Hello my name is tamlin

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

I avoided them for years, decades, because I knew what would happen. Then came PFT with friends sending cuttings. It started slowly. At first I just put the little cuttings in with my Drosera species. No problem, right? Next I received N. argentii as a gift, found out what they cost {{{THUD}}} and began to study the genus in ernest to try to not kill it (it's growing very well&#33

I began to take an interest, and the Neps came marching one by one, two by two, and yesterday I accepted another growers collection in stewardship until he can again grow them. I had to empty out an overflow terrarium of Drosera to accomodate the plants: rudely exiling the surplus droserae to less ideal conditions. I look at the terrarium and my eyes glaze...the hands shake. Now I daydream of N. hamata.

There is no cure for this, is there? My buddy Phill Mann will be pleased, no doubt. This was his plan all along...I see this now, but it is too late. Must get another.......just one more Nep!!

S-s-s-so please understand if I come shamelessly begging at your door, trying to trade off my rare droserae and other plants!

 

[pthiel]

Ha Ha Ha - It was only a matter of time, they are insideous and will eventually take over your entire household, pushing aside things like your furniture and family, taking over the air conditioner, consuming vast amounts of electricity and generally making your life wonderful. Then when your favorite plant (grown from seed and babied for years) develops a fungal infection, you will do without rest, food, and ignore all other aspects of your life to sit by it's potside trying to nurse it through, if the unthinkable happens you will hold a wake and talk about the good times, put in a small plant cemetary in the yard, little pitcher shaped headstones. It is a fun and worthwhile hobby.

Welcome to the other side...


Cheers

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Hmm.....maybe i'd better put locks on my Nepenthes if you're going to come and visit me Tamlin!

just kidding!

Glad you're coming to OUR world now.

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

I can almost promise not to uproot your hamata and stuff it down my pants, almost.....and I am coming to visit, just can't say when. I appreciate the invite though!

 

[swords]

Neps are my favorite carnivores but they are a double edged sword of pleasure and pain, especially growing them indoors. The pleasure is looking at all the beautiful pitchers and seeing just how easy it is to grow these "impossible" plants so long as you follow the rules: bright light (I've never owned a nep who didn't appreciate bright light, even the "lowlight" growing ones really perk up in bright light; i.e. northiana & ampullaria), correct temps, 80%+ humidity and feeding of the pitchers. I use live-frozen crickets and then defrost them in a bit of R/O water and squish them a bit with the forceps just before I let them drop into the pitcher fluid. I also use1/4 strength Urea Free orchid fertilizer every other weekends pot flushing.
The pain is that if grown well, most grow fast (especially lowlanders) and must be constantly pruned to keep them inside a terrarium. Starting with smaller plants 3" increases the length of time you don't have to prune but my Bical went from a 6" plant to a 30"+ plant since June!That includes an accidental decapitation in september which set it back a bit. I wonder what I'll be doing with this beast in another six months!
Don't try hamata or other true highlanders til you figure out a workable nightly cooling & humidity plan-hamata demands 80% humidity or it will snap it's lids shut faster than you can snap your fingers (well not really). I reject the idea of shuttling plants to and from a mini-fridge because I know for sure that I would not do it every night, no matter how motivated I am in the beginning. For cooling I use an AC in the summer and a fan sucking air from the window in the winter and it's keeping things cool (there's a bigger description of the cooling & humidity setup in the "any large hamata owners" post below). Living in NY this should work for your climate as well should you choose to try it.
This is a great time to get into Neps too cos of all the fantastic species that are coming out in the next year, many of which have only been grown for a very short time in cultivation.
Now they just need to get N. klossii out there! I'm willing to brave the head hunters for it Rob, lets go!

 

[GEORGE-CP]

hey Tamlin, welcome to the head hunter forum. no really welcome. yes, it does get old moving them back and forth into a mini-refrig at night but, the real test for me is how they do while i'm vacation. sitting out w/ no proper night temp. but, it is cold enought down here to leave them out over night. and getting only sun light. boy living in florida is great for growing Nepenthes perfect climate.
i guess i just couldn't keep out of the nepenthes forum that long it does get addicting

 

[Borneo]

Ohhhh Tamlin, be careful!  It sure is an addiction.

20 years ago I didn't know what a Nep was, until I crossed the road one day to take a closer look at a strange plant growing in a ditch (in Brunei) and look what's happened to me!  I used to be an engineer.

N. klossii would be worth losing a few heads over I guess.  What's really exciting about jungle trips is the ever present prospect of stumbling across something unique.

By the way Tamlin, if your N. argentii is growing OK, what's your secret?  It's turned out to be the most difficult Nep we've ever tried here.  We have a few, and they appear healthy, but so, so sloooow.  Hence the whopping price, we just can't produce them in any quantity yet.   They're even slow in sterile culture where they're supposedly being supplied with all the right nutrients and conditions.  They come from such a bleak inhospitable environment, where almost nothing else grows, that the trick for them may be just to keep going rather than try to outgrow other vegetation.  They flower when they are only about 8" high.  Once they're above the level of the moss they grow in, they're exposed to full tropical sun high altitude  This is a condition difficult to replicate artificially without drying out too much.

Hey, you've got good friends if you get N. argentii as a gift, or perhaps whoever gave it to you wanted to present you with a real challenge!

 

[Joachim]

Hi Tamlin,

welcome to the Nepenthes forum! - Nice to see you having your comming out on Nepenthes

Already back in June I had contact with a guy starting to get interested in these plants...

But well - I have to admit - that by now I check my two climbing tuberous Drosera (menziesii and auriculata) on a daily base at the moment!

Joachim

 

[Stefano1]

welcome to the nep club.

1st time i got one i just knew i had to get more

 

[goldtrap2690]

so your lookin for n. hamata , theres a place called south carnivores that was seeling them for 105 bucks plus shippin from australia but then there is another place called exoticaplantsplus that seels them for 50 but I think it is better to find a person in this wonderful forum that has a cutting or extra plant they are willing to trade .

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Hi goldtrap, most people would NOT cut thier N.Hamata unless they had a vining one and a few of the plants. Hamata is quite pricey but I must say it doesn't take long to save up $50, so I would say buy an established plant and have the joy of watching one grow.

 

[Kim]

Well, I don't know what to tell you Tamlin, but at this point, you are probably as goofy as the rest of us. Most nepenthes aren't hard to grow if you have a decent environment. I feel a bit happy I am in Hawaii, as it makes things a lot easier than playing the terrarium game. All that being considered, I wish you the best of luck and many pleasant days tending your nepenthes family. Aloha from Hawaii.

Kim

 

[Stefano1]

dude

where do you get your cash then

50 bucks is impossible for me to get.

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Stefano, it's called saving.

 

[Stefano1]

yes, i dont have a job, my allowance is 5 bucks a week


im saving up for a wetsuit rashguard so im not freezing when im in the water,


i havnt gotten a new plant since............ early june


i have lost the feeling of the surprise like OMG MY NEW PLANT CAME, i always waited for mail man to come and say nono plant today and then one day there it is!, i have lost that excitement,