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N.Rajah

nepenthes gracilis

nepenthes gracilis

Nepenthes Specialist
Anyone have expierence with this challenging plant? I am a Nepenthes Grower and I am scared to try it becuse I am afraid it will die. And there goes my 30-40 dollars down the drain if it does die. I currently cultivate sucessfully N.Ventricosa "Red" N. Spathulata and N.Merrilliana. Soo I may order it next year off a site since you can't order any CP's in winter if I get enough info about it. Like soil,humidity,light,growing space,etc. TRhanks all info appreciated! Nep.G.
 
well, savage garden gives no additional instructions for Rajah that divert from it's normal highlands nepenthes care... high humidity, warm days, cool nights, well draining soil.

Hope that helps...
 
Yep I grow it.. and it is one of the most challenging. It is a very tempermental highland plant and does not appreciate anything but highland conditions.

What's with you cant order cps in winter??? Not all nurseries shut down just because some snow starts flying. I also guarantee plants arrive unfrozen!
Unfortunately it will be next spring before I have rajah established for sale... I got a bunch in recently but they are TINY!

Tony
 
I am interested in growing one next year but I heard it gets large like Merrilliana and it is extremly demanding in Humidity, The nightime temperatur drop and the Well draining soil. What do you think I should do Ram? I don't want to wast 30-40 dollars then have the plant die. Nep.G.
 
I think waiting and letting tony grow them out is a sure bet... I bet he would even hold one for you until you get comfy ordering it if you gave him a down payment or something? (Tony?)

ANy how, personally, I have quite a few nepenthes you know, mostly lowlanders... I am quietly trapseing into highlands, starting with Hybrids, and easy ones to grow, as I don't yet consider myself worthy of something like a hamata, clippetea (sp?) or Rajah... I am not sure I wouldn't end it's life pre-maturely.. I feel I have a lot to learn about these plants still..

So I would work your way up slowly, better to have a couple nice pretty highlanders that are easy to grow than go for the gold and fail completely...

Also, I think your right about size... doesn't Rajah compete with Merrilliana for largest pitcher category? I think there is some confusion over which is larger.

(Note, this is not an invitation to debate the issue!
smile.gif
 
Exactly no debate! I think Merrilliana is the largest in the world and Rajah comes in a very very very close second. Even it can and does catch unfortunate rats Merrilliana pitchers still are larger and have been recorded deep within areas where they grow to catch Monkey that are fully grown. So what other highlands do you think I should start with guys? Tony I will wait a good long 2-3 years or maby if I learn enough over the winter I will oder from you maby. I thought nursiers couldn't ship CP's when winter rolls around. Like the dormant CP's boring in winter. The lowland Nepenthes isn't there a risk of death in the freezzing temps? Highland Nepentthes less risk maby but still a chance of heavy leaf and shock damage. (I don't know I so confused on shipping in the winter. I will wait maby like I said if I learn enough over the winter I will go for it I may if I have some spare room order another Highland. I will check out some sites tonight. Nep.G.
 
Hey Nep G and Ram

I don't think you will have to worry about size too soon, I believe rajah must also come close to holding the record for slowest grower, even in prime conditions.

fatboy
 
Yes it is a slow grower but N.Iowii is even slower. Nep.G.
 
ooo where to start. I do have a wish list for customers for plants that are not available yet but will be in the future. Folks on the list get an email notification when they are ready, before they hit the online pricelist. No I don't take deposits ahead of time. And there is no obligation to buy once the plants are ready. It's a very handy way for me to gage what people want etc since there is a long time between ordering from overseas suppliers to the time the plants are saleable here.

I would agree to start with some of the less expensive highland plants that offer more challenge than what you have now (well ok they won't be that much cheaper but for the same amount of money that you would spend on a very small rajah you can get a decent sized plant of something else. And have a better chance at growing a larger plant). I would suggest (in order of difficulty, more to less) tentaculata, macfarlanei, singalana, and spectabilis.

Tony
 
  • #10
I know that Phil and Jeff also take requests on plants you'd like to have. Don't forget to give them a shot at your wish lists. They can come up with some pretty interesting plants.
smile.gif
 
  • #11
very true... Phil can get ahold of some pretty sweet nepenthes...
 
  • #12
I forgot about that! Phil got me my first ever Merrilliana. I totally forgot about that! I'll take that into mind. I still have my eye on all Nepenthes as they are my primary interest along with Sarracenia but Nepenthes are first. I also have my eye on some websites that I found. I may take considerization into a Rajah after I get more Info. Thanks for so many helpful responses! Nep.G.
 
  • #13
Last weekend I have seen a flowering ! Nepenthes rajah in cultivation in Germany. It took about 15 years for the plant to flower (was a female but there was no male rajah pollen around :eek:( )
Unfortunatly the plant lost all the pitchers during flowering but I have seen some dried ones.
Amazing ! (but they haven't been really big, maybe half of the size of reported big pitchers in nature)

It was grown under "typical" highland conditions.

Some people here in Germany are growing N. rajah without significant temperature drops during nighttime but I have never seen the result with my own eyes.

I have seen some small TC plants "growing" extremly slow under "normal" temperatures inside a terrarium.

I, for myself would rate N. rajah as difficult and very slow !

Even my N. lowii is growing much more faster.

(I must admit that I only own small plants and don't have much experience)

I ! would highly recommend SIGNIFICANT lower temperatures during night. At 20/25°C during summer my plant has grown slower than now 17/25°C.
I believe that 10/25°C would be even better but this is hard to achieve inside a house.

During the end of this summer and autumn I have seen small N. rajah plants growing OUTSIDE (hanging in baskets in an apple-tree) by another grower.

The plants were very hardy but didn't grow fast. (but faster than plants cultivated inside a terrarium under normal tempeartures)

I think that after some accomodation N. rajah can surely withstand humdity drops down to 40-50% during the days (look at the natural habitat !!!!) but nighttime humidity should be surely higher (80% or even more)

just my 2 cents

btw... N. clipeata is a lowland plant ! (can be grown as an intermediate)

My personal list of difficulty for my higland plants is :
starting with the easiest :
alata (maybe ventrata ?), maxima, khasiana, veitchii, inermis, lowii, hamata (only own this plant for some weeks now), rajah, aristolochioides.
 
  • #14
Very interesting Martin! Good job on the plants and info that has helped me think more about getting this gentle giant. Nep.G.
 
  • #15
You might also look into N. mira THere are not many around yet for sale but they are like a small rajah. They seem a bit easier to grow too although still pose a bit of a challenge.
Tony
 
  • #16
N.Mira OK I'll look around. How much do they cost? I don't want to spend more than 20-30 dollar range. So how expensive are they I would also appreciate a cheap site if you know of one. Thanks Tony Nep.G.
 
  • #17
Unfortunately many of the more unusual Nepenthes have been only available from one source. The Nepenthes House (And he does not give a wholesale price/discount for those special plants.. which means retailers have to pay retail pricing) There are other large nurseries that have these plants in production but they are not releasing them yet, in part because the Nepenthes House lets them go often as tiny plants. (the rajah I just got were all under 1" in diameter) The demand is so great the plants don't have much time to get up to size before releasing. Some of the other nurseries like Malesiana Tropical and Borneo exotic will not release tiny plants.. hence the delay. Prices will probably not come down much for a number of years because of the demand and the time it takes to get a decent sized plant. You can order direct from The Nepenthes House without import license and permits since he has a distributor in the US that handles the shipment then forwards the plants on. I think that is the cheapest way to go, however: The plants are often very small and not very established, and there is a delay of 3-6 months usually for the plants to arrive. Dragon Agro and John Kanel both have good pricing in the US but again the plants are small and have only been out of tissue culture a few months before release.

Here are the links for you to check out:
http://206.103.251.171/jdk/JDKretprices8.htm John Kanel
http://www.dragonagro.com/dapcavai.htm Dragon Agro
http://www.wistuba.com/ Nepenthes Nursery

Tony
 
  • #18
I'll check otu allof the sites you listed. That really sucks that those poor plants have been thew so much as a little plantlet. That really makes me mad that they do that to a little plant
mad.gif
Sending it threw all of that shock! I think I'll go for a different Nepenthes Thanks for the sites. Nep.G.
 
  • #19
DOH I should be promoting my own site!! Although I understand that folks often look for the best price, this does not necessarily mean it is the best value. Particularly in Nepenthes when tiny plants recently out of tissue culture require much more care and are much less tolerant to environmental fluctuations. Many folks can't provide the needs of these tiny plants and are much better off buying more expensive larger established plants.

Food for thought...

Tony

ps.. go to my profile thingy if you want a link to my site.
 
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