BugBiter's Jungle Tent

[BugBiters]

There is....a lot in here, but mostly nepenthes, along with a few orchids, bromeliads, etc tucked on a shelf, and moss beds full of various sundews. All my nepenthes are in net pots with hooks so I can move them freely around the vertical space. It has taken a bit of shuffling to get everyone at a light level they are happy with but I really like the system so far.

Can't get over how fluffy this little N. ventricosa x hamata has gotten.






N. x Song of Melancholy will always be the star of the show in my opinion. These underlit pitchers are turning out strangely neat.



Wish list plant I only just got - so happy! N. (veitchii x lowii) -red x burbidgeae




I am really hoping my N. spectabilis (Bandahara x Sibuatan) "Satin" will flower again soon. She is tetchy, but so lovely.

N. veitchii (Gunung Murud striped x candy striped) "Vanity"


N. veitchii babies getting very big. I have about a dozen types of seedlings going (mostly hybrids) but these are my chunksters. I really wish I hadn't managed to fry a bunch with a timer malfunction last week.

 

[BugBiters]

N. platychila x vogelii "Posh"




N. (lowii x merriliana) x [(veitchii x maxima) x veitchii] "Lustre"



N. boschiana x (maxima x ((stenophylla x lowii)x(Rokko x veitchii) "Barbarian" will change quite a bit as the peristome rolls back



N. veitchii (Gunung Murud striped x candy striped) "Vanity" getting some lovely shape



N. glandulifera x edwardsiana starting to show cute little red teeth

 

[Gadz]

Looking great, thanks for sharing.

 

[BugBiters]

Thanks so much! I can't take credit for breeding any of these guys (hopefully that's next) but I am having a lot of fun growing them out.

 

[adnedarn]

Plants look good! How big is the tent and what light are you using? Anything for humidity or just residual?

 

[BugBiters]

Plants look good! How big is the tent and what light are you using? Anything for humidity or just residual?

Thank you! Far too small for the number of plants in it, heheh. I am going to need like 8 of these soon. The main section is 3'x3' and there is another 1' section of shelving I tend to use for sales/youngsters/iffy plants/etc.

The humidifier sits in the back, and is just a water reservoir, an ultrasonic misting head, and a fan. We did 3D print a little "float" for the mister so it would go up and down with the water level. There is also an air filter feeding clean air into the whole tent, so it does take some constant fiddling to keep everything balanced. The tent is solidly intermediate but I do get a ~10 degree temperature swing at night just from the light turning off which seems to keep most things happy.

The light is an "Apelila" 2500W full spectrum with veg and bloom settings. It is NOISY but works great (after a little extra waterproofing) and is pretty cheap. It is a little strong for the plants on the top row, and the ones on the bottom get a bit shaded out, but after a lot of shuffling everyone seems pretty content (for the moment).

All the plants are in net pots with hooks, so I can rearrange them pretty easily until they get big enough to start tangling, and they're pretty resistant to my chronic over-watering.

 

[BugBiters]

Pop! N. veitchii 'Bareo.' This is my only squat striped veitchii; my seed-grown tend to be long-bodied. I am also running out of names that start with "V", and my little seedlings aren't even grown....



Speaking of - look at that pitcher jump! N. veitchii (Gunung Murud striped x candy striped) "Vortex" hid this against the back wall and I missed it until just now. Starting to look a lot like sibling "Vanity".



I love this plant so much. Older pitchers on seed-grown N. boschiana x [maxima (stenophylla x lowii) x (Rokko x veitchii)] "Barbarian". The huge basal I pulled off it a few weeks ago has already rooted and I am just trying to decide whether I have space to grow out two of them - the thing is a monster. It already needs a whole wall of a tent but is politely tolerating being awkwardly squished in a corner for now.

 

[Gadz]

Nice! Those veitchii look great. It really does take a lottery to get the super squat super striped from seed. Barbarian is very nice as well

 

[BugBiters]

Nice! Those veitchii look great. It really does take a lottery to get the super squat super striped from seed. Barbarian is very nice as well

Thank you! There does always seem to be a trade-off. I have squat ones, striped ones, and ones with beautiful spiked peristomes, but none with the trifecta quite yet yet.

 

[Gadz]

NTM the setup is wild. Do you like running a single fixture or are you thinking of splitting into multiples to keep from cooking the top ones? I love that you hang net pots instead of shelves looks like you can get more plants per sqft and it is closer to what some of these would experience in the wild. I am interested in your float contraption also. Thanks

 

[BugBiters]

NTM the setup is wild. Do you like running a single fixture or are you thinking of splitting into multiples to keep from cooking the top ones? I love that you hang net pots instead of shelves looks like you can get more plants per sqft and it is closer to what some of these would experience in the wild. I am interested in your float contraption also. Thanks

I have definitely thought about squishing a second light in there, but I think it would probably have to be suspended underneath the first one or they would push too close to the edges. I may even end up setting up some shade cloth along the top long-term.

I really like suspending them, and the chains are working great (it was rope originally, and there were obvious issues with that). I can move plants up or down depending on their preferences, and the lower levels stay moister too, so it's perfect for ones that lean lowland down there. It's very water-conscientious since they all drain into each other, which is nice on one level but it's also something to keep in mind from a disease and fertilization perspective.

My humidifier is due for a full clean (it grows algae and all sorts of weirdness) but hopefully you can tell how it works. The actual fogger head is an AGPTEK Aluminum Mister, and it sits inside a net pot zip tied to the little float we printed for it. I can share the files if anyone's interested but we had to make a couple of modifications post-print, too. It should be pretty simple to make something similar out of styrofoam or a bottle.

 

[BugBiters]

The stripes didn't get as dark on this pitcher off "Vanity" but I love the red tinge at the edges.





I didn't get to this pitcher of N. thorelli x veitchii 'candy' - "Taffy" before the lid wilted, but I think the colors on it are wild. It is also putting out my beefiest pitchers at the moment, and the leaves are hot pink too.

 

[BugBiters]

It has been an interesting few months! Most of the collection spent two weeks camped out in the desert with me during a mandatory wildfire evacuation, which they did not appreciate. I lost a few favorites including my fanciest veitchii but it could have been much, much worse. I just wanted to give a shout-out to both @Acro and @ilbasso, who have been super generous in our recent trades and helped fill out my slightly decimated garden again. I will be a much happier camper in the spring because of you guys

 

[Acro]

I just wanted to give a shout-out to both @Acro and @ilbasso, who have been super generous in our recent trades and helped fill out my slightly decimated garden again. I will be a much happier camper in the spring because of you guys

Glad we could do "business"! lol It was fun "talking" and I'm super happy with our trade!

Also, If you'd like some veggie seeds (for free) let me know. I'll ship them out to you to help round out your spring garden. (Actually, if anyone needs some free veggie seeds, message me!)

 

[Nepenthes101]

WOW!! Your garden is looking great. lots of beautiful pitchers there. Once I get my males in flower, I'll keep you posted and if you need any pollen when that time comes I'll gladly send you pollen.

 

[BugBiters]

Glad we could do "business"! lol It was fun "talking" and I'm super happy with our trade!

Also, If you'd like some veggie seeds (for free) let me know. I'll ship them out to you to help round out your spring garden. (Actually, if anyone needs some free veggie seeds, message me!)

Thank you so much! I definitely might hit you up once I figure out what I am going to try and defend from the chipmunks this year. We can't really plant here until June, though, so you have a while -.-

WOW!! Your garden is looking great. lots of beautiful pitchers there. Once I get my males in flower, I'll keep you posted and if you need any pollen when that time comes I'll gladly send you pollen.

That would be awesome. I think I will have the perfect amount of pollen for this one flower, but I have a feeling the next plant to go will be my spectabilis female and then I will be scrambling again!

 

[Nepenthes101]

Thank you so much! I definitely might hit you up once I figure out what I am going to try and defend from the chipmunks this year. We can't really plant here until June, though, so you have a while -.-



That would be awesome. I think I will have the perfect amount of pollen for this one flower, but I have a feeling the next plant to go will be my spectabilis female and then I will be scrambling again!

I have some really nice males here that I hope flower soon. I have Mixta x Maxima x Veitchii x Northiana x Veitchii, I also have Spectabilis x Talangensis x Truncata. My male Lowii x Veitchii x Burb may also flower soon as well. The Male Tenuis will be a while. Hopefully he flowers at the same time as my female Tenuis though. I'll be sure to save you pollen when they flower for me.