New addition Nepenthus ventricosa x truncata

[Ron]

Hi all.
I bought myself a new present, Nepenthus ventricosa x truncata
See photo 1 below.
I repotted it into a Decor water well with 50% peat moss and 15 mm orchid bark.
other Photo is of an old plant I bought about 5 years ago.
They hang in my orchid house and grow very well
Cheerio
Ron

[solay]

Ron, they both look amazing. Do you fertilize them or do you need to drop bugs and such into the pitchers?

I was thinking about getting one of those for my husband who took a liking to them when we saw some only display at the Conservatory of Flowers a year or two ago. I think I will wait until the GH is ready since I think they need a lot of humidity.

[patticake]

Presents to ones' self are awesome! We expect more pictures when it's blooming! In 5 more years, the new one will be huge, and the older one, Gi-normous!!

[Ron]

Hi.
Believe it or not I never fertilise but when seedling are small I might give them a bit of weak organic Fertiliser.
Big one has never been fertilised as far as I can remember.
They get enough food through the insects that fall or are trapped in their pitchers.
I just love them hanging in the orchid house.
Every 3 or 4 years I have to prune off about 2 meters of growth, otherwise they will take over the orchid house.
The flowers are usually a pale cream colour and about 2 mm across on a long stem.
Not very interesting.
Cheerio
Ron

Cheerio

[jay]

They look great! The old one is really happy. Do you know the name of the old one? I have N. ventricosa and N. 'Judith Finn'. I really want a Cephalotus follicularis.

Solay - rule of thumb is to never fertilize a carnivorous plant. They should get more than enough from the bugs as Ron said.

[Ron]

Hi Jay.
The old one is ventricosa X maxima.
The ventricosa puts the red spots/splashes in and there are some lovely hybrids on the markett.
I spotted a black one on the internet nursery list and as Fathers day is coming up next month , I am hoping my daughters will order and buy it for me.

[katrina]

Ron - I LOVE your pitcher plants!!! I can see why you'd like to have the black dragon!!

You obviously have a knack for these guys so perhaps you can give me some guidance. I bought one this past spring...he's put on a lot of new growth...more than doubled in size since the purchase. I have him hanging outside right now...and he's super happy. However, I'm concerned he won't fair well over the winter in my house. The nursery I bought it from sells them as annuals here and she told me she just pitches them at the end of the season...buying a new one in the spring...because they won't survive the winter in a house situation. Your thoughts/experience?

Thanks -- for sharing your pics AND for any advice you might have.

Kat

BTW -- Solay...I've done nothing w/mine except make sure the pitchers have a little water in them, keep it moist and hang it in a tree. For that little bit of work...mine has put on a monster amount of growth. Oh yeah...I also dump the little pitchers every once in awhile when they get yucky...refilling them part way w/water afterwards.

[Ron]

Hi Kat.
Depends on the breeding, there are low land and high land species. IE cool and tropical growers
Most hybrids have been breed to coolish tolerant rather than need a lot of heat.
I grew them in the orchid house at the last place I live in and in winter it got as cold as 5d C.
I hung them up high so it got plenty of light but under 70% biscuit coloured shade cloth.
The pitchers grow and fill themselves with an acidic type water similar to our stomach acid!
They dissolve all the nutrition's from insects in the pitchers water/fluid and adsorb the nutrition's back into the walls of the plant.
Putting watering the pitchers would in my opinion kill of the pitchers.
Otherwise plenty of bright well lit light and good warm in winter and good humidity would make them very happy.
Never feed them chemical fertiliser as it would be the death of them Not even organic fertiliser.
As for throwing them out each year in autumn, wished I live by as I would save them and resell in the next summer all the excess surving plants.
I find the pitchers can last from a year to about 18 months before they start to die off.
Cheerio
Ron

[katrina]

Oh no!...I've been putting water in the pitchers periodically since I brought it home....the lady at the g/h said she fills her's up. ?? I don't know though...they all seem to be OK. ?? How fast would it kill them? The only pitchers I've lost so far were earlier in the spring when I first put the little guy outside...I assumed that was because I forgot to water it for about a week and the poor thing was completely dehydrated. ?? The rest seem OK...growing pretty big and the plant has put out loads of new ones. A few of the largest pitchers are bigger than my hand.

Here's a picture...what do you think?

Also...I don't know the type...tag just says pitcher plant...can you ID it?

Thanks!

PS...I hope I'm not hijacking your thread. I've seen the term hijacking from time to time and I'm still not real clear on the meaning so...again...I hope I'm not doing that.

[Ron]

Hi Katrina.
I think you have a very lovely collection hang in the tree. I would imagine they would love all the fresh warm air outside. Afraid I am only a grower of them and can not ID them for you, I believe there are about 100 species and sub species world wide.
We even have a fair few species in FN Queensland in Australia.

I do not know how quick the water you put into the pitchers would take to kill off each pitcher but as a guess I would say it would ruin any chance it had of serceting its own fluid into the pitchers so as to get its own food.
Love to see you involved in the discussion, you are not hijacking the conversation, just adding to it.
Let you know how i get on with the black dragon when iot arrives.

Hi Jay

I really want a Cephalotus follicularis.

.
They are to me the Knees Bees along with the Cobra Lily.
I had quiet a few many years ago when I lived in Canberra ACT.
Had too get rid of most of them when I got ill to look after them and move to the coast.
Rest died when I hospilised for long periods. Along with about Sarracenias and huge collection of Venus fly Traps.
When I got better I went into orchids. Only Now am I game to try Carnivious plants again. So broken hearted over the loss.

Cheerio
Ron

[katrina]

Thanks Ron! No worries....I thought an ID might be difficult anyway but it never hurts to ask. I sure wish the tag had a name.

Hmmmm...ok, what I think I'll do is empty some of the pitchers out (I only put a teeny tiny bit of distilled water in the bottoms anyway) and see if there's a difference in how the pitcher responds/grows and how the fluid inside looks. I'll keep you posted as to any changes.

Thanks for all your help and input. It's MUCH appreciated!! I'd like to keep it alive...especially since it's put on so much growth...sure seems happy right now. Fingers crossed I can keep it that way!

Definitely...let me know when you get the black dragon...would love to see a pic!