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N. rafflesiana pitcher longevity

elgecko

I've got a magic window!
To those who grow N. rafflesiana, how long do your pitchers last? Mine do not seem to last all that long. Maybe 6 months before they start to die I'm guessing, since I have never really timed it as it's something I'm just noticing.
 
Rafflesiana pitcher don't last the longest. Sometimes it depends what your conditions are. How do you grow it?
 
Well I just started growing Nepenthes a month ago.
I had a new rafflesiana(nivea) pitcher opened today.
oohh I read somewhere that the nivea variaty has a shorter pitcher life.
well I will post when it dies :p
 
Pitchers last longer under cool environments with more shade and humidity.
Firstly, 6 months is a LONG time as avg. pitcher life span is 1 month in the wild, but that is because of Scorching heat. Rafflesiana catches enough prey in that short period of time to fulfil the cost of the pitcher so it does not last very long. Giant var. last avg. 3 months in the wild.
If you give more shade for longer lasting pitchers, the plant and leaves may not grow as quickly, more light less shade means faster growth, shorter life span. I opt slightly to the more light part and my pitchers usually last 2-3 months.
However I do not have nivea...
If I could just get my hands on one...
 
Mine are still small so I cant offer you a cutting yet
smile_h_32.gif
 
The plant is grown as a windowsill plant in a south window.

I will note when the pitcher opens to how long till it dies. My ventrata and hamata pitchers last much longer. The hamata has a pitcher that it inflated over 10 months ago still looks great.
 
Hey, my raf's are grown in a lowland tank, under lights. Even in those conditions, the pitchers don't really last that long.
 
Since we are all a little vague about the exact lifespan of the raff pitchers we could compare how many healthy pitchers (no dried lids) we get at once on one plant rosette.
I have three right now on some smaller plants, but this is also due to the recent dry season (until May) where the plants didn't pitcher.
There a many other species that have longer lasting pitchers than raffs.

lam_wn is from Singapore, so if he says 'cool' he means 28 deg Celsius.
smile.gif
You also won't need to 'shade' on a window sill in PA. I agree with him on the light level thing and that 6 month sounds very long for a raff.

Volker
PS: Measuring pitcher life is not that buerocratic, since many of us are taking digital images of nice pitchers just after opening anyway. Later we can just check the date of the image.
 
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