am asking, is this set-up better for specialization growing of these specific plants, or can you grow all your highlanders in a chamber that cold?
I also imagine that any slow growing Nepenthes benefits from heavy insect feeding more than faster growers?

Thanks,

Joe
 
  • #10
[b said:
Quote[/b] (neps @ May 01 2004,2:44)]I grow this species.  There are a few details about it on my website, which you can access here.  The important thing to keep in mind when growing it is that it really must have consistently cool temperatures, at least in my experience.  Personally, I think you will find that the daytime temperatures you quote will be too warm for your plant as it gets larger.  I also recommend that you reduce your overnight lows to at least 5 C, if possible.

Moments ago, I took a couple of photos of the latest pitcher to open on my largest plant.  Sorry about the poor composition, what with the tendrils in the way and all, but there was not much I could do about it.  This pitcher is around 10 cm tall.
Great looking plants Neps
smile.gif

How long have you had the plant and how big was it when you got it?
My N. villosa is still producing those far smaller thinner pitchers. It has some way to go before it produces that characteristic pitcher shape & peristrome.. Something to look forward to
cool.gif


cheers

bill
 
  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Do you happen to have a pic of the growing chamber that the N. Villosa is growing in?
I'm afraid I don't. Sorry.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I guess what I am asking, is this set-up better for specialization growing of these specific plants, or can you grow all your highlanders in a chamber that cold?
I also imagine that any slow growing Nepenthes benefits from heavy insect feeding more than faster growers?
I think that this sort of environment is too cold for most highland plants. There are only a few which really require temperatures this low. I don't know that slow-growing Nepenthes benefit more from feeding than those which grow more quickly.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Great looking plants Neps
How long have you had the plant and how big was it when you got it?
Thank you. I don't recall exactly how long I've had this plant. However, I know that I got it in the 90's. At the time I received it, it was no more than 1 cm in diameter.
 
  • #13
You're welcome!

From what I can tell, the freezer you've chosen should work
fine. Good luck!
 
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