ilex

I was surprised to discover that 3 of my plants woke up. We've had the first real winter in a long time, but no difference. One week of nice weather and up they go.

I've got one with 20cm pitchers ... imagine the flowers.

First flower was open on March 1st. This was taken yesterday: It's one of my alatas, on the upper right there's a flava flower, and in the back, there are some fairly developed alata pitchers (one of them is opening right now). This was exactly one year ago taken from the same spot (more flowers this year): First flava pitcher opened that day, they are slower this year. The green and yellow thing in the background was a tomato plant. All this was thanks to 2 no-winters in a row. This one has been terribly mild (min 6ºC). Cool weather began earlier than usual so I think they got a decent rest, they didn't last year.

There are some more maxima hibrids out there. It can be hard to know what a certain plant really is.

I agree with the last comment. On windy days humidity can go down very fast. I live in a place more humid than Murcia and it's not unusual to go down to 10% or 20% or lower. That humidity combined with a direct hit from the wind will dry anything. Many neps will manage to retain their pitchers in those conditions but it can take them many months to be able to do it. Pots will also dry very fast in those conditions.

Very few neps will survive frost, and they will only do so on good days. I lost my khasiana one day at exactly 0ºC (got ice on the leaves). Had survived without blinking nights at -3 and it's supposed to handle much lower temps than that. The other neps just got some burned leaves, that one ceased to exist. That was the last day I let any nep get frost.

looks very good and healthy to me.

Maxima grows everywhere from sea level up to over 2000 m altitude. You might have a lowland form, or even an hybrid with another lowland species. Does it just grow slower, or do you see the pain in her face?

and some dracula? Do you have an empty room? I think I'm moving there.

Some maxima forms stand frost in habitat. I think it will do very well. My experience is that intermediates and highlanders will survive as long as it doesn't freeze. If it's too cold for them they just stop growing for a while, and resume normal grow once temperatures rise. In any case it's not a good idea to let any nep freeze. Just recommend your friend that in the case of freezing temps risk, to either protect the plants or bring them home. I think that should be quite rare where he lives. Clipeata is another one to consider.

If the terrarium is well insulated (should be if you want to have a different temperature than the environment), once you lower the temperature it tends to stay low for a while, as cold goes down and doesn't scape easily.

The 1ºC per 200 m is what is considered normal, not just for Borneo. In my area, and under my conditions, plants almost always get at least a 10-15 ºC drop at night, and highlanders are not happy at all unless night temperatures are cool. Drop is not the problem here. Some die very fast, others hang to live for years (rajah is able to do that when young). Even if temperatures go back to normal, it usually takes them a lot to recover. If its cool with no drop (rainy in winter), they also don't do as well, they somewhat slow themselfs ... and recover very fast once things go back to normal. They look somewhat in a dormant state, but perfectly ok. Real highlanders just can't take my summers (yours are quite worse). More intermediate plants can. Maybe they are not happy in summer, maybe winters (the ones we used to have, we don't get them anymore) are a bit too cold for them and they slow for a few months, but they do great most of the year. Most lowlanders can take a bit of cold, specially if it's warm during the day, but our winters are a bit too much for them. They really only like our summers. Intermediates and highlanders will be ok as long as it doesn't freeze. Yes, I've noticed many highlanders can take quite a lot of heat during the day if it's cold at night. Similar for lowlanders. I had a chiller for a couple years, and when it broke for a couple days, I did loose some plants. That happened a couple times. I also lost some masdevallia. My climate is very similar to Perth's in SW Australia, or the coast of the San Diego area in California.

I can't give you a scientific explanation. It's more of a physiological thing, where the plant needs the drop (and usually cool temperatures) to either rest, or do some physiological duties. If they don't get it, plants get worned out. Results are similar to skiping dormancy in plants that require it. Natural conditions found in habitat are just a starting point ... conditions known to work. It doesn't mean a particular plant won't grow under other conditions. It even doesn't mean that natural conditions are the optimal ones. Plants might be growing in very marginal conditions because of some other reasons (competition, lack of suitable habitats, etc...). Experience says that most highlanders need those particular conditions. We would all love to be able to grow many of them in warmer areas without complex set-ups. (maybe an admin can move replies to this topic in other topics here)

I would try mounting some directly on the rock, with no pot. Campanulata for example. That would be very cool.

Yes, they are very tough when young.