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Drying/Preserving Nepenthes Pitchers

Just wondering how to dry/preserve a cut Nepenthes Pitcher, I would like to be able to preserve them before they start to die.

Thanks;
Victoria
 
clip em off. clean em out. fill the pitcher with salt. put the stuffed pitcher in a bag of salt....then...wait? i dont know how long.
Alex
 
i just cut mine off and bring them in, sure they turn brown and dry up a bit, but they keep their form and dont fall apart.
 
putting salt acts in 2 ways. drying and keeping the shape. ive never had neps that keep their shape when they dry out...
Alex
 
This is a thumbnail photograph that you can click on to see better. I don't use salt.
I freeze dry my Nepenthes pitchers when the lids begin to turn brown. I just cut them off the plant, wash them out, shake off excess water, and put them in the freezer for 6-10 weeks, or more until they are light and dry.
The first six pitchers have been painted and the others are natural. Some species and hybrids, even different clones of the same type, hold there color and others do not. These are all over 7 years old.



Take care,
Steven Stewart
 
I have one I made 2 years ago.
I did not have silica gel at the time, so I used cat litter (unused). I placed the pitcher inside a glass cup and then covered the pitcher with the cat litter. Place in the microwave for a minute. Allow to cool overnight. Remove pitcher from the glass cup.
To protect it even better I used some epoxy resin and coated the pitcher.
The pitcher still has it's shape and color from the day I cut it off.
 
Alex, what kind of salt? Sea salt or iodized salt? Or does it matter?

Thanks for the pic Steven! Thats exactly what I was wanting to do.

Elgecko, I dont have a microwave, would there be any other way to do it do you think? You mentioned silica gel, is that a different process or just done in the same way as the cat litter?

Thanks for the tips everyone, I am going to try all of the techniques and see which I like the best :)
Victoria
 
formaldehyde :-))
Really maybe it may work ???
 
  • #10
I tried drie freezing pitchers of N. sanguinea, it dind'y worked out very good, they still have their shape, well sort of, but they aren't nice to look at. But once I cutted back my N. ventricosa, I took some cuttings and I threw the rest away in the garden... 2 weeks later I found a perfectly conserved N. ventricosa pitcher...
 
  • #11
i tried putting a N. Miranda pitcher in the toaster oven for over 3 hours at ~200 degrees, it's color was dulled and it's fragile. It retained it's shape well, though parts of it are warped. I don't recommend this method...

I'm wondering if it's possible to preserve a pitcher in a "castin' craft CLEAR liquid plastic CASTING RESIN".
 
  • #12
I always figured you could make a good drinking game out of large nep pitchers....
 
  • #13
There are a lot of florist that do professional freeze drying (also known as lyophilization). If you do a google for freeze dried flowers you'll come up with links like this. Who knows, you may even find a local florest that does lyophilization.
 
  • #14
My parents house is about 40 minutes from that florist haha.
 
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