Kiwano Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Hi everybody, I'm going to receive a specimen of N. campanulata. I know it's a delicate and rare specie and it's in this way that I would ask you something. What kind of substrate do you use for it ? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmatil Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 I'm getting one soon, too and I'm going to use 50/50 LFS and perlite like for all my neps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwano Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Well, so you mean a relatively mineral substrate ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzestan Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 I use 100% LFS. Live sphagnum on top. Seems to be doing fine over 1 year now. It is the slowest growing lowland nep I have. Slower than sphagnum. Need to cut away sphagnum that has overgrown it from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwano Posted June 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Thanks for your answer. At this point ? I knew that N. campanulata was a slow grower but not like this. However I think it's almost the same thing with some other species like N. northiana or N. bellii, no ? I have a N. truncata who is pretty slow too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 Is the truncata getting much light? Slow growth is often a sign of low light levels, in all neps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzestan Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Bellii and northiana grow much faster. Bellii is among fast growers. Northiana produces new leaves relatively fast, just that the plant gains size slowly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzestan Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 And yes, truncata is also faster growing than campanulata. I find northiana and truncata grow better in shade. Anyway, tropical sun is much stronger than Europe..:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Evans Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 N. campanulata is not that slow growing. Probably, 100% Sphagnum is a little too dense/wet for N. c.. You might want to add some perlite... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwano Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 So who is true ? Maybe I should use a substrate as you described it Dave Evans. Have you an idea about the proportions ? Concerning the other species, I can say that (to my own opinion with my own plants) : - N. bellii is a slow grower, but it's possibly due to its decapitation before I obtained it. - N. truncata is a slow grower too. I think it's not due to the light, since the plant is directly under a Plasma Light 125W and the four other species around (N. gracilis, N. adnata, N. ampullaria and N. tomoriana) grow pretty well. - N. northiana is a relatively good grower, not really fast but enough to be satisfying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Evans Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 (edited) It is most likely a temperature factor for most species. N. bellii and relatives aren't easy to cultivate. When someone says that N. bellii is easy for them, we really should try to understand why. The four you list doing well also like it warm, whereas the other species are intermediates (exception, N. campanulata) which want it to cool down a bit at night. N. campanulata grows in a very particular niche. High humidity, almost no water other than constant seepage. Always moist, almost never wet. To me, it is a Nepenthes that wants to be a Pinguicula or D. schizandra. Constant airflow to the roots, requires some material similiar in texture to perlite. I'm sure there are other materials, like Burnt Earth which have neutralish pH and a nice airy texture which can be used in place of perlite. I'm not sure what your exact proportions should be. It depends on how often you water and other conditions in your cultivation areas. But if it is very humid, you could, in theory, grow Nepenthes directly on pure perlite; some would just want it wetter than others. Edited June 20, 2014 by Dave Evans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzestan Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 Descriptions can be subjective. Here are photos of 1 year growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 So who is true ? Maybe I should use a substrate as you described it Dave Evans. Have you an idea about the proportions ? Concerning the other species, I can say that (to my own opinion with my own plants) : - N. bellii is a slow grower, but it's possibly due to its decapitation before I obtained it. - N. truncata is a slow grower too. I think it's not due to the light, since the plant is directly under a Plasma Light 125W and the four other species around (N. gracilis, N. adnata, N. ampullaria and N. tomoriana) grow pretty well. - N. northiana is a relatively good grower, not really fast but enough to be satisfying. 125W is really not much at all. If you want good growth you need as much light as they can tolerate withough actually burning the leaves and that means sunlight all day for most species, as many hours as possible. I don't bother with indoor terrariums now for this reason. If your stuck with lighted terrariums you just have to accept the slower growth. Ive allways seen a huge difference in growth rate when taking small plants/seedlings out of a terrarium and putting them in good strong light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted June 20, 2014 Report Share Posted June 20, 2014 But if it is very humid, you could, in theory, grow Nepenthes directly on pure perlite; some would just want it wetter than others. Pure perlite works well for many species regardless of humidity, good for cuttings as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmatil Posted June 22, 2014 Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 A bit offtopic but interesting that you mentioned Bellii, Dave E. I think mine does not like the conditions it's in. High humidity, warm (28C) days and 22-25C nights. relatively strong light. I have airflow in the terrarium but Bellii gets (black and white) mold on its leaves while other neps don't. So yes I would like to know too if anyone finds it easy to grow and what is their secret. Meanwhile my Campanulata has arrived (cloudy picture, was taken through the plastic bag), size is about 3-4 cm accross: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwano Posted June 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2014 (edited) Dave Evans → Thank you for your explanations. Finally, I used a mix of perlite/dead sphagnum 50%/50%, with living sphagnum at the surface. I hope it will be good. For the moment, the plant seems to be healthy. I've noticed that pitchers are well when hygrometry is very very high. They begin to dry when it's lower, at the contrary of all my other Nepenthes. Do you think the substrate should be more wet than other plants of the same genus ? Perhaps it's just a stress caused by the acclimatization. Manders → Yes you're right, 125W are not enough for this kind of plants. I would find something else. Maybe 200W or more are good ? Or another kind of system ? In despite of this, I think the low growing rate of some of my plants is due to the temperatures. I read on some topics on the Web that N. bellii (for example) doesn't like very much warm temperatures. That could be why mine is not a fast grower. It's placed at a temperature between 30°C and 35°C the day. Pmatil → My plant is arrived two days ago and looks like yours. If you let me ask you this questions : what mix do you use ? What are your growing conditions ? And where have you found your plant ? Edited July 1, 2014 by Kiwano Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmatil Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Kiwano, my mix is exactly 50%/50% perlite and dead sphagnum (LFS). My conditions are 28C day, 22-23C night, humidity 75-80% day, 90% night. I bought it from CZPlants. Because it's a small plant I have a shade plastic on top of it to prevent burn/shock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Evans Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Hello Kiwano, I believe the substrate should be slightly less wet than for most other species. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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