flycatchers

I have seen an increase of caterpillar damage this year, particulary on any "yellow" plants! My N.alata which is that colour has been a target, but other Neps more red in colour are untouched. I see you can get these "moth traps" for codling moth, that catchs the male moth before mating occurs. Is there any similar "device" available to catch the types of moths that might be found in the greenhouse? As these pesky caterpillars are really difficult to remove without damaging the plant cheers bill

Hi I was born in Carshalton Surrey, but moved to Deal and them nearby Walmer Kent 5 years later & am still here!! cheers bill

Hi Eric, Some great photos there! I grow N. vieillardii in my highland house. When I got it it was classified as a highland species. But now it appears to be more an intermediate or lowland variety. So will move one to my lowland tank and see if it growth speeds up! Thanks for the opportunity to see your shots. :) cheers bill

Looks like it might be N. truncata x maxima hybrid. Any chance of a photo showing the leaf full on? A very nice find cheers bill

Hi I have been noticing that all my N. ventricosa x inermis plants are acting oddly. Where loads of leaves grow without developing pitchers. And then after quite some time all the pitchers start to develop and grow at once. This first occured in the winter when I didn't expect the pitchers would necessarily grow. But come the spring they did- now its happening again! Yet all my other ventricosa plants & hybrids develop one leaf at a time. Most strange Anyone else experienced this? cheers bill

Hi Most tiny TC Nepenthes look the same at that point. Their characteristics gradually appear as they get older and start to produce more mature leaves. So I wouldn't worry too much. I have had my villosa for 5 years now and it still has a long way to go before it produces truely recognisable pitchers, though that species is a very slooooooow grower! cheers bill

Cheers Ben, I give that a try. It puzzles me as to why it suddenly changed from doing so well, to almost dieing, when none of the conditions had changed :cry: What compost do you use? I have tried LFS. cheers bill

Hi A couple of years back I rescued a small D. adelae from a local garden centre. After repotting and putting in a corner of my Nepenthes house it responded very well. Producing loads of new leaves & flowers. Them late last year just before winter arrived the growth started to go black and stunted. There was no sign of aphids or other pests. I decided to repot it and ended up with three plants, two small ones and the main growth. But the dieback continued. As I had read that they make good Terrarium plants I decided to move them into my tank. This seemed to perk them up a bit. One of the smaller plants started to produce tiny Juvenile leaves, often emerging from older leaves, like a leaf cutting. But despite this the overall health of the plants particulary the main original one looks poor. Does this species have a limited life, where you need to ensure you get new offshoots? Any other clues as to why its proving tricky to keep happy? cheers bill

I have had mine for a few years now. Its with all the rest of my Highlands in a closed off part of my greenhouse. Its not a particulary fast grower- but steady. My greenhouse hits 100f during a summers day, and currently drops to 60f at night. The plant seems quite happy with that. I keep it heated to 45/50f during the typical UK winter. I would say a fairly easy plant. Have fun! :) cheers bill

You are my hero. I am glad I got my all time favorite Nepenthes right cheers bill

Hi Sheila That might be it as certainly a lot of my plants have not been repotted for a while. Is it too late in the season to do it now? cheers bill

N. burbidgeae? cheers bill

I bet no-one has N. edwardsiana cheers bill

Hi I have been growing my Drosera Slackii from its original plant I brought in 1990. So although I must be sucessful in growing and propagating it I still have quite a few losses. A plant is doing really well with nice red/green dewy leaves. Them I find the new growth starts to go black around the edges and also gets smaller.And after a while you are left with a dead mound of leaves :cry: Even cutting off the top growth and hoping the roots will reprout does not seem to work. I have not spotted any aphids on these plants. I am growing my plants in either a peat/sand mix or more recently in LFS. But this problem keeps reoccuring. I lost loads last winter and even now a number are looking poorly. They are in a water tray and either in full or semi shaded sun. What am I doing wrong? cheers bill