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Hydroponic nepenthes

I rooted a tip cutting from an N. gracilis "Dusky" early last year, and left it in the cup of water. It grew bigger and better than the other cuttings (in part because of an inadvertent drought), and i finally potted it. The root system was pretty impressive. I am, again, amazed at the robustness of gracilis. Photos

Anyone have good luck growing other species in just water?
 
I've heard of rooting it in water, but i know of no one who has grown it in water. I'm sure it would cause root rot though.
 
Actually, i was reporting on successfully growing N. gracilis in water. (Hydroponically was a bit inaccurate, as there was no substrate. Perhaps emmersed is the proper word.) If you look at the link you can see the roots that formed during the time it was growing in water. It was in only water for more than 9 months.

Obviously any highland species would rot with this treatment, but i imagine there are other lowland species indigenous to swampy areas that would probably do nearly as well. I'm tempted to try it with a cutting from my N. mirabilis echinostoma, as i think it hails from such habitat, as well.

There are some advantages to growing in water, assuming the plant will tolerate it. No soil-borne pests, less chance of drought, no need for guessing at a mix for the soil. And, it seems to enhance pitcher size- i imagine that the complete lack of nutrients in the substrate encourages large pitchers to compensate. I will try putting micronutrients into the water next time to see how this effects the growth and pitcher formation.

So, anyone else try this? I think someone else had mentioned it awhile back.
 
i tried that with some sundews and it did fairly well for some months before the crown was immersed and it rotted
 
Maybe i'll give a sarracenia a try. Purpurea seems to be a good candidate, it's not top heavy, so it won't submerge. When it goes dormant, the water covering it will be like snow in it's habitat.
 
Make sure you keep the water well aerated with a pump or something. I dare not think what would happen if they sit in stagnant water for too long...
I too will try this method to grow certain weedy CP from cuttings.

Amori
 
aslong as it was rooted as a cutting in the water i dont see the problem, infact it may even work with highland plants. i dont think it would work for hardly any by unpotting it and washing off any soil and putting it in water though. i think its worth a try on most any species as long as you can justify taking the cutting for an experiment. there are a number of plants that will rot in constantly wet soil that actually do quite well growing on only water.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]aslong as it was rooted as a cutting in the water i dont see the problem

the moist area is just asking for a fungal infection. nice, warm place to multiply, expecially if the cell wall is breached
 
its not that big of deal. i have started many cuttings in water and grown quite a few different speces in water, all non-CPs. some of these species will not stand soggy soil for very long but do quite well grown in water as long as there is no soil.
 
  • #10
Interesting. Give a drosophyllum a try!
smile_m_32.gif


Maybe to root some cuttings next time, i'll put the hormone in some water, and root the plants in there, or maybe not even use the hormone...
 
  • #11
Well technically many cps grow in water. They just happen to be on sphagnum mats:)
 
  • #12
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]its not that big of deal. i have started many cuttings in water and grown quite a few different speces in water, all non-CPs

yes and iv grown a succulent that way. but that is still asking fo a infection, and theres no way you cant say thats not risky for infection
 
  • #13
I grow some ultricaria that way! Ultricaria gibba! (hahahhahahahahahaha)

Well i have heard of some interesting plants growing as aquatics. Like D. capensis.
 
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