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Are neps for me?

Are Nepenthes slow growers for you guys? I'm certainly not very happy with the performance of mine. In a year's time my highlanders don't grow very much!...but they're small yet. I've had two indoors, and they grow quickly compared to the ones outdoors.

I'm thinking of sticking with Sarracenia, dews, Pings, Drosophyllum...maybe Cephs. I love the plants and have room for them to vine but they just don't seem to grow too great in San Diego. :-(

What do you think?
 
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Many Nepenthes are generally pretty slow growers. Especially compared to most other carnivorous plants.

I've found that (and I'm sure almost every other Nepenthes grower can agree) Nepenthes require a certain amount of patience and dedication to grow.

I have a N. hamata the size of a dime... I just have to wait, wait, wait wait. But I'm more than happy to!

San Diego is not really the worst place to grow Neps. I mean look at thez, and as RL mentioned, Nepenthesaroundthehouse, both grow beautiful Nepenthes in San Diego.

If you're impatient or having difficulties, I would suggest growing a lowlander like N. rafflesiana or N. ampullaria inside of a terrarium, they generally grow really fast compared to most other Nepenthes.
 
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Nepenthes are long-lived plants that don't really start to take off until they reach adulthood. I've been keeping Neps for seven years and my biggest, healthiest plants are only just now beginning to show their full potential. Bear in mind that most little terrarium-sized rosettes are still in their infancy.
~Joe
 
SD is the one of the best places to grow plants (non-CP, and CP), of course including neps. Depending on your growing conditions, a given species may grow fast or slow. Once you provide a nep the optimal growing conditions, it grows super fast. With little equipment, most neps can grow well outside. SD's weather is very suitable to grow highlanders. Almost year around sunny days allow neps to grow robust and colorful. I grow all my HL neps outdoor. To keep humidity (you know, SD is pretty dry), they are put in a big plastic box, embeded in moss. They receive the direct sunlight for about 4 hours per day and the temperature is completely controlled by the weather.

The following link has my growing environment for neps:
http://icps.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nepenthes&action=display&thread=4096&page=1
 
they are put in a big plastic box, embeded in moss
With the top off, I presume.
 
With the top off, I presume.

Yes, the moss as top dressing, and also fills the gaps of pots (So the humidity generally will achieve about 50%-60% in the direct sunlight at noon). See the pic:

box1.jpg
 
Thats beautiful Zhilin!
 
Have you been to Joel's site? He's in SD and Thez visited him a month or so ago (there's a thread around here someplace).

I have been there but had no idea he lives in San Diego!

Nepenthes are long-lived plants that don't really start to take off until they reach adulthood. I've been keeping Neps for seven years and my biggest, healthiest plants are only just now beginning to show their full potential. Bear in mind that most little terrarium-sized rosettes are still in their infancy.
~Joe

I guess it's the big ones that really get growing then. Most of mine are small. My biggest one was a n x ventrata but I sold it locally for cheap because it was a hybrid (I don't like hybrids too much.) It had 5 basals and vines were several feet long, but it was indoors grown, pretty big when I got it, and in a year and a half grew large.

Many Nepenthes are generally pretty slow growers. Especially compared to most other carnivorous plants.

I've found that (and I'm sure almost every other Nepenthes grower can agree) Nepenthes require a certain amount of patience and dedication to grow.

San Diego is not really the worst place to grow Neps. I mean look at thez, and as RL mentioned, Nepenthesaroundthehouse, both grow beautiful Nepenthes in San Diego.

If you're impatient or having difficulties, I would suggest growing a lowlander like N. rafflesiana or N. ampullaria inside of a terrarium, they generally grow really fast compared to most other Nepenthes.

I'm impatient. All my neps are living. the only ones that have died have been seedlings...but they just halt their growth in the winter, and slow down also in the heat of summer. Spring and fall are their seasons around here.

SD is the one of the best places to grow plants (non-CP, and CP), of course including neps. Depending on your growing conditions, a given species may grow fast or slow. Once you provide a nep the optimal growing conditions, it grows super fast. With little equipment, most neps can grow well outside. SD's weather is very suitable to grow highlanders. Almost year around sunny days allow neps to grow robust and colorful. I grow all my HL neps outdoor. To keep humidity (you know, SD is pretty dry), they are put in a big plastic box, embeded in moss. They receive the direct sunlight for about 4 hours per day and the temperature is completely controlled by the weather.

The following link has my growing environment for neps:
http://icps.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nepenthes&action=display&thread=4096&page=1

Thanks for the link. Most of my neps (6 out of 9, just traded 3 hybrids) are growing in ficus trees. The pots are hanging, and hopefully they will eventually vine their way around and look neat.

I almost like the moss more than the neps!



Well, despite a very low mortality rate, watching all the cuttings I have ever taken grow, and seeing at least one plant really thrive...I've run out of premium space for now :-)) I guess I'll just water the plants in the ficus trees (OH, my ventrosica from Lowes finally put out a great pitcher) and be patient. Hopefully my dews are drosophyllum will amuse me in the meantime :)

Thank you, friends, for convincing me to stick with it.
 
  • #10
Are Nepenthes slow growers for you guys? I'm certainly not very happy with the performance of mine. In a year's time my highlanders don't grow very much!...but they're small yet. I've had two indoors, and they grow quickly compared to the ones outdoors.

I'm thinking of sticking with Sarracenia, dews, Pings, Drosophyllum...maybe Cephs. I love the plants and have room for them to vine but they just don't seem to grow too great in San Diego. :-(

What do you think?

Don't feel bad. I've been growing them for nearly 5 yrs and still have lots of probs with them. It seems my collection goes through 'boom-bust' cycles where I'll have several months of great growth and pitchering, then months of barely any signs of life. What's weird is it hits each plant at different times, so at least some plants are always doing something while others aren't. Ie, my trunc x ephippiatta has been doing great for months, my lady pauline hasn't done squat in that time, but throught last winter and spring it did great. It's just so random and hard to nail down. I guess that's part of the attraction to me though; the challenge of growing these darn things! But yeah they can be frustrating.
 
  • #11
I find that some of my neps grow rather quickly, ampullaria and mirrabilis come to mind, and my faster growing HL neps would be alata and sanguinea.
 
  • #12
Patience

How fast a plant grows is actually a combination of factors....

First off, if it is a plant you pay a lot of attention to and want to see grow, it will take literally forever for it to make any growth at all! :(

Also, time is not a constant as we believe it is, so to measure it as such is not a good way to decide if a plant grows fast or not. You can compare Neps in general to other plants, however a lot of how fast they actually grow is dependent on the conditions you are able to give it. A Nep can be a really fast grower under the right conditions, but can go into suspended animation and stop growth altogether if the conditions are off, so your real focus should be to give them the best possible environment, as anything less can slow them down dramatically. :down:

Personally, if you like Neps, try them. Some people here get great growth, but their plants refuse to pitcher. In that case, what's the point? Might as well grow a coleus or something! If however, you have patience and other plants and hobbies to use up more of your time, then your plants will grow pretty fast, especially if you don't have room for a large plant! ;)

An expensive plant will likely grow slower than a common cheap one, which is one of the reasons why it is common and cheap in the first place. (Which is a bit more factual then saying that the plant in any collection most likely to die, will be the one you paid the most for!)

If you are still concerned about having a Nep that grows fast, realize that as I mentioned already, it depends a LOT on the conditions you have it in. It is hard for me to suggest a specific plant to you, as your environment is likely very different than mine. Also, different Neps will respond quite differently to your unique environment. So if one type doesn't do well, it doesn't mean all Neps will. Even reading about them and their generalized environmental needs (highland, lowland, intermediate) won't be the same in terms of growth for every plant in each category.

Besides, if you think about it, it really isn't so much about how fast a plant grows, it is how GOOD it grows! If a nep of mine got one new leaf every 6 months, who cares just so long as the pitchers last a long time, it pitchers well, is very healthy and looks fantastic in the process!

I used to have a Nep that grew a number of yards long in a years time, however it didn't always pitcher and it was a real hassle to have to prune it back... it got unruly and messy looking rather quickly, and I would have rather had a slow growing Villosa, so long as it grew nice large and gorgeous pitchers on it! Now that is a plant worth growing!
Someone else even mentioned about how a pot full of normal Sphagnum moss nicely growing looks better then a pot full of Neps, when they aren't pitchering or doing anything other than looking like any other "green house plant"!

Think about it a bit. In my opinion, it is not how FAST it grows; it is HOW it grows, that counts!
:woot:

I know this isn't the "opinion/advice" you were hoping for, but having grown CPs and other plants for as long as I have, I now value things differently, and see things in a vastly different way than I did when I was just beginning.

Growing Neps or other plants may be frustrating or difficult, but like any other plant, the rewards are worth it for those who love growing them. We are their caretakers, and we thus have a responsibility to give them the environment they want and need.

When we do our job well, we are rewarded by their thriving. And there is a vast difference between surviving and thriving... yet so many people are content to have plants that are just surviving, as it is a lot less work. Thus they never know the real joy of putting in the dedication and work necessary to get their plants to truly thrive. It may be more work, but ask anyone who does this and they will tell you, its absolutely worth it!
Again, good luck to all who want to grow plants they don't currently have, and don't give up unless you know you won't (or can't) give them the care they need. And even if you don't have the time, space or patience for them now, doesn't mean you won't in the future. Growing challenging plants can be one of the best experiences life has to offer! :boogie:


Good Luck and most of all, Good Growing!
:water:
 
  • #13
I made a thread a while back about Joel's house...he's actually not in S.D. but a good 4ish hours north, so it's just a little bit chillier - here is the thread: http://terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124665 ..He can *only* grow highlands/uhls and some cool-intermediates outside, but the definitely warm-growing intermediates and l/l's are inside at his place.

I grow everything exclusively on my balcony in San Diego and while I've had to give some away because they really did absolutely nothing for me in a year (burkei...glabrata...a small rafflesiana...forget what else), the rest sort of chug along slowly and angry at the low humidity. I can't spray them every day because of the H.O.A., and honestly I'm too lazy for that. Maybe if I get myself a house with a yard I might put up a greenhouse, but as it stands...they're doing OK. They have smaller pitchers than you'd expect from a plant the size all my plants are at which I think is from low humidity, but I'm OK with that because any pitcher is a nice pitcher to me! You can tell that like...macrophylla is hating the humidity in my pics - here's a pics thread of mine for the month with random stuff that doesn't look too bad this time of year: http://terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125077
 
  • #14
Nice Pics and nice pitchers Thez!
That is what makes this hobby fun! :boogie:
Happy plants!
 
  • #15
I made a thread a while back about Joel's house...he's actually not in S.D. but a good 4ish hours north, so it's just a little bit chillier - here is the thread: http://terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124665 ..He can *only* grow highlands/uhls and some cool-intermediates outside, but the definitely warm-growing intermediates and l/l's are inside at his place.

I grow everything exclusively on my balcony in San Diego and while I've had to give some away because they really did absolutely nothing for me in a year (burkei...glabrata...a small rafflesiana...forget what else), the rest sort of chug along slowly and angry at the low humidity. I can't spray them every day because of the H.O.A., and honestly I'm too lazy for that. Maybe if I get myself a house with a yard I might put up a greenhouse, but as it stands...they're doing OK. They have smaller pitchers than you'd expect from a plant the size all my plants are at which I think is from low humidity, but I'm OK with that because any pitcher is a nice pitcher to me! You can tell that like...macrophylla is hating the humidity in my pics - here's a pics thread of mine for the month with random stuff that doesn't look too bad this time of year: http://terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125077

This is my problem: My area seems to be better suited for growing cacti than neps. I live inland, 40 minutes from the ocean. Joel seems to have much more humidity at his place and cooler temps. Probably not far from the sea?

Mine just don't do extremely well. They grow slowly, but do grow. If I lived in Lemon Grove or La Jolla I think I'd have a great time with neps. But yet they are still kindof small. My nepenthes ventrosica is doing the best of all of them. I got it in our equivalent to a death cube last year, and mature pitchers are coming now and it's growing a basal...its outside. But, it still has a vine only 1/3 of a foot long...and I've had it for a year! I got two sanguineas last year also in a trade. They are comming along, just slowly...1/4 of a foot vine each. My neps grow, but just not fast like the ones I've kept indoors. So, it seems since they don't grow really well here, I just shouldn't put emphasis on them. I'm going to keep them, however!

Of course if I wanted to grow them inside it'd be great! But where's the fun in that? How can you grow a largevine to any size indoors...especially since I don't have much natural light in the home.

---------- Post added at 06:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:29 PM ----------

Did I mention all my neps pitcher regularly? They just do so ssslllooowwwlllyyy.
 
  • #16
High temps?......well, sounds like you should switch over to lowlanders, they will grow fast in your temps.....gonna need to find a way to raise the humidity though.
 
  • #17
High temps?......well, sounds like you should switch over to lowlanders, they will grow fast in your temps.....gonna need to find a way to raise the humidity though.

Great! They'll do very well in the summer and die in the winter. We can get frost here.

I've come to the conclusion that nepenthes do not grow well in my area of San Diego. They grow, but not well. Therefore, I will just keep some to have them, but I'm not going to focus on them.

I've visited mid-california, and by the cost arournd santa maria and a little higher...Oxnard, neps should grow well...highlland neps. Looks just like the photos of their natural habitat.

Yes, neps can thrive here if grown in a cooled greenhouse....or a heated one. Take your pick of highlanders of lowlanders. But this is impractical.

I live in a meditarranian climate. Things that grow well here are South African dews, Austrailian dews, Drosophyllum, sarracenia, probably cephs (haven't tested it yet) vfts, warm temperate things, mexi-pings, and of course--cacti.

Helis, neps, highland utrics, and probably things I'm forgetting don't grow well if just put outside without any microclimate. Doesn't mean they don't grow.

Lets just say it's a good thing I love the desert, since that's almost where I live. Our natural vegitation is costal scrub--inland shrubbery with cactus mixed in. I grow 6 species of cactus that grow naturally in my area! And there are more I don't have. Just cuz I want to talk about them, there are these succulents that are winter growing here. They die back in the summer, and emerge in the winter. It's really cool. I live very close to a large colony...the colony is right between a road and a park on a slope. Right in the middle of developement. But it disappears in the summer, to reappear in the winter. They can be grown all year round in cultivation.


I probably sound pretty silly to all you folks growing neps up north and such, but in all honesty, I like things that grow well where I live...when left to their own devices for the most part. :blush:

No, I'm not getting rid of my neps. I'm going to let them grow and just keep observing them. Meanwhile I'll admire my dewy pines :-D
 
  • #18
That's really cool actually.

I was born in California and have a lot of family around the San Diego area. I really like the terrain there but never spent enough time to really get familiar with many of the native species.

That's cool that you grow the indigenous plants! They are the ones that will grow best. I'd love to see the succulent you are talking about.

But... Your Nepenthes, they wont grow any better if you leave them alone.

I could be wrong, but I do believe that if you just mist your Nepenthes as much as you can, they will respond.

You're right though, your climate doesn't sound ideal.... Neither is mine, so I just stick with micro-climates.
 
  • #19
Joel isn't that close to the coast, but he does spritz down his nep vines and the moss on top of their soil every morning just enough to leave them slightly damp all day long - with all that foliage, it bumps his local humidity so his back yard is effectively a nep micro-climate. My plants...they're all like 4"er rosettes, so 1/4 of a foot of vine is actually a lot to me. And I had a jacquelinae live through a couple days of 100 degrees and come out of it with just a little deformed leaf, but it's still alive.

I agree with Dex, if you mist them daily in addition to your watering schedule, they will do infinitely better.
 
  • #20
That's really cool actually.

I was born in California and have a lot of family around the San Diego area. I really like the terrain there but never spent enough time to really get familiar with many of the native species.

That's cool that you grow the indigenous plants! They are the ones that will grow best. I'd love to see the succulent you are talking about.

But... Your Nepenthes, they wont grow any better if you leave them alone.

I could be wrong, but I do believe that if you just mist your Nepenthes as much as you can, they will respond.

You're right though, your climate doesn't sound ideal.... Neither is mine, so I just stick with micro-climates.

I would like to know what the succulent is, personally. I just went exploring today and found another colony of cactus. Besides the non-native plants, almost all the cacti seems to be growing on slopes (probably because all the good land has been developed). I found 4 types: succulent, cholla, small barrel cactus (only 2 :-(), and of course prickly pear. These pears had short thorns...maybe there were two species actually. There were some really large specimins of the mentioned plant and lots of seedlings. I took one of the little guys home.

Joel isn't that close to the coast, but he does spritz down his nep vines and the moss on top of their soil every morning just enough to leave them slightly damp all day long - with all that foliage, it bumps his local humidity so his back yard is effectively a nep micro-climate. My plants...they're all like 4"er rosettes, so 1/4 of a foot of vine is actually a lot to me. And I had a jacquelinae live through a couple days of 100 degrees and come out of it with just a little deformed leaf, but it's still alive.

I agree with Dex, if you mist them daily in addition to your watering schedule, they will do infinitely better.

Ok. I may mist them...but maybe not in the winter.

And I totally over estimated the growth. the small ones only got 1 inch taller and the medium one 2 inches.
 
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