Nepenthes maxima tentena

[1joyceh]

Something new to the collection, the biggest cup is 12 inches, and "Audrey 3" has many new ones forming.
It was a gift, does anyone have such big ones? not sure what to feed her??
mice?? LOL

[tom499]

Thats a nice one! I'd be a bit concerned with how much light it gets though, as its so high up.

As for feeding, you are best off not fertilising atall. Nepenthes will catch adequate food. As they've evolved to catch their prey due to the very infertile soil they live in, fertilising can easily kill nepenthes and other CPs over time.

Best thing to do is check the traps every so often and as long as you're seeing the occassional bug theres no need to worry.

[1joyceh]

Thanks Tom
Today I plan on moving things around in the tent, so it is hanging more, for more light.
As it is inside, should I get an occasional cricket, or similar from the pet store to feed her?

[tom499]

Thats good then. I would give it a few weeks, you may well be surprised how many midges/flies wind up in the traps

[berniep]

G'Day Joyce

I have one of those, unfortunately it is sorely neglected. Love yours thanks for showing it to us.

Cheers
Bernie

[beezermommy]

Is this called a pitcher plant? I've never seen one so big. You must be doing something right!!!!

[Filb]

Originally Posted by 1joyceh

..the tent..

I love it! What all is growing in there?

That is an awesome Nepenthes btw. I'd get one, but I'm out of nice windows to put big plants in.
I guess I will live vicariously through you!

[1joyceh]

I cannot take credit for the health and growth, I just got it. A wonderful customer of mine, surprised me with it yesterday, as a gift...I have the best customers in the world! They always think of me, and bring me crazy things....this has to be the wildest....makes me happy that they think of me
Tom, I moved it down under the light as you suggested, will take some more pics when I am through moving stuff around....
Filb...I change up the tent from time to time, seems strange not to have all my orchids in it now...they are all at home...I like to change to get customers interested in all sorts of plants...kind of makes them crazy though, as they are not for sale..but..I give them names of places they can get them. The closest is Logees, they have a huge mailorder business. I go once a year, unfortunately never really found their orchids in great shape...but I digress away from the thread..sorry ;-)
In the tent now...to the right..vanilla orchid..it is sooo big now! to the left a gollum jade..scattered around are succulents, small butterworts, venus flytraps, sundews, an aloe, a begonia..a ton of tillandsias, and my 3 clivia.

[lmartiny]

I have a pitcher plant that has survived a few years. It grows outside in a hanging pot.They like to stay watered. Mine put out pitchers this year, but didn't last year. More water. When I read up on them they said to put a little water into the pitchers and then water the plant as needed. They should attrach their prey. I'd peek in and find yellow jackets. (Ha Ha!! You dastardly buggars!!. )
I've tried rooting it for Psych. 2010. Nothing has worked. Any tips?
I do have to protect it in the winter from freeze.

[orchids4me]

I like it !! And I like the set up too..learning something new here today thank you. Sorry I can't oFfer any help with this one but sure wouldn't mind getting one some day it very cool !!!

[1joyceh]

lmartiny I don't know how to root one, but have some people that are in in carnivorous society that come in, I will try to get information about rooting. I did find out, if the cup is empty, to fill 1/4 way with distilled water. A couple were empty from the transporting.
and I like the part about the yellow jackets....

[ArtGeekMark]

I love it! We grow some nepenthes too!

[BluPeaches]

I saw one like this this weekend at an orchid fair. It was huge! Yours looks huge and healthy too.
I have one (mine is different though) that I purchased at HomeDepot this spring and it is doing great. I have it in a hanging basket and it gets sun until about noon.

[Reg22]

That thing looks big enough to eat some small mammals!!

[jsehorn]

I also grow Nepenthes. I don't have a maxima, but it's on my wish list. I grow mine indoors by a South window, and that gives them plenty of light to develop good color without burning. Since yours is new and you don't know how much light it was receiving before you got it, you might want to be careful to avoid sun burn and gradually acclimate it to a nice sunny location. Inadequate coloration indicates too little light.

As far as feeding, I don't do anything in that regard with mine. They seem perfectly proficient in catching their own insects. I often find crickets and roaches in the pitchers on my plants, even though they're inside all year. I never see roaches in my house, so I'm not sure where they come from, but they somehow find their way to my Nepenthes. If you're worried about it, dropping a cricket in here and there won't hurt. Make sure you don't overdo it, because if you put too many insects in the pitchers, they have a tendency to blacken and rot.

On a final note, I'd like to point out that Nepenthes hate being moved. You should not be alarmed if the existing pitchers die off fairly soon. I find that is almost always the case when I get a new plant. That's nothing to worry about as long as the plant otherwise appears healthy and continues to grow. Once the plant adjusts to your conditions, it will promptly begin producing new pitchers.

You probably already know this, but maxima is an intermediate, so it doesn't appreciate particularly hot temperatures. It will withstand high temps, but will perform better if you grow it a little cooler. That's a beautiful plant and I hope it does well for you.

[jpyerry]

That is a beautiful plant. I grow a few Nepenthes, a truncata and a ventrata. I keep wanting to add more, but I know their propensity to get large (my ventrata has more than tripled in size since I got it 10 months ago) and I know I will run out of space quickly. Also, I love the looks of the highlander plants, but haven't started growing any because I don't have a way to simulate their environment yet, and they are just so darn expensive.

Anyways, I love the coloration and the speckling of the pitchers, really pretty. It looks quite healthy. I wish you success with it.

[1joyceh]

thanks to all for all the advice and information!!! I have a little ventricosa, but was quite overwhelmed by this big girl!!
Glad to know jsehorn, if the pitchers die off, it will be ok....as you said, change of location, conditions....hopefully the little new cups that are already formed will continue to grow, as the big ones die off....
I will keep everyone posted.
OH! lmartiny I did find some information on cuttings.... International Carnivorous Plant Society
looks doable....might experiment with the ventricosa, before I try it on Audrey 3

[katrina]

Hopefully you have better luck w/it than I did. I've grown pitchers for years and have always had good luck w/them. Until that one. The first couple of years it did really well...huge pitchers...and then somewhere along the line it decided it didn't want to grow pitchers anymore. I never did figure out what the problem was...before the pitcher could even get a decent start the ends would dry up and the lead would never produce. I first thought humidity but given it did well the first nearly 2yrs that didn't make sense. It was such a hog and if it wasn't going to give me pitchers it had to go...I gave it away.

Good luck w/yours!! It's a really cool one.

[jpyerry]

I wanted to mention a website called Nepenthes University, it has a lot of good information for growing Nepenthes including species specific care pages. Here is a link for the N. maxima Nepenthes University - Nepenthes Maxima Cultivation

I only grow lowlander Nepenthes currently, and I found humidity to be one of the most important factors in getting them to pitcher. After I got my ventrata, it lost all of its pitchers in the course of about a month, and I thought it was most likely due to poor light and after moving to several different windows it still did not pitcher. Ultimately, I put it in my grow tent about 2 feet away from my 4 bulb 4' T5HO light, where it gets around 70% humidity and it exploded with growth and pitchers. I consider myself lucky that Nepenthes have such similar cultural requirements as orchids, so they are great companion plants. Plus they help eat bugs that fly into the tent!

BTW, I water my CP's with distilled water only, and I grow all of my Nepenthes in net pots with long fiber sphagnum moss.

Definitely check that website out, a lot of good information, including instructions on taking cuttings, which you mentioned you might want to try.

Good luck,
Justin

[tom499]

I don't know if you started getting leggy woody stems? I cut those back to get fresh growth from the base with new nice pitchers.

[1joyceh]

Thanks again to everyone for all the info, and that website is great!!

[lmartiny]

So can you root them? And how do you do it?

[1joyceh]

International Carnivorous Plant Society
see this website...lmartiny, it does not look too difficult, but I am going to wait until I see it is growing well, and has recovered from the move.