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First Time Pitcher Owner

Hello Evryone,

I just bought my first pitcher yesterday; a N. Alata(or so claims the sticker). IN the past i have had venus flytraps, some succesful and some failure. the other day was the first time i had seen pitcher in person......they look so wicked! before i bought the Alata i did some research on it. now i have bought it and the care sheet contradict what i had learned. so i will post my concerns and questions and comments on here, until i leave on my church mission, or until it dies.

Well up here in tx it has been in the mid 90's,a nd about to hit the low 100's this weekend. I havea my Alata under our tree in the back. its humid over here and the temperature in the shade is drastically different than in direct sun. i belive it will be ok. In the process of transfering the alata form nursery to house the fluid spilled out, since then i have put a little of distilled water in eatch of the pitchers. the pitchers look wonderful, i hope it continues to thrive. Until the next update!

My N. in their new home!
NAlata1.jpg

A view of the alata and the tree!
NAlata2.jpg
 
that is an N. xVentrata which is a hybrid between ventricosa and alata, really quite an easy plant, how much is your humidity there? if its drastically lower than the nursery you will probably see some pitchers wilt and leaves die off, be careful of that heat too, not many neps, aside from ultralowlanders like it that hot...
 
That's a good looking Nepenthes x ventrata! It's one of the easiest neps to care for, I'd say your conditions look pretty good. I'd see how it does and if it doesn't pitcher maybe consider giving it a bit more light.
 
you've got a hardy plant that can withstand a wide range of conditions. just remember to cool water the roots once or twice a week, and it should be fine.
 
cool watering roots

you've got a hardy plant that can withstand a wide range of conditions. just remember to cool water the roots once or twice a week, and it should be fine.

What does it mean to cool water the roots? ???

---------- Post added at 03:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:14 PM ----------

in the first picture you can see a section of the bottom of the dish that is slightly parted. the nursery said that thats for overflowing water? I specifically read that they dont like to sit in water. should i try to take that thing off?
 
shamuse, i have some nep pots with it on still and some that ive removed them from and i havent noticed any difference in growth for the plants, in a hot climate like yours, a small tray like that will probably be beneficial...
for cool watering i think what he means is taking cool water and watering with that to keep the plants roots cool...
 
shamuse, i have some nep pots with it on still and some that ive removed them from and i havent noticed any difference in growth for the plants, in a hot climate like yours, a small tray like that will probably be beneficial...
for cool watering i think what he means is taking cool water and watering with that to keep the plants roots cool...

cool water it even though it may have enough water? wont that rot the roots if you over water it?
 
nope, if its in a fast draining mix, and if you do decide to get rid of that tray down there, gravity will do its job and the water will run straight through, the media will maintain moisture but wont be soaked, and thats what you want...
 
  • #10
Are you more north or south TX? Huge difference. I'm from Dallas-ish, the mid cities. If you use cool water, you might consider doing so in the evening to avoid shocking the plant during the heat of the day.

As for the water tray, if your plant dries quickly, keep it. If the soil is always a wet mush (I doubt it in TX), trash the tray. You don't want it to ever completely dry out though.
 
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  • #11
i live about 30 min north of dallas in mckinney
 
  • #12
Yeah? My parents live in Aubrey and I grew up in Plano until high school. The DFW area is nowhere near as humid as Houston lol. Keep the water tray. Keep us posted how it goes.
 
  • #13
Update 6/8/10

Alright here we are on week 2. lots of brave insects have fallen victim to the pitchers this week, and i can tell that its growing! some of the pitchers are turning a slight yellow, i dont know if thats normal? I have a pitcher that just POPPED this morning, and one that pretty close to. I have been making sure to keep it waterd, i have since taken out the tray from the bottom so the water can drain. I am debating wether i should fill the newly popped pitcher with some distilled water, it already has a little fluid in it, but i dont think thats enough for insects to drown in. any thoughts? comments?

it popped last night :0o:
100_1179.jpg


Slight yellow ???
100_1177.jpg
 
  • #14
Looks like it's doing great.
 
  • #15
No water. Don't worry about the pitchers, the drier they live in, the less longevity they have. Your plant is doing awesome and the bountiful insects it is catching out there will do wonders for it that none of my plants indoors will get!

Just make sure to take weekly updates so we can see how it's doing but so far looks like you brought home a winner. Just water it once a day and you'll be ok.
 
  • #16
you've got a hardy plant that can withstand a wide range of conditions. just remember to cool water the roots once or twice a week, and it should be fine.

once or twice a week?
does that *really* do anything for the plant?

when you pour cool water over the roots, the roots get "cooled" for about 5 minutes..then warm right back to ambient temp.
lets say you do it twice a week..thats 10 minutes of cooling a week..
out of 10,880 minutes in a week..
which means the cold water is cooling the roots for 1/10th of one percent of the time..

does that really do anything? ???

I would categorize that as a "plant cultivation myth"..much like a humidity tray..

anyone have any data to back it up? (the need/benefit of cool water once or twice a week)
im curious..

Scot
 
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