Mvule Posted October 3, 2015 Report Share Posted October 3, 2015 (edited) Hi there everyone this is my first post. I live in Uganda and would love to grow Neps. Our altitude is 1200m and we have a significant dry season when the air is dry for about 3-4 months. Obviously I can water them but the air is dry at that time of year. What Neps should I try growing for starters? I was thinking of growing them under a shady tree. I guess they would be intermediate types? Also where is the best place to get fresh Nep seeds as I have tried to order off ebay but non of the seeds germinated. Any ideas welcome. Thanks Edited October 3, 2015 by Mvule Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesthegringo Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 Can you tell us what temperatures you would experience during that dry season? Les Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 As above, it would help to know the temperature ranges. How cold do nights get in general, and in the cool season in particular? Does the dry season coincide with the cool season or the hot, or is it more complex than that? Standard tissue culture hybrids like ventrata and miranda should do well for you. Because they're so common, nobody gets too excited about them, but they can be quite showy nonetheless. Others will no doubt chime in with suggestions more suitable for your climate. Here in Taiwan, temperatures and humidity swing wildly from one extreme to the other over the course of the year, and even over the course of a week. Some species/clones adapt well, while others just sit there doing nothing year after year, or slowly wither away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mvule Posted October 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 Thank you for your ideas. The dry season (December to march or April) is usually in the 90s (30'C) in the day but drops down to 60'F (15-16'C) at night so is fairly cool then. It is quite consistently cool at night except when it is about to rain at the end of the dry season in March/April. Those months it can stay hot in the 80s. Where do I get tissue culture hybrids from? I think in Uganda there are no Neps of any sort available! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 Maxima or Truncata would be worth trying, theyre very adaptable (ie grow like weeds). Sometimes there are in-vitro tc plants on ebay, they should be able to post to africa as long as they are in-vitro. How did you sow the seeds? It is a bit random if ebay seeds will germinate or not, sometimes highland seeds can take upto 1 year to germinate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesthegringo Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 Agree that Alata, Venticosa and some of the more common hybrids would be the best, but would also suggest that a way of keeping them bagged during the driest season would be recommended - the humidity can be maintained but you just need to make sure the temperatures don't get too high. Shady positions would be beneficial during those times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 (edited) You could check the malaysiana tropicals website, they used to export truncatas in-vitro, although they are 'lowland' truncatas they are pretty tough and mine used to grow in highland conditions. Tolerant of low humidity and make a very impressive large plant in a few years. If they still do them sending to uganda shouldnt be a problem. Edit: They dont have them on their website anymore but might be worth emailing them to ask... Edited October 4, 2015 by manders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mvule Posted October 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 I sowed the seeds on Nep soil mix I brought from the UK. I basically spread them on the surface and kept the pot more or less constantly standing in water in a ziploc bag (for humidity). I think I kept them like that in the shade for about 9 months and grew nothing but slime. I will look into these options ordering them in vitro would be a bit dicey as it would a. cost a lot and b. we are 9 hours north of the capital city Kampala where everything happens. I can imagine the journey being slow and the courier might not be very keen to come up here. I will see if the couriers are in my town. I really appreciate the list of species I can try I will hunt for the seeds and see where I get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mvule Posted October 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 Do you think I could grow sarracenia here or do they need a cold period if so what species. Thank you for all the help. Sent from my TECNO M3 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimitar Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 I really appreciate the list of species I can try I will hunt for the seeds and see where I get. I have the following seeds and u will get them for free.. 1 Sarracenia 2.Temperate sundews 3.Cephalotus 4.Byblis liniflora 5 Roridula gorgonias 6.Pings seeds PM me if interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan F. Posted October 6, 2015 Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 (edited) Maxima or Truncata would be worth trying, theyre very adaptable (ie grow like weeds). Sometimes there are in-vitro tc plants on ebay, they should be able to post to africa as long as they are in-vitro. How did you sow the seeds? It is a bit random if ebay seeds will germinate or not, sometimes highland seeds can take upto 1 year to germinate. Nepenthe's with maxima or truncata is there name is the one's that are so slow for me to grow temperatures between 10c/30c. Edited October 6, 2015 by Jonathan F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Nepenthe's with maxima or truncata is there name is the one's that are so slow for me to grow temperatures between 10c/30c. Strange, both maxima and truncata should be amongst your biggest plants after a few years. Maybe playing with the perspective will help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitefox Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 (edited) I had some small truncatas, when small they grow very slowly but in good conditions they make big leaf jumps. The hardiest (and the only one I have right now) is Wistuba's "reddish leaves": it grows doesn't matter what, from winter to summer, only stops a few days when temperatures start to change and then resumes it's normal growth again. Edited October 7, 2015 by Whitefox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mvule Posted October 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Ok this is great. So I should look out for: entrata miranda truncatas Alata, Venticosa Maxima But where is the best place to get seeds of Neps if ebay is not good I looked at some of the recomendated sites here. Would their seeds be better than ebay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitefox Posted October 7, 2015 Report Share Posted October 7, 2015 Ebay can be a good place if you are able to find a reliable seller, but be careful since there are a lot of people selling fake or old seeds, even wild collected from endangered species. Avoid seeds from China,and some sellers from Indonesia or Italy. Miranda is an hybrid, not a species and can only be obtained from cuttings or tissue culture. To obtain seeds it needs to pollinate a female plant (Miranda is a male plant). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mvule Posted October 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 Ok that is good to know. I am thinking of ordering some Neps from from czplants.com. Does this forum sometimes have people who have Nep seeds to spare or is that rare? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hud357 Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 if you can store plenty of water then I would imagine that you might get away with an awful lot of Neps. Artificial shade and lots of water should see many of the 'lowland' species thriving. The dry season (December to march or April) is usually in the 90s (30'C) in the day but drops down to 60'F (15-16'C) at night so is fairly cool then Fairly cool in the sense that these would be absolute peak Summer temperatures here in England! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 (edited) Ok that is good to know. I am thinking of ordering some Neps from from czplants.com. Does this forum sometimes have people who have Nep seeds to spare or is that rare? Somtimes nep seeds are available. One problem with nepenthes is there seems to be much fewer females around than males. Although you might try Facecrook, it seems to be the best place for contacting nep growers these days. One of my three female veitcheis will be flowering soon but seeds might take another year! Same for the boschianas... Edited October 22, 2015 by manders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 (edited) if you can store plenty of water then I would imagine that you might get away with an awful lot of Neps.Artificial shade and lots of water should see many of the 'lowland' species thriving. /quote] dont even think about most lowlanders unless you have high humidity, ok or two might struggle on, rafflesiana might be ok, but the majority will not do well. Edited October 22, 2015 by manders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mvule Posted October 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2015 Humm I thought rafflesiana was one of the more difficult species... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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