A comprehensive list of beginner CPs

[gardenofeden]

H.heterodoxa is the only one I would recommend, the others have prove finicky for me without severe TLC!

[Odysseus]

PS Odysseus: I should have reccomended N Singalana as a begnners plant, it does really well, with no special attention, pitchers nicely and grows fast.

yes, and spathulata too!

Although both of those Neps are tougher for a beginner to come by, at least in my neck of the woods, I will take both your word for how easily they grow. Thanks Gardenofeden and Manders!

I tend to shy away from placing Heliamphora in the same category as U. livida, my earlier example, but instead of leaving Helis out of the list altogether I will take your advice, and my experience with H. heterodoxa, and place it on the least as at least the most beginner of the genus Heliamphora. So, thanks for the addition, Flycatchers!

--List updated--

[Pesiolino]

In my opinion N. eymae could be an easy highland Nepenthes for beginner.

I grow it outside here in Rome and it grow quite well.

Regards

[Odysseus]

Thanks Pesiolino! I have added N. eymae to the list although I have never grown it and if anybody finds that this plant is only "easy" to grow in certain climates I may take it off the list of "beginner" Nepenthes.

Thank you for the feedback!

[EdaxFlamma]

P. primuliflora is pretty hardy too. I've about tortured the poor thing :? (not on purpose mind you) and it still rewards me with flowers and baby plantlets. I don't know if that makes it a good one for the list. Just a thought.

Inexperienced but trying,

-Edax

[avery]

As there are various CP genus as well as various species that require different growing conditions in terms of lighting, humidity, temperature etc, I think right before generating a CP list for beginner, one should best identifying the "general condiiton" a beginner should have instead of listing those "easy CP" grown in various growers with various conditions.

I am not too familiar with drosera and ping yet but I do have some experience growing nepenthes. Most growers in EU have intermediate to Highland condition and there will be no problem at all growing species that require specific temperatre ranges. What they need to do is to spray the plants from time to time and species like hamata grows non-stop. However, they can never grow a lowland that require heat and extremely high humidity, say northiana. On the contravy, I can leave mirabilis outside without attention and they grow like weeds and pitcher year round in our tropical area but no way I can keep a rajah survive without special equipement like cooling system ...

That is from the view of a nepenthes grower but I bet such situation will sure to exist in other genus. For example, I can never put a Drosera rotundifolia into dormant state as our winter isn't cold enough ... None of my prolifera can grow well in summer without cooling system. However, growers in north America can leave rotundifolia outside and they grow like weeds again after spring. That is why some "Easy CP" can be very difficult to grow for growers live in simply different places and some so-called very difficult plants can grow without much problem in certain areas ....

Such a list should be highly sorted by CP beginners and that's why it will be essential to allow beginners to understand the requirement of the plants they are seeking without being misleaded. More information should first be defined. Say, for gerneral UK growers growing indoor under artificial lighting. Room temp around 10-25 degree celcius etc.

Hope it helps !

Sincerely, Avery

[ilex]

Heliamphora might be easy if your summers are not hot. growing them here is difficult, most species are impossible without artificial cooling and I have doupts about the others.

I agree with the previous comment. The easiest must be one of the terrestial utrics. Once stablished they are almost impossible to kill.

I find sarracenia fairly easy too. Water, full sun and some winter and most are very easy.

[sarraceniashawn]

A good beginer tuberous drosera is D. peltata var. folisia. You can even keep them wet during their dormancy. And they even take frosts and breif temps in the 90's. Like I said, it is a good starter tuberous dew.

Shawn

[Odysseus]

Thank you, Sarraceniashawn for your Tuberous drosera edition. I added it.

@ Avery

You make a great point. What I am hoping with this list is to simply name those easy to keep alive plants when given minimal attention in relation to other CPs. I understand that easy to grow is almost synonymous with "windowsill plants" and depending on your climate the choice of "windowsill plants" will grow or shrink. But, this "beginner" list is meant for windowsill, container, greenhouse, or terrarium alike.

What my plan here is, is to name carnivorous plants that are easy for beginners who are going to make only small efforts to please their plants. i.e. humidity, light, and watering.

There will be some CP lovers out there in extreme climates that even the easiest N. alata will need special temperature attention in order to grow...but the majority of CP lovers will find that these "beginner plants" are a good place to start and will grow for them.

There is no perfect list of beginner plants.

Edited September 19, 2007 by Odysseus

[louisduddridge]

I was just thinking it would be good if this thread was moved to the FAQ board. What does anyone else think?

[Neil Cornish]

I'd like to add N. spectabilis x ventricosa and H. heterodoxa x minor as is my opion they are both very easy to grow and propagate in cultivation. They also look great and I've seen them on many growlists in different countries.

Regards Neil

[Guest Aidan]

I was just thinking it would be good if this thread was moved to the FAQ board. What does anyone else think?

The list is currently a mess and someone would need to volunteer to clean it up first.

[tonyc]

Hi,

As an aside, I'm using the AndromedaDarkRed skin and the original list appears in mid-green on a mid-grey background. It's near impossible to read without squinting at the screen from a few inches away (at least with my poor old eyes).

Cheers,

T.

[Nepenthusiast]

Add Nepenthes fusca, it pitchers for me in 20-30% humidity

[Odysseus]

First off, thanks to the couple above posters for their suggestion for the list. I will add them soon once I get an opinion on what Aidan mentioned here below years back.

The list is currently a mess and someone would need to volunteer to clean it up first.

I know Aidan is long gone from the community, but are their any other experienced CPUK forum moderators that could give me an idea of what Aidan was referring to?

The list itself, in my humble opinion, is listed cleanly and easy to read. So I assume he was dissatisfied with many plants that are on the list. Knowing that "beginner" plants is far too vague and impossible a term to really narrow down I was open to adding anything anyone recommended that others didn't have a big deal with.

I was hoping the list would police itself with other members pointing out the complication of calling a certain plant a "beginner" plant or not.

I have no need for this to become a FAQ, but I would like to make it a QUALITY list since my signature links to it and I would hope it helps in some way.

Any feedback on what is messy about it and where I can improve it so that it may BENEFIT the community is greatly appreciated. If it really is of no help, I gladly accept that reality and will move on from pubbing it in my signature. Thanks in advance!

Edited January 8, 2010 by Odysseus

[Guest predatoryplants]

I'd like to add N. spectabilis x ventricosa and H. heterodoxa x minor as is my opion they are both very easy to grow and propagate in cultivation. They also look great and I've seen them on many growlists in different countries.

Regards Neil

I agree about heterodoxa x minor being the best 'beginner' Heli. I find them to be much more forgiving than either of their parents. I've also had great luck with P. 'John Rizzi', P. lutea, N. sanguinea and N. fusca.

[Kevin Tonnerre]

Maybe just a mattor of opinion but i find Catopsis berteroniana und Brocchinia reducta very easy for indoor growing, not much you can do wrong.

[MFS]

How about agreeing on what constitutes a 'beginner CP' first?

I think they should be:

-Cheap

-In plentiful supply, preferably in garden centres

-Easy to grow

It might also help to make a sub-list of recommended plants for beginners that only contains a few plants, then a larger list of easy CPs to grow. This seems more like a list of easy CPs to grow than a beginners list?

[Odysseus]

Thanks for the feedback! I will gladly edit those two plants in once I narrow down the purpose of this list as MFS has brought up some good points.

MFS,

Let me start with your last quote first:

This seems more like a list of easy CPs to grow than a beginners list?

That is exactly what I have intended this list to be actually. I have always thought of this list as a list of CPs that are easy to grow and figured that was synonymous with the phrase "beginner CPs". I am open to renaming the list if it needs better clarification.

With that in mind let me reply to the rest of what you said:

How about agreeing on what constitutes a 'beginner CP' first?

I think they should be:

-Cheap

-In plentiful supply, preferably in garden centres

-Easy to grow

Personally, the price of the CP isn't necessarily an important factor to consider for as the Beginner Heli can be a lot more expensive than a VFT. So I am not as concerned, in my humble opinion, with the cost of the CP as it varies anyway as much as I am concerned with how easy it is to grow.

Supply is also a rough qualifying factor as what is in your garden centers won't be in mine. In fact, out here in Utah I used to find VFTs and Sarrs easily a few years back and now I can't find any. The fad passed I guess.

Easy to grow is the one condition and only condition I was considering for this list, but I am open to reworking that with your help. :)

It might also help to make a sub-list of recommended plants for beginners that only contains a few plants, then a larger list of easy CPs to grow.

Not sure what you mean. I already consider this a short list of beginner plants. Has it grown too large?

[DavidC]

My first plant was N.Ventrata (sold as Alata) second is Sundew Alacie, both of them sit on the window sill with no added lighting, Ventrata is now sending up a new plant and Alice i have had for about six months the leaves were always green with no dew, now they are taking on a red colour and starting to produce dew. Both get my vote in the starter arena. Plant number three is Sarr Purpurea/Venosa having a sleep in the shed, see if i can keep this one alive..

[Binataboy]

Just read this thread, the thing to remember when putting a list like this together the plant must withstand a wide variety of conditions to be considered a beginer plant. I would not put any Helies on a beginner list (fair enough a beginer Heli, but not a beginer CP!) also Cobras are way off, I can grow neither of these plants without some serious kit. There are plenty of other plants that I can grow and so can my EU and USA friends. I think for a plant to be classed as a beginer it needs to withstand temps from 5-40c short to medium term and be tollerant of different light levels. So think how would some of these CPs cope with a week of 5c or a week of 40c? If they would not survive well, take them off the list, otherwise you will need different lists for different climatic regons.

Overall the list looks good but I wouldn't include D. rotundifolia or D. anglica as they need a cold dormancy, and a plant that need to be kept in the fridge for several months or it will die doesn't quite cut it for me, infact I would put these in the "pain in the arse to grow" category. Also D. prolifera can be difficult unless you get the conditions right which is why it is not very common.

Cheers

George