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Albomarginata in UK garden Centres ?!?!?!?


Phantom

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I found one remaining in one of the Aberdeen B&Q branches, so took it home. I noticed that they had other small Nepenthes too, which looked very much like ventrata.

Here's some pics of the plant I got:

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It has a 'decorative' outer pot, which has no drainage:

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Within that there is a standard plant pot:

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The label states 'Peat content approximately 40%':

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Not sure what the remaining 60% content is, but looks like a very moisture retentive fibrous mix, with no perlite or similar:

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And here's the care instruction from the back of the label:

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I like the 'Dress Size' and the petrol pump next to the watering regime :lol:

UPDATE: I un-potted it, in order to put it in a more free draining medium, and found that the roots were in a small plug of chopped Sphagnum moss and none of them had migrated into the potting mix. Hopefully they will grow into the new medium.

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UPDATE: I un-potted it, in order to put it in a more free draining medium, and found that the roots were in a small plug of chopped Sphagnum moss and none of them had migrated into the potting mix. Hopefully they will grow into the new medium.

Didnt get round to potting mine yet, but if they're anything like my red AW clone then they are really going to hate wet roots...

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Didnt get round to potting mine yet, but if they're anything like my red AW clone then they are really going to hate wet roots...

hmmm... you could have wrung out the stuff mine was originally potted in. Hopefully I've caught it before too much damage has been done.

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I found one remaining in one of the Aberdeen B&Q branches, so took it home. I noticed that they had other small Nepenthes too, which looked very much like ventrata.

I like the 'Dress Size' and the petrol pump next to the watering regime :lol:

UPDATE: I un-potted it, in order to put it in a more free draining medium, and found that the roots were in a small plug of chopped Sphagnum moss and none of them had migrated into the potting mix. Hopefully they will grow into the new medium.

Wouldn't it be nice if some of these enterprising folks took a couple of minutes to get someone who knows English to double check their work before it goes to print...?

In all seriousness, the soil is fine for such a small pot and probably preferred. Using that dense soil in a large pot will prevent enough oxygen from reaching the roots because the air cannot travel through that much peaty soil. In small pots, this simply isn't a problem since the plant will pull enough water out of the soil (replaced by air) in a short enough time that the root will not feel a drop in oxygen. In large pots filled with wet, dense soil the center of the root ball can still have way too low levels of oxygen as the peaty soil actually eats up the oxygen entering the pot before the water/air reaches the roots.

Edited by Dave Evans
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  • 2 weeks later...

Went to mine a saw a nice looking one, but it was the sae day i got a (Sad from postage) Albomarginata from a trade anyway.

Hoping my fertilizer can have the same effect on this one as on my ventrata.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I went into the local B&Q today and had a look at the CPs there. One rather sad Sara, several very dead Capensis and one Nep albomarginata - I came out with one double-capensis (which has lost its dew) and the Nep. I noticed that the tray they were all in was about 1cm deep in water, but (as has been mentioned already) the decorative pots they put the real pot into do not have any holes. In the case of the Nep, that would have helped things a bit, but all the plants there are looking pretty sad now. At least with me they'll have some chance at survival, I can imagine all the rest ending up in the bin :thumbsdown:

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I've thought of taking a care sheet to the local B&Q, to help them, and tell them that they're plants will last longer that way.

I suspect that they won't really care whether they last longer or not, they will just be looking for a fast sale. The store that I got mine from has them on shelves within the store with no natural light and only incidental artificial lighting, as there are shelves above them. They surely must know that plants won't last very long in these conditions. A similar situation exists with rented office plants, which are often placed in locations with inadequate lighting.

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I've thought of taking a care sheet to the local B&Q, to help them, and tell them that they're plants will last longer that way.

Going by the look of the dead Capensis they had in my local B&Q (black and rotten), they don't really care about any of their plants. As Mobile says, they're only interested in selling quick, and if some plants die in the meantime, it's just more space for new stock.

My latest Nep is now in a large tray suspended near a (west-facing) window where it will be bright but with only a couple of hours direct sunlight. The other Neps seem to be liking it there so hopefully this one will too.

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  • 2 months later...

Looks massive compared to mine!

Mobile' date=' the one i got in a trade is only just starting to move it's growing tip, hoping it will pitcher now!

[/quote']

Hehehehe... sorry Dan! It was my first time with shipping neps and didn't have a clue on getting the leaves inside a ziplock bag without it breaking! So I just bundled it up together in clingfilm to take place for the ziplock bag! Sorry!

BTW, how is it doing now?

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  • 1 month later...

Maybe you know why my Nepenthes only growing just one pitcher? :( All of them grow allready dry.

imag3002.jpg

When now i spray it 2-3 times per day, this one pitcher start grow up , but not sure what about others.

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The ones dying are probably the ones from when it was in the garden centre. The newest one looks healthy enough.

I have him about 1 year now, this picher be from begining, but new pichers when it grow, growing allready not alive, don`t have green colour.

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