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Guess how much this Nepenthes cost!


ifurita

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When I first saw this, my jaw dropped and I just had to have it! :drool:

Well, everyone knows about variegated Nepenthes and how much they tend to cost, if they are offered for sale at all. Needless to say, when I heard the price, my jaw really hit the ground. Anyone wanna guess what it was?

Anyway, as you can see, its mine now! Yay!! This is how it was when I first got it:

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This is how it is now, in its vining stage. I've heard tales of how some variegated Nepenthes lose the variegation as they grow older and how some variegated Nepenthes are very weak plants. Surprise! This one not only preserves its variegation, but is quite a strong grower!!

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This is the first pitcher produced after I got the plant. Its darker than the ones it originally had!

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This is an upper. I guess its only the lowers with the nice black colour, I think as the vine gets longer, the uppers will most likely go completely green.

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This is probably of hybrid origin, I highly doubt its a species. Anyone know what it is? My guess is that it my have N. bongso in it, but if so, I'm not sure what it was crossed with. This one seems to grow very well under my rather extreme lowland conditions, along with stuff like N. ampullaria and N. bicalcarata.

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My guess is that you got it for free....You were hiking on a hill next to your house and you stumble across this seedling that's by the road and cars were about to trample all over it then you rescued it :biggrin: I don't know :roll: well tell us how much then??

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I can only agree!! I love variegated plants in general, and a variegated Nepenthes is even more attractive!

I got no idea of the price, but I am sure it was not cheap.

Very cool looking plant!!

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Whatever it cost, it would be more than I would pay for it, as I don't like variagated plants... but each to their own and I can understand why some people find the unusual attractive.

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I suspect it was average price or even cheaper

However, I also have my doubts about if it will be stable. The lower leaves appear to be normal, so it could just be something that has happened to it which has caused this. I've had something like this (on a much smaller scale) happen when the plant was suffering from lack of nutrients. Start feeding it and give it some time, then show us it again in a few months.

But, I do actually like variagated plants.

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This is what can happen with variegated plants price wise. Here's a Pinguicula the succulent type http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SANSEVIERIA-PINGUICULA-STRIATIONS-/170634121627?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27ba96119b £1264.48 and still a while to go.

I will say one thing even if these prices seem outrageous, a plant will clone itself, thus you can sell on the sibling and get your money back.

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This is what can happen with variegated plants price wise. Here's a Pinguicula the succulent type http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item27ba96119b £1264.48 and still a while to go.

I will say one thing even if these prices seem outrageous, a plant will clone itself, thus you can sell on the sibling and get your money back.

To me, it doesn't look that much different to my £2.99 mother-in-laws-tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata) :wink:

There are several reasons to pay these prices for a plant, one of which is to make a profit from any siblings. But, some people will buy it purely because they like it or 'have to have' the rarest. Production of siblings will eventually de-value the plant as it becomes more common.

Crazy prices for rare plants has been going on for decades, tulipomania being one such example - many of those tulip bulbs are now worth literally pennies.

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I dont like such mutations = degenerated nepenthes which are not able to survive in the wild and even in "home" conditions they are weak grower which require more light and better care...

I guess you got it for free.

I agree too, that they are usually weak growers and that's another reason why I'm not that big a fan of them. That's also why I decided to test it. When I bought this one, I also got another plant to compare it with: around the same size, the same hybrid and probably from the same origin. It even had the same number of leaves and pitchers. After growing them out for a few months in identical conditions, I found that they are both equally strong growers: after 19-20 new leaves, the non-variegated one has 1 more leaf than the one in the pictures, average leaf sizes are very similar and the largest upper pitcher produced so far belongs to the variegated one. For a variegated plant, this one sure isn't as fragile or weak as I'd expect it to be.

I suspect it was average price or even cheaper

However, I also have my doubts about if it will be stable. The lower leaves appear to be normal, so it could just be something that has happened to it which has caused this. I've had something like this (on a much smaller scale) happen when the plant was suffering from lack of nutrients. Start feeding it and give it some time, then show us it again in a few months.

I did also have my doubts about its stability. I too have heard a number of accounts where the variegation vanishes over time for the reason you mentioned. Hence my wait before actually posting up the plant. The plant has grown 19 leaves since I got first it(the first pic), plus it does catch its own prey(I do check the pitchers and they tend to have quite a number of what appear to be ants/ant remains inside. The variegation is still present(vine in 2nd pic) and in total, 2 leaves were produced with somewhat less variegation, but those instances were ironically during periods when the plant was stressed(bad weather, plus those leaves were slightly smaller than the norm), rather than happy. I'll continue to keep track of it, I hope the variegation doesn't vanish.

That said, you're right. I don't normally like the look of variegated plants(I do like this one) and the usual fortune they cost is something I wouldn't pay. However, the price of this one made my jaw drop. It was found(along with the non-variegated one I mentioned above) at a nursery near my place. The nursery people probably thought this one was infected with something and thus it was found being sold at a discount. At the price, there was no way I wouldn't have gotten it, even if it was just to test to see its strength and whether the variegation would last.

It cost me 20SGD, which is less than 10 Euros. :cheers:

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