osmosis

Outstanding Simon, great to see the lingulata with an appendage at last. There was doubt being expresed on another forum that mine was the true species as the expectation was it should have had this characteristic from the start. How big is the whole plant? Lovely hamata as well. I wonder how many of these are still alive and what they all look like Dave

Available in a few weeks In the folorn hope there might be a female jacq out there, that would be ideal, other than that I am open to suggestions http://lhnn.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=...amp;thread=1623 Dave

I will have a spike on my female flava ready in a few weeks It may be a folorn hope, but a species cross would be preferred. Dave

I have talangensis pollen available now & inermis in a few weeks Species crosses preferred Dave

It went for £390!! That buyer (someone in Singapore) has got to be hoping it is what it says. Hope they know what they are doing - Singapore isn't the obvious climate for edwardsiana

It is indeed a noble effort to try and seperate out things that are universally true about a plants preferences from the things that are true for a specific grower and his conditions Joel is right that, for example, a wetter mix might seem to be a miraculous improvement for one grower with a low humidity situation, plants in a small pot or infrequent opportunity to water, but lethal for a greenhouse grower with a mature plant of the same species in a large pot Derek is absoultely right that for that reason there can never be a magic standard formula. I guess the essence here is not actually the mix itself at all but some property of it So, northiana is said to like inert media (I don't know, I can only dream of growing lowlanders). Should we be asking the deeper question, what is is about the inert media that people have tried that suits it. Is it rapid drainage, pH, nutrient availability, relative abscnce of bacteria & fungi in the medium? If you knew that, you could possibly have a better idea of how to adapt that plant to your situation. Incidentally, I totally agree with the fussiness of rajah. Mine was steaming along this summer, even produced a swelling pitcher bud turned out like an upper. One day outside while I replaced the insulation on the greenhouse and the bud aborted and the whole plant ground to a virtual halt for a month. It won't recover now until spring I suspect. Good tip that you find burbidgeae to be the same. Good luck with the experiment - the mark of a true grower I suppose. I just don't have the numbers or drive to try too many things. Everything of mine is in a standard mix and I haven't found anything that does badly enough that I am motivated to make a change. For what it's worth, my 'secret ingredient' is 50% rockwool cubes (used in hydroponics & for orchids). The theory is that even if the organic part (usual LFS/ bark/ charcoal/ perlite) breaks down a bit, the rockwool will maintain an open airy structure. This, so I reasoned, would bring the benefit that repotting could be less frequent and less harsh (no need to remove all the previous medium and damage the roots) Dave

Mine survives 12degC winters, and grew very well last summer http://www.lhnn.proboards107.com/index.cgi...amp;thread=2530

See here for a run through of my setup, including temperature ranges through the year http://www.lhnn.proboards107.com/index.cgi...amp;thread=1715 I have had the rajah since 2005 but I would guess it must have been deflasked for at least 3 years before that See this thread http://www.lhnn.proboards107.com/index.cgi...amp;thread=1619 Dave

Very nice. How about a little brother?

Interesting - darker red than mine was And my clone has paler uppers - I think Jeremiahs behaved the same way

Now the colour develops...

Yes, it's the Pasian Highland. Follow the link at the top of the post for it's history and a whole plant shot. I've had it for almost exactly three years. Dave

Full Sun. Many (most?) nepenthes in my experience thrive on high light. You can always shade in summer and get max light in winter.

Not by any means fully grown, but still at 14.5in the largest pitcher I have To see how it colours up as the pitcher matures and how the plant has developed over the years, see here http://www.lhnn.proboards107.com/index.cgi...1617&page=1

Any double glazed solutions, particularly in hardwood?

See this thread here, it shows the development of the plant from when I first got it http://www.lhnn.proboards107.com/index.cgi...amp;thread=1623 Dave

This is probably the largest jacq pitcher I have grown so far. Unfortunately uppers are not the complete blood red of the lowers Vaguely disturbing

I have not seen it referred to, but I have just read an article in 'New Scientist' showing the trapping mechanisms of Nepenthes are more advanced than previously supposed. A few conclusions Dry peristomes are not slippery, but the the plant has mechanisms of attracting and evenly distributing water over the peristome, after which insects 'aquaplane' straight into the pitcher. It is capable of varying this during the day by exuding hygroscopic nectar, so that it is wet at particular times of day. This variance is supposed to increase catch rates as scout insects may survive to call other foragers to the source The pitcher fluid is not narcotic, or with a wetting agent, or with a low surface tension, to stop escape. It is apparently a highly complex fluid which is 'viscoelastic' behaving like it conatins small elastic ropes which tighten if anything moves quickly in them, kind of gripping and solidifying around the prey and dragging it in as they thrash about. This viscoelastic property work just as efficiently when the pitcher fluid is diluted to 5% So - not just simple pitfalls full of water. Dave

Seeds are available - so in theory there should be hundreds of clones or more in cultivation

aristolochoides grows quite happily in full south facing sun for me, with just a layer of admittedly quite old bubble insulation for shading sibuyanensis does the same, but does show signs of light stress, with relatively small and fairly pale leaves. Not enough for me to want to do anything about it - and apart from making the plant perhaps less lush and attractive looking, it seems to do it no harm and I hope will encourage flowering http://www.lhnn.proboards107.com/index.cgi...amp;thread=1622 Dave

Thanks. No mystery, I think. I am fortunate enough to have a fair sized greenhouse and the time and money to run it more or less how I would like to (impossible dreams aside) I am full of admiration for those who have the ingenuity and patience to succeed with less optimal solutions See here http://www.lhnn.proboards107.com/index.cgi...amp;thread=1715 Dave

Many updates of my plants in the ongoing 'Year in the Life' forum http://www.lhnn.proboards107.com/index.cgi?board=s Would love to see some of your own plants in this format Dave

Superb plants, as always The two buds look like rajah and veitchii to me. Your ephippiata is indeed outstanding - shame it does not seem to be a commercially available clone. Love the snake as well :) Dave

Superb - keep snapping That striped veitchii is an absolute favourite of mine Is the platychila still showing the 'fusca' spur on that latest pitcher? The little hairy hamata is coming along very nicely as well Dave

Outstanding - lovely to see these plants so beautifully grown. Any tips how to get sarracenioides and exappendiculata small plants to get a move on?