Sue

Thanks for the welcomes Now you are getting far too in depth for a complete novice :) So far I have mastered the art of reading the label and doing a bit of Googling. The label said Alata so that is what I believed it was. I read that they were high altitude plants so needed less heat and less humidity. I’ve grown Sarracenias for years but this is my first tentative steps into growing Nepenthes.

So I need to wipe the smug grin off my face because getting it to grow pitchers was not impossible. Thanks for the advice, it is all very doable. The only pain is moving it in and out during the winter, the house is not light enough and definitely too dry. I have been looking after it for about 9 months and it has quadrupled in size during that time, is it going to keep growing at the same rate? Manders, I wish we only got down to 3 degrees, that temperature was in the conservatory/indoor garden. Our outside temperature last winter dropped to -15

My Nephew gave me a Nepenthe ‘Miranda’ to look after. It was bought with pitchers which have since died, he has never got it to grow new pitchers. I’ve searched on the internet and found the information sketchy. It seems this is a low level Nepenthe which requires warmth and high humidity to grow and produce pitchers. The closest I have is a conservatory/covered garden which is around 25-30 degrees (in the summer) with 85-90% humidity. It was growing the beginnings of pitchers from the ends of the leaves and then they would shrivel up and die. I asked at very helpful person from a carnivorous nursery at the Malvern spring show, he said it was virtually impossible to get these to grow new pitchers under normal UK conditions. That sounded like a challenge to me, I’m always up for a challenge. I moved the plant to a shadier position, filled a 5lt garden sprayer with rain water and gave it a good drenching 3 or 4 times a day. It has the beginnings of three pitchers, the largest is just beginning to open. So I suppose my question is ‘what now’? I know nothing about these plants. Where it is, is not heated and the temperature will drop to around 3 degrees in the winter. Last winter I was bringing it in to the house if the temperature was going to drop below 10 degrees, I read this is the lowest it can tolerate. Should I catch flies and feed it? I did notice a few flies crawling round the pitcher before it was open. I have Sarracenias in the same room and they manage to catch enough flies to be very healthy (although these haven’t been on an involuntary diet for the past two years).

There is no prise for guessing my name! I am completely addicted to growing plants, all plants from trees to tiny alpines. I've got a number of Sarracenias, a couple of Venus fly traps and was recently given a very poorly Nepenthes 'Miranda' to look after. The 'Miranda' is my reason for joining this forum, I'm not the worlds greatest online chatter but I do like to find out as much as I can to give my plants the best possible chance. I've trawled the internet for information and that is how I have ended up here. I will have a wander around the forum to find the best place to ask about Nepenthes 'Miranda' I've also got Nepenthes 'Alata', I was determined to grow pitchers and this one was a lot easier