My new cp

Tsmola · May 6, 2004

well, here is the vft and Nepenthes I got from the Meijer I work at last night. I took the vft out of the package it was in and put it on one end of the windowsill and the Nepenthes on the other, what would be the best lighting for them right now? this window is facing the south, should I find another window? also I should put the vft's pot in a tray with distilled water right? what about the Nepenthes? I don't think I'm going to re-pot them because they both look pretty happy in those pots to me

thanks for the help guys, I aint gonna fail with these plants this time

the vft, I'm glad I got one with some nice reds in it, I hope it comes out in more of the traps soon

the Nepenthes, I think one of the newly developing traps actually grew a little overnight because it looks bigger today than it was last night!

thanks for the help guys, I'm actually going to get to enjoy keeping plants like this this time around thanks to this board

Spectabilis73 · May 6, 2004

Hey,

The VFTs look great! Don't look like they will need re-potting this year.

Your Nepenthes will... It looks like its in a 4 inch tall pot, filled purely with peat. I got one exactly like that from OSH the other day, only it was alot smaller, and the pitchers were blood red. So you have Nepenthes ventricosa. (I would be saying the red form if it was a little redder, but I guess time will tell if the pitchers redden up

)

Anyways, re-plant the ventricosa in a 4 inch pot. A good soil mixture is:

1:1:1:1/10
Peat//Pumice//Long Fibered Sphagnum

You can substitute the Pumice with some Perlite.

wow... GRASS!!! I see grass out the window in the first nep picture!

(grass is very, very rare here in california

)

EDIT: There might be a chance its N. x ventrata

Tsmola · May 6, 2004

thanks for the advice, I have no idea what the Nep is potted in, but I'll do that, here's another pic of it while I'm at it

rattler · May 6, 2004

as a general rule CP's like as much light as you can give them, especially if you want them to get red. im not sure what type of Nep that is but it doesnt look like my xVentrata but mine was a cutting taken from the top part of the vine so its producing upper pitchers and i have yet to see what a lower looks like. anyways ive noticed humidity is a big key for most Neps to produce nice pitchers. so a tray of wet moss would probably be a very good idea. good luck and welcome to the forums and the start of your new addiction.

Rattler

Tsmola · May 6, 2004

is indirect sunlight ok? that's the kind of light that comes in through this window most of the day, although there is time when some direct sunlight comes directly through this window. I found I still have half a gallon of distilled water I bought for mixing chemicals for my photography class the past semester, should I put the vfts pot in a tray of it? if so, how big a tray and how much?

rattler · May 6, 2004

honestly ive never tried to grow them on a windowsill, but lots of ppl on here have and do with good results. they will prolly give you better answers. i grow all my CP's in a 75 gal tank with 4 ft shop lights thats horibly over crowded at the moment. im in the process of designing a 4ftx4ftx12ft long grow chamber for my cp's and orchids, i told you its an addiction

Tsmola · May 6, 2004

ok, thanks

our house has been infested with ladybugs and it caught one earlier today and I didn't know aobut it, I read in an earlier thread it kills the trap, I hope that isn't true, it got caught in the biggest trap with the best coloration

kendogg · May 7, 2004

Yes I heard ladybugs kill traps as well, probably in the same thread you are referring to. However im not sure what truth that holds. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Tony Paroubek · May 7, 2004

Deffinately N. Ventrata. Keep it pretty moist but not sitting in water for long periods. Good Nepenthes for trying on a windowsill. South or West is fine with a few hours of sun and bright light the rest of the day. It may take some time to adjust and make new pitchers but if your house isn't too dry it should pitcher without too much problem.

You could repot it although it is probably ok for a little while. I don't necessarily think it is too small for the root system but you will have to keep an eye on it, so it doesn't dry out. Which can happen very quickly on a warm windowsill when the plant is pulling lots of water out of the soil.
Tony

pond boy · May 9, 2004

Yes, ladybugs will ,in my experience, kill the traps of vfts. So it is best to avoid ladybugs as plant food.

Stevie D · May 9, 2004

Lovely looking VFTs, Tsmola. Look at the red flush on those beauties! Only problem I would probably guard against is lack of humidity, what with it being an indoor environment.

Last year, I had 4 VFTs that were growing in front of a large, south facing window which serviced them with direct sunlight throughout the day. They only really started thriving, though, when I put them in terrariums I made from 5-litre bottles you get mineral water in from the shop.

Tsmola · May 9, 2004

they are all doing pretty well, the trap that caught the ladybug doesn't seem to be doing too bad, and I already know things have improved for me because I can see the new traps growing, something that never happened for me when I kept them a long time ago. I got home and there was a fly buzzing around the window so I put it in one of the traps, stupid fly ha ha, it was halfway out and escaping when it closed on him

pond boy · May 10, 2004

I`m glad to hear they are doing well for you

Tsmola · May 11, 2004

bad news, my cat was playing with the vft and knocked it on the floor it feel and a bunch of the traps got mushed flat and a few got broken, what do you guys think? what should I do? leave it? or should I do something with the busted traps?

jhaluska · May 11, 2004

[b said:
Quote[/b] (Tsmola @ May 11 2004,2:46)]bad news, my cat was playing with the vft and knocked it on the floor it feel and a bunch of the traps got mushed flat and a few got broken, what do you guys think? what should I do? leave it? or should I do something with the busted traps?

Just remind the cat that it can become plant food.

If they traps are broken off, try to put them in the soil and see if they take root, otherwise do nothing. If it is green and attached to the plant it will help it photosynthesize.

Jason Wong · May 11, 2004

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Just remind the cat that it can become plant food.

LOL!

Welcome to the forums, and bwt, nice plants dude!

(especially the VFT (species?) ) The neps look healthy, in this case most neps will pitcher quickly and look like they've grown themselves a distinct bit over a short pperiod of time. Once my 'mad' pitchering gracilis, as I call it pitchered so ferociously fast one day that I didn't even recognize one of its pitchers!

Jason