[Achieving Upper Pitchers]

Thanks Hamish. But, I do understand the idea of lower and upper pitchers, and that some have very similar characteristics between upper and lower. What I meant was...

I saw a picture of a guy's chamber and he mentioned that he put in some Bamboo recently. Then he commented on how maybe he will get some upper pitchers.

Thus, I wondered after I received a tall Ventricosa Plant, if I needed to wait for the tendrils to start curling on their own. I've seen some do that when nothing else is provided to anchor them. Or if it was NECESSARY for me to get Bamboo sticks in order to stimulate upper pitcher growth.

You see, I wondered if a leaf had potential for an upper, or an intermediate. And then when provided a good support it winds the tendril around the bamboo and grows an upper.

But, I guess my plant will just do it on its own. And that there are no distinct characteristics or timings for upper pitcher growth. I'll just simply wait to see if any new growth appears to be an upper instead of any lower pitchers.

Thanks for the replies!

[Achieving Upper Pitchers]

Cool. I'll be looking out for those uppers then. As for my other plants besides the N.Ventricosa they'll need more time.

Thanks.

[pvc pipe shelf]

I just got finished over the weekend building my own copy of Jerry's pipe shelf! It is GREAT! My wife loves the fact that I don't have all those plants hanging around my house anymore. They are all confined neatly to one hallway.

I should post pics too. Just to give Jerry the feeling of pride. It works great Jerry!

Anyone who is interested in building one should. If you are purchasing all the pipe fittings, pipe, and shelf wood from Home Depot it only comes to 23-24 dollars!! That is if the measurements are for a 4ft x 4ft shelf.

For those of you that are international...I hope the price for the parts is equally as fair.

[New to Utrics]

Good plant. I'll stick to that.

[Best way to heat a 6-foot Chamber?]

I've looked around for Soil-warming cables and many sites have warned, "Will heat soil not air temperature." I take it, that from your experiences, in a small enclosed area the air temperature did rise... hmmmm

Second problem, is that decent soil warming cable is so far only found on UK websites. Here in the states we haven't found one yet. The Uk prices with shipping will be tremendously more than we want to attempt with.

So, we went with a small porcelain insulated heating element that should put out lots of heat. We'll try to fan that heat, to circulate through the chamber. However, if it turns out to put in too much or too uneven of heat. We may be forced to try the Soil warming cable. And with your guys' recommendation it sounds like it will work. We've just gone the cheaper way first, to see if we can save some money. Especially with the summertime being a period, where we won't have need for additional heating.

[Achieving Upper Pitchers]

At what point does a Nepenthes plant begin to grow upper pitchers?

Simply Age -- if so what age?

or

When something nearby gives the plant a chance to wrap a vine around it?

I have a Nepenthes Ventricosa (red) that has a stem almost 10 inches high. Could any of those leaves produce upper pitchers if I provided a stick of bamboo or so for it to wrap around?

[Best way to heat a 6-foot Chamber?]

Are you suggesting a 6-foot long one?

Where can we find those at a fair price?

[Best way to heat a 6-foot Chamber?]

There has been alot of talk about heating. I've checked out a few things suggested here in the forum. But, for those of you with a LARGE growing space...how do you do it? My area is 54f, pretty cold basement. Hoping for a 70f average.

CONS of those I looked at:

Ceramic Bulb Heater -- Expensive -30$ and up range -- and maybe too much heat!

Aquarium heater -- Large tank, can't flood bottom. This item needs a good 14 inches submerged in water, so will it spread enough heat through a whole tank?

Lighting -- Those 4 foot flourescent bulbs don't put off that much heat.

Mats -- Not able to go under the Tank. It is already on a wood box attached.

ANY SUGGESTIONS?

[Guess what this is...]

Borneo,

If you wrote a cultivation manual on Nepenthes I would buy it! So, at least there's one more reason to do it!

P.S. I'm jeolous of your career out there with Borneo Exotics. Nepenthes are my favorite CP to grow! I can stare at my Nep tank all day. Take care. :)

[Two flowers on P. zecheri?]

Hahaha....

I simply wrote in dutch a long time ago just to tease the idea that an answer to a question I wanted, was replied to in Norwegian. I tried to use free online translation for that section so I could understand the original reply...but it never translated well. :) So, I responded teasing them with Dutch. I have a Swedish friend, but true, we only share a few cognates like any language does.

However, I didn't think my reply would lead to several afrikaans replies! I thought it was neat many people here share a second language with me that is similar. Tim, I agree with your rules. I will adhere to them in the future.

P.S. Thanks for the Pulchella gemmae!

[New to Utrics]

2) Flowering in most species happens after the pot has been crowded with photosynthetic stolons. I still haven't gotten my U. longifolia to flower though and it's pretty crowded.... :)

Interesting, thanks. I recently received an inch square of U. Sandersonii from a good guy and it is still settling in to the repotting and travel it underwent. So, I look forward to that growth!

It's always good to find out that your plant is hardy against low humidity! Now I can free up some space in my terrariums!! :D/ Woohoo! Valuable space there.

[Two flowers on P. zecheri?]

I like the flowers of that ping! Nice pic!

Afrikaans eh?

Mooie taal. Zeker anders dan Nederlands. Toen ik in Nederland en Belgie woonde, veel mensen laat ik het verschil tussen het nederlandse taal en Afrikaans horen. Het klinkt soms duidelijk en makkelijk te verstaan, maar had ik wel mooite mee! Goed, om mijn nederlandse nog een keer te gebruiken! Dag! en het beste!

English:

Afrikaans, huh? Nice language. Definitely different than dutch! When I lived in the Netherlands and Belgium, a lot of people let me hear the difference between the two languages. Sometimes it was clear and easy to understand, but I definitely had trouble with it! Good to use my Dutch once again. Bye, and wish you the best!

P.S. Leon...It's spelled Flemish. ;) And for the record, no offense intended for any native Nederlanders...but Flemish is MUCH prettier than Dutch. They are both similar, but the Flemish had such a nice soft slur to the words! Heerlijk!

[New to Utrics]

Great! Thanks guys! Hey Pyro, do you ever induce those cold or dry spells to get the Sandersonii to flower?

[Guess what this is...]

A sanguinea?

["Guide to Pitcher Plants of Sarawak" by Ch'ien Lee]

Hmm...I'll check it out. Thanks.

["Guide to Pitcher Plants of Sarawak" by Ch'ien Lee]

Hi everyone,

Now that there are a few books dealing on nepenthes of Borneo, how about someone writing a guidebook on nepenthes of Phillippines.

Three cheers for that! Now, I only wish those books were available out here. Barnes and Noble - my most frequently visited library - doesn't carry it. And neither does Borders.... Oh well. I just need to quit buying plants and buy those books online.

It's nice to just go out to Barnes and Noble and read books there for free! (That's how I read D'amato's book the first time. :) )

[New to Utrics]

I treat my plants the same way all year round.

Sorry. Which way is that? With a terrarium all year round, or just on a bright windowsill with pretty moist soil conditions?

[Small question]

I have been studying on those particular Drosera and consequently been reading Slack's and D'Amato's book. I believe that D'Amato for the sake of brevity simply didn't write D. Binata Var. Dichotoma. He mentions on p. 139 that the "Fork-leafed sundews" are all quote:

"Usually referred to as varieties of one species, DROSERA BINATA, their taxonomy is still doubtful. - thus the names of some forms may change. Most...have been used for convenience and have no legitimate value."

Thus, I find Slack and D'amato are in agreement. Simply, that - using the list Aidan included - Slack WROTE:

Drosera Binata var. Dichotoma

When D'Amato, after saying they all were from Binata in the beginning of that section, only wrote:

Drosera Dichotoma

D'Amato was simply being brief in his writing. But, clarified well in his opening paragraph as to why he used brevity.

However, Zongyi...I have no answers as to what the variation from D. Binata is to it's Dichotoma variety. Perhaps the difference simply lies in the flower alone, as that happens frequently.

[New to Utrics]

Particular to the U. Livida and Sandersonii. Two nice plants with good looking flowers.

I'm new to terrestrial bladderworts and was curious about a couple questions. These questions could be deduced from the readings I have done. But, I feel like this Forum is such an awesome resource it's worth posting a question about it.

1) Both can be great windowsill plants. Due to their wet soil preference...do they fair well without additional containers holding in the humidity? The soil provides pretty nice local humidity, but is that enough to hold the flower stalks happy in a dessert home with an average 30% humidity level?

2) The flowering times of both plants. When and why they flower. I hear the word "often" alot. Does anyone have a more descriptive adjective to describe their flowering tendencies? And if they are pretty much year round flowerers what are the conditions that keeps them coming up with more scapes?

[Two flowers on P. zecheri?]

Talen he?

Norsk of Svensk? kunnen jullie het nederlandse taal begrijpen? ik weet dat de mensen van sverige het taal gesproken kunnen verstaan. ik vraag me af of het geschreven taal wat moelijker is. ;) nou, wat moet ik doen om jullie te verstaan? want ik wil jullie verstaan?

doeg jullie, groetjes uit amerika

[Would you recommend Wistuba exotics?]

Great! Thanks guys! I was hoping you would say bare root and potted has rare differences. Good to know. Plus, good points about buying Ventri and Bical from Wistuba. I should look at others. This is exactly what I wanted from this thread! THANKS!

And KlTower, ;) Don't suppose I am european ignorant like some americans. I understand fully that the euro is higher than the dollar right now. But, that hasn't always been the case! I am glad it is doing so well, but I doubt that will ever convince the UK to join. Their pound is still going STRONG! When I lived in the Netherlands I was thoroughly ripped off by the price raises when they switched from Gulden to euro. Such a crock. But, good for the economy.

I will look elsewhere for those particular plants. BUT, thanks to your guys' recommendation, I won't hesitate to order some rare NEPS when I need them.

Thanks so much!

[Would you recommend Wistuba exotics?]

I want to order a N. Bicalcarata and N. Ventricosa. They have great prices. But, the shipping to america is automatically 20$. They also say they ship bare root. I was wondering if anyone here from the States who has ordered plants from Wistuba, would recommend them? I trust the plants are great. But, are they worth the 20 dollar shipping?

Plus, are there any other things to look out for? Any international plant order papers, I'll need to worry about?

Thanks for helping a first timer with Wistuba.

[Growing Nepenthes NEED ADVICE!]

Thought you might enjoy seeing how far my NEPS have come! Thanks to all of you who responded to this thread I have wonderful new pitchers!!! These are Alata (Spotted Form).

The url won't allow the pics to come here. But this link should let you in to MY NEPS gallery at yahoo. From there you should see the pics!

http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gidgiddon...m?.dir=/My+NEPS

There are also a couple pics of how my NEPS began! Then, with all of your advice...I moved them ALL into the tank and now you can see the reaped benefits.

The sad part of this is that, these pics are the only way I have seen them! They are back at home in the care of my Brother in law. Look how well he's doing, and how lucky he was to see them open! Can't wait to go home from vacation!! :cry:

THANKS AGAIN!

P.S. As a trivial note! Today is exactly one month from the day I began this thread! Look how fast my neps responded to the right environment! Triple thanks you guys.

[Where Are You?]

Almost a month late, but those Shwarzenegger Smilies are intimidating. Better write something interesting...

FUN FACTS: I have moved 27 times. 26 by the time I was 14 years old.

At age 19, Instead of calling it a move, I served an LDS Mission in The Netherlands and Belgium! Beautiful countries!!! There I lived in Six different cities, totalling TWO YEARS. 19 yrs old to 21 yrs old.

After that I made my 27th move to where I am now. Orem, Utah. Going to school for my Associates and bachelors in Multimedia with an Emphasis in Film Directing.

Now I can sleep easy. No more Aidan nightmares! ;)

[Check this out!!! N. Sanguinea "Striped"]

James,

On a another note. I see you are using a computer fan for air circulation. Have you found that it drastically drops the humidity levels? I added a small 1" fan to my 10 gallon tank of neps and the Humidity dropped from 90% to 70%. And at the time I yanked it out it was still dropping. I decided on a timer for the fan but it wasn't doing what I wanted only dropping the Hum. levels.

I'd like the fan to clear the glass for prime spectation. But, the blasted thing seems to be detrimental to the Hum. Levels more than a help.

I heard about a guy who grows his neps, with a vick's steam-vapor humidifier attached to his fan in an ingenious way. Bringing in humid air straight from the point it enters the tank.

How do you work yours?