Making the most of office space

[adnedarn]

Nice, glad to hear you're happy with their progress!!

 

[bluemax]

I totally get how one would want their workspace to be orderly but if my growing areas had to be neat and tidy I would be completely shut down.

 

[adnedarn]

Yes sir! My grow spaces are definitely not. I prefer the jungle over serfectly separate plants growing straight up. Tracking down what Nep a flower is from can be a challenge.

 

[LeafKirby]

Update time. It's a MESS.

Had to repot the Nep, which is slowly becoming too big. It basically takes up all the space in the glass now. Not sure what I'm gonna do about everything else.

My D. binata changed to a multi form immediately after being repotted. Very strange.

 

[adnedarn]

I think all D. binata looks like t form when young, so it probably just matured. I recently picked up one that's supposed to be T form, we will see!!!

 

[LeafKirby]

I've clearly bitten off more than I can chew with this Nep. I've had turn 3 sides of its tank into reflectors using aluminum foil to keep it at that 3000+ lux. D. adelae is suffering and could use the extra light. The other two plants have been moved to the windowsill to fend for themselves.



That said, I'm still thinking about getting more plants haha. Maybe Cephalotus for something smaller? Hopefully it'll be able to have its own lights. Probably a few pygmy sundews too.

 

[bluemax]

As we all know, small collections of plants tend to get bigger with time.

I'm of the opinion that D. adelae is at its best when grown in lower light. The leaves get big and wide and plants can be pretty impressive, looking like ground-hugging regias with wide leaves. I've seen the "giant" form plants get to larger than a foot across without being flimsy or weak-looking. The big ones get cool wavy margins on their leaves.

 

[LeafKirby]

This adalae had pretty much no growth, so this was a bit of an emergency light fix.

If/When I do end up getting Cephalotus, I'll probably room it together with the adalae and just keep on culling the clones. I do have space for one more tank at my desk, but I'd rather save that for a VFT or Heliamphora.


My next update will probably be a month after everything recovers and I buy something new. It's been a surprising little the challenge. I've even given a few clones to coworkers.

 

[LeafKirby]

Time for an update! Seems like my nep is about to outgrow it's tank, despite growing in suboptimal conditions with little to no food. Not sure what I'm gonna do.



VFT is fine.



Binata actually died back to the roots a month ago and bounced back. Probably helps that it has unlimited fungus gnats to eat.


Adelae and a utric in a beer mug




This Ceph that I've wanted. Heliamphora next?

 

[LeafKirby]

Update time. Poor binata kept dying back to roots due to some water issues and my VFT has been propagated and gone into dormancy. I think I need to trim back the Utrics as they seem to be overcrowded or something. New giant tank for the Nep haha.

 

[LeafKirby]

Mini update since I just noticed this. Is this a from a broken root during repotting? It's definitely going to be a space issue if I keep it haha.

 

[hcarlton]

Nepenthes don't bud from roots, but the base of the stem. Repotting may have triggered it by altering hormone flow from the main stem, or if the main stem has gotten long enough or bent down far enough hormones won't reach the base to prevent node development.

 

[LeafKirby]

Nepenthes don't bud from roots, but the base of the stem. Repotting may have triggered it by altering hormone flow from the main stem, or if the main stem has gotten long enough or bent down far enough hormones won't reach the base to prevent node development.

Thanks. that makes way more sense. I'll see if I can break it off in a few months and maybe give it away.

 

[hcarlton]

Only if you root it afterward. Basals use the same root system as well so it would just be a fresh cutting at that point.

 

[adnedarn]

OR! Since size is an issue for you, let the basal get quite established then you can cut off the main vine (and root it or whatever you want) and let the basal become the new plant. It seems the plants that I keep the basal and chop the vine become... how would I say... more robust? Than the prior vine.

 

[leck7S]

OR! Since size is an issue for you, let the basal get quite established then you can cut off the main vine (and root it or whatever you want) and let the basal become the new plant. It seems the plants that I keep the basal and chop the vine become... how would I say... more robust? Than the prior vine.

Agreed with this, its my favorite way to 'restart' a plant.
I dont however find it to become more robust, just a different growth habit, as its starting from rosette instead of vining.

 

[adnedarn]

Yeah, they'll go back to lower pitchers vs uppers. You don't find the new vine (when it happens) to ultimately be thicker than the original vine?

 

[leck7S]

Hmmm I dont think so. While its true that the basal starts off thicker, when it gets to vining again it kinda 'stretches' and thins back, at least in my experience.

 

[FrankenSnyder]

A good idea. I had a friend tell me that he almost completely cleared his house of fruit flies by growing a D. binata "giant staghorn."

Nice to have such dewtiful plants.

 

[LeafKirby]

Utric in a clear plastic container was a bad experiment/idea. Sorry haha