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Heliamphora Heterodoxa x Minor growth tips?


Vertigo

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Greetings all.

I've been growing a Heliamphora heterodoxa x minor for quite some time now. I received it with one mature pitcher on it, and a ton of immature ones. Ever since i've had it it's only been putting out immature leaves, and now all of the tips keep drying out before they fully form. They are in an enclosed space, with a humidity between 75-80% constantly. The temps are 22c at the lowest and 27c at the highest, give or take a degree. It is now growing a few inches below 4-40w fluorescent tubes since the sun didn't seem to be helping. Any little tips anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.

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Heliamphora take a long time to produce adult pitchers if they're too hot. They may revert to juvenile form like yours if they encounter excessive heat on the cusp between juvenile and adult. Ideally, you want to try and get the temp to fall to 15-20C every now and then (or every night if you can).

As far as I know, once they've been "adult" for a fair while, it is much much less likely that the problem will recur, although Helis all come from montane places with a good nighttime drop in temperatures, and will suffer if subjected to continual hot nights.

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Thanks for the tip Rob. I really didn't think it was that warm for it. Hmm, i'll have to think of a new location for it I guess. I'm just not sure if it'll get the same amount of light in a cooler location. Though I guess I could just set up a night time grow area for one plant in a cooler room.

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They'll do OK with bright light from your tubes and no direct sun at all, though the colours may not be as bright and the nectar spoon may be smaller. They don't need terribly high humidity either: only around 50% humidity. They're tropical mountain plants, not jungle plants.

Mine are in an unheated greenhouse in summer and are heated to a miniumum of 10C in winter. Aside from this, I let the British weather do what it wants to the temperatures.

Try overhead watering a couple of times a day to keep the plants cool maybe?

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