Basic Advice (new plant)

[Patrickdryden]

Hi, I recently saw this nepenthes at my local garden centre for a £10 - I think i have worked out its a Alata x ventricosa. I think

Heres a Pic

(They do get enough light, Morning Sun then its bright for rest of the day)

Basically I have had it maybe a week or two, have been spraying it twice a day and keeping the roots just damp but The only pitcher that is on is shriveled all brown (do I cut it off?) and it has no other pitchers that seem to be developing.

Are these plants really slow growing or am i doing something wrong?

On the window with them is a Sarracenia purpurea, 4 VFT (Different varieties), 1 Cape Sundew, 2 Seedling Drosera Madagascariensis (might need a conformation about that when there bigger) And a Mexican Butterwort.........And a magic bean in a can

[LJ]

Vfts and sarras really need plenty of full sun all day, same for most drosera - infact the only plant that doesnt need that much sun is the mexican ping. Neps all require good day length and decent light and if its not pitchering generally its because there isnt enough light or the humidity is too low but also remember it will need time to settle into its new home, one thing you really need when growing cp's is patience! You can cut off any shrivelled or dead growth. If your windowsill is only getting full sun first thing in the morning and then bright indirect light for the rest of the day then this might not be enough.

Dont forget the vfts and sarra will need to be moved somewhere cold next winter for dormancy. Cp's arent exactly fast growing but given the right conditions will put on a good amount of growth......

Heather

[Patrickdryden]

Cheers Heather,

I have cut of the shriveled trap, but this really is the only place i can put them I dont have a north or south facing window.

But my VFT traps turn red once they are developed I assumed that this meant they had all the sun they need?

And also i think I did the Dormancy wrong, this was my first dormancy and I left the plants on the window sill as it gets pretty cold as its single pain old glass. I cut down there watering But I think I killed me original sarracenia hybrid (a tall one) and my original cape sundew. as i cut all the growth off and left it like that. when it came to end of december I decided that drastic action had to be used as the VFT's were still growing, so i shot them all in the fridge for 3 months (until the end of march)

I then mixed the old Sarracenia pot and the sundew pot together for the moss, but noticed that there was some white new roots developing (could this mean that there not dead?)

Patrick

[LJ]

Have you no where outside for the vfts and sarras? I think it will still be too warm for dormancy on the windowsill -ideally it should be under 10 C.

Red colouring in traps does normally mean they are getting a decent amount of sun though I find some colour up a lot easier than others and depends on the clone, its always a good sign though. Fridge dormancy isnt normally done in our country and most people keep them outside year round, they do have to be going dormant when you put them in the fridge though for it to be successful - it's said it will keep a plant dormant but not induce dormancy - you need cold temps and natural light so it can tell when winter is on the way. Skipping it for a year wont hurt though its something to think about for next winter.

During winter you just need to keep them cold and the compost just damp, they barely need any water at all due to the temps and only cut off the dead growth, if anything is green then leave it on.

Do you mean white new roots for the sarra?? As long as the bulb is hard and white underneath then the plant should be fine and start re-growing with increasing temps and day lengths. Capensis are know to re-grow from the roots too so they may not be as dead as you think. Though I've had a few die off over winter and only one looks like its going to re-grow....

Persevere with the nep, it might just need time to settle in, you could try a bigger saucer of water around it (but keep the actual plant raised so it doesnt sit in the water, best watered from above unlike the others), that should increase the local humidity, if it still doesnt pitcher then it might be due to the lighting. Also, depending on what sort of nep it is, it might not be happy with the temps - highlanders will need a good drop in temperature over night. Many wont pitcher over winter without additional lighting due to the short days lengths, less light etc. It will be much easier to ID it when we see a pitcher though....unless one of the nep experts out there can tell from the leaves?

Heather

[Patrickdryden]

Oh ok so it wont really matter that dormancy was scuffed up, I have had a thought tho, I have a unused stable with two floors in the back (its full of junk and is falling down.. really) upstairs there is a window facing east. the window has pains of glass missing, but its unheated and sheltered from the wind, Would this be a good place to think about for future dormancy?

As nothing is up there and they wont get disturbed, And for humidity i could perhaps put a clear plastic tub on top

Im going to keep my fingers crossed for the Sarracenia hybrid, I never really managed to get that one growing, it was part of a collection that i bought online when i first got interested in CP's

As it goes for keeping them outside, there is no place really were they would get more light than were they are now, I used to when i first got them chase the sun around, E.g. get up put them outside, noon put them on the roof, night bring them in. but towards the end of august i just kept them were they are now and they started to grow better than ever, So i have just left them there since

I now know that CP don't like changes to the environment to well so that probably didn't do them a world of good.

I have also just added the dates up and I have only had the nepenthes a week and it was reduced in the garden centre as its been there since last summer, so is probably just getting over a long time without light in a few weeks i suspect some might come as at the end of the leaves the stalks are growing longer.

And another little thought the nepenthes since i bought it has grown at least 6-7 inches but the leaves its produced are smaller than the original ones (as in width wise) don't know if that means anything

Thanks for all your help

Patrick

[LJ]

Vfts and sarras dont really need high humidity - sounds like the stable would be a better option over winter.

Try keeping them all where they are for the moment then and see how you go over the next few months, if the end if the nep leaves are getting longer then that sounds positive and no doubt it wasnt getting very good conditions at the garden centre so may just need a bit of time to re-adjust to your house.

Just checking you know not to use tap water??

[Patrickdryden]

I have but only because been told its ok to use soft tap water, guessing this is wrong as well? :)

[Amar]

before using your soft tap water, make sure how 'soft' it really is..

[Patrickdryden]

How do I go about doing that ?

I know there one to check if the kettle is full of limescale (its not)

And the old pipes in my bathroom that are donkeys years old and only has a bit of calcium deposit

But is there a way to properly measure it?

Also i keep goldfish and test the water, The nitrates and Nitrats are at 0, no ammonia and Ph is perfect

Edited April 17, 2009 by Patrickdryden

[Amar]

yes, you can check perhaps online, the company that provides you with water, they have all the data concerning your water. you can also go to an aquarium shop, the have little kits with which you can check the total water hardness.

[Patrickdryden]

Ok Just checked with northumbrian water online and it says my water is medium Im guessing i should start collecting rain water

[mobile]

Ask your water company for the water hardness degrees. This can then be converted to ppm (mg CaCO3/l), below 100 ppm (mg CaCO3/l) is considered by some to be okay for CPs. Best to leave it stand for a few days though to allow any chlorine to dissipate.

There are calculator here: http://www.cactus2000.de/uk/unit/masswas.shtml

Edited April 17, 2009 by mobile

[Patrickdryden]

Hi thanks for that mobile that calculator was great i got a result of 89.24 so I guess I can still use tap water ?

[wallsg7]

Rainwater is always preferable.Tapwater is very inconsistant.I was once told i could use my tapwater.When i did the plants suffered.I got myself a tds meter which explained to me one day the tapwater was fine to use-the next it wasnt.Also i slightly disagree with the view that 100 parts per million is preferred by cps.In my experience the lower the better.At least 50 parts per million or less.The ideal water is distilled...which cps absolutely love-but this can be very expensive to obtain- especialy for a larger collection.Also with tapwater you have to factor in chlorine,flourides and other pipe cleaning additives which would not normaly be present in the water.My advice...stay away from tap water.Rain water is best.Or if you are a real perfectionist...distilled water.

[mobile]

I agree that rainwater is preferable, unless you live in a heavy industrial area where there is high air pollution. However, I don't agree that distilled is best as the quality can vary considerably and unless multi-stage distillation is used, certain pollutants distill over like chlorine and flourides. In any case, I've not seen distilled water available for a long time, most purified water sold is deionised. Another good source of purified water is reverse osmosis. This is often available in large quantities from aquatic shops for far cheaper than bottled deionised water. If they have a good RO system then there will also be a deioniser stage which will clean up any ions that got through the RO membrane.

[Patrickdryden]

erm well in middlesbrough were called the smoggies because of the industrialness