Nepenthes cultivation

[faunista]

On the contrary, I had my hamata at low levels of humidity. It seems it doesn't matter how much humidity is high.

In summer, I keep it outside or in a greenhouse indifferently, also with strong air movement due to constant winding. In winter, I keep the plant in an indoor greenhouse that is quite all the time open. In both ways I have, especially during the day, 30-40-50% humidity, and this very often. It rises only during the cooler night.

This is why I defined N. hamata the easiest, for me: it grows fine in any case, everywhere... constantly!? Maybe I'm lucky??

[Big Pitcher]

I've found the Hamata species very interesting to grow. I currently have 3 clones from Wistuba which seem to grow well in pure sphagnam moss with constant humidity levels between 70-75% and a good source of light (i grow mine in a terrarium under an envirolite).

All three are currently growing very well and picturing nicely.

I used to have a 'hairy' Hamata and i wish i had Dereks advice regarding the strawberry pot whilst it was alive! The plant just did not like the same set-up as the 'normal' Hamata and unfortuatly died a few months ago (i was gutted). I'm now trying to track another one down and go for a second attempt (any offers welcome!).

Cheers

Alex

[wadave]

Hi guys,

My hamata is sitting in front of an evap cooler and ultrasonic humidifier setup in the greenhouse so it gets very good humidity and air movement.

This year the I think the effectiveness of the cooler has been reduced due to the filter becoming old, it looks as though the air flow is much less than last summer, so that may have had something to do with it????

I may try Marco's mix next as this is what my rajah seems to be doing well in.

Dave.

[SamInLondon]

I do wonder about the received wisdom concerning the normal N. hamata's humidity requirements. Could it be that they just need very gradual and careful acclimatization when they are young? Mine is currently growing in humidity levels of between 30-50% without any problems, like faunista's, although it hasn't yet seen a hot summer. (Last summer in the UK was such a washout that it doesn't really count.)

Edited March 3, 2009 by SamInLondon

[wadave]

Hi Sam,

I think it's more of an issue with hot climates that are usually lower in humidity.

You'd be surprised at how much more stress the colder climate plants seem to suffer during high temps the lower the ambient humidity becomes. During dry days the evap cooler does become more effective but it still struggles to ad enough moisture to the air to satisfy the highlanders, even with the ultrasonic humidifier going flat out.

For example a day of 40deg and 30% humidity may mean the temps inside the greenhouse are still hovering around 38 - 40deg (depending on how hot the air is, (we get cool sea breezes here in Perth in the afternoons) but the humidity inside the greenhouse would be in the vicinity of 60 - 70%. Compare that to a day of 40 but only 10% humidity the greenhouse may only be 35 deg but the humidity is struggling to reach 30% so the plants actually suffer more in this cooler yet less humid environment.

It's my understanding that the hotter it gets the more humidity plants require in order to withstand temps outside their natural range.

My proviso would be that I've not had any experience with growing a mature hamata and it could very well be that it is well able to adapt to lower humidity. I've also read elsewhere that young hamatas have very thin leaves when starting out and therefore need a higher local humidity until their leaves mature and thicken.

Dave.

Edited March 4, 2009 by wadave

[SamInLondon]

Hello Dave

I wasn't so much making a point about your conditions and the problems you have as questioning the 'needs very high humidity' tagline that always appears alongside N. hamata.

The plant I have is still young - maybe 7 cm or so - but seems to be doing fine in lower humidity. But, as I say, it has yet to experience a really hot summer.

[Delwin]

I need some lights regarding aabt N. jamban. My jamban keep getting smaller.

The day temp 29 degrees and humidity 70-80%.

The night temp 21 degrees and 80-90%.

The media is live spag and pine bark 1:1.

Can anyone advice me??

Thks

[Dave Evans]

Dubia, inermis. 2 more problem species. I lose these plants if I grow them in a peat mix, or any mix other than pure live LFS. They are romping away in this. 2 years ago I was looking after Simon Lumbs plants whilst he moved house, and his inermis was thriving and mine was dieing and they were side by side, and they both came from the same source. The only difference? His was in LFS. This is probably because these species are epiphitic.

Hello Derek,

Sorry, they are not strict epiphytes. I think your results display the species preference for a specific pH range. Peat moss is much more acidic than Sphagnum moss.

Campanulata, northiana. These are now growing in an inert mix. I figure that if they grow on limestone in the wild, then we probably need to avoid acid mixes of any sort. They grow in vermiculite, pumice, seramis and perlite. I'm shortly going to experiment with adding some oyster shell. Campanulata never did that well for me but since the change of media, it has made bigger pitchers than ever, and all 3 are now very healthy.

These species do not grow in pure limestone and they want a slightly acidic soil. You can easily put too much limestone into their soil. So take it easy when making up your new soil. Most Nepenthes do want some CA in their soil, but not much. N. campanulata, N. northiana, N. boschiana, N. albomarginata, N. rajah, N. vieillardii and N. tentaculata are species which want or can handle a slightly acidic soil that is closer to neutral than most other species prefer.

Good luck with your experiments.

[Dave Evans]

I wasn't so much making a point about your conditions and the problems you have as questioning the 'needs very high humidity' tagline that always appears alongside N. hamata.

Yeah, that is true. But it seems to be true only when the plants are fairly small. Once they gain some size, they can handle average Nepenthes humidity levels without any trouble. It is something to watch out for in very small plants and people receiving small plants need to be aware of it.

[mobile]

Does anyone have any cultivation advise on N. glabrata?

[vraev]

Derek....interesting observations. I actually have a N. campanulata that is thriving in LFS, bark, charcoal mix. Infact the diameter is around 5-6 inches with 2 inch pitchers and it has made a offshoot that already has 4 leaves.

[Amar]

Well, I'm getting a N. rajah today, still a young plant, bout 10cm in diameter.

At the moment I have peat and perlite and a little bit of live sphagnum. I have no polytunnel or hot/greenhouse.

Could somebody kindly tell me how to keep this plant? I've done some reading, but I'd like to hear your opinions.

Would I could do is put a plastic bag over the plant to increase the ambient humidity. I assume the substrate should be always moist, but not drenched. How about direct sun, does it want that? Should I use charcoal or orchid-bark?

Thanks a lot. :)

[SamInLondon]

Apologies for digging up an old thread, but I'm wondering if any growers have had any recent experiences with media that they'd like to share?

At the end of last year I moved away from my usual lfs/bark/perlite mix, swapping the lfs for peat moss instead. It's too early to tell how they've fared, but I've had trouble adjusting my watering - and the extremely cold temperatures last winter didn't help.

Like most people (I suspect), I have some neps doing well and others that just sulk. I'd love to be able to sort out the tricky ones ...

[Derek]

Hi Sam,

I'm giving a talk at the AGM on Saturday for the cp society, and I'll put all the latest results of compost experimentation in it. All I'll say at the moment, is it's had a profound effect on my plants. (for the better!!!) If you can't make it, I'll mail you after Saturday.

[Amar]

Hi Sam,

I'm giving a talk at the AGM on Saturday for the cp society, and I'll put all the latest results of compost experimentation in it. All I'll say at the moment, is it's had a profound effect on my plants. (for the better!!!) If you can't make it, I'll mail you after Saturday.

Oohh. Would love see that in writing too. Don't think I can make it to your talk.

Edited April 21, 2010 by Amar

[SamInLondon]

Hi Sam,

I'm giving a talk at the AGM on Saturday for the cp society, and I'll put all the latest results of compost experimentation in it. All I'll say at the moment, is it's had a profound effect on my plants. (for the better!!!) If you can't make it, I'll mail you after Saturday.

Hi Derek

I wish I could come, but I'm struggling with a bad back (slipped disc). But please do let me know your conclusions - I'd love to hear how your experiments have turned out.

Don't think I'll be able to make your open day either

[manders]

Cant make it either

Going back to Sams original recent question, I have a few that I have struggled with for years and have just recently taken off. They were mostly intermediate/lowland types and the biggest change I made was giving them more humid conditions and plenty of light some of them actually got cooler conditions than before, now in a fish tank, very high humidity with Envirolite/LED lights no additional heating and doing great. Clipeata's, Albomarginata, Mindanoensis, Adnata's all now doing the best they've ever done.