Neps for Small Spaces

[Acro]

Neps for Small Spaces (With Photos!)

Think of a one-room studio apartment in the city, a small office in a tall building, a cramped college dorm room, and the Tiny-House Movement!
Now you are ready to think of Neps for Small Spaces. In this thread we are looking for plants that:

1) Have small leaf and trap size.
2) Basals easily and/or have rosetted type growth habbit.
3) Can live by the light of a window or desk lamp.
4) Does well at "room temperature" (I do not specify a temperature range, as not everyone suck in an office or dorm can control their AC).
5) Can live in the low humidity of a building (with a water tray and proper watering techniques).

Bonus) Add a photo if you have it!

Please keep in mind that compact plants are desired for this list, however small leaved plants that are prone to vining should be added, as there's often available real-estate above a window for vine growth, if set up properly.
Also, it's known that pot size, growing media and fertilizing techniques (or lack of fertilizing) can possibly "dwarf" some large neps, but this is not the focus of the thread.
Lastly, there is much information in books and websites, however this thread is mainly for sharing your experiences and knowledge. Please remember that everyone will have different results, as we all have different growing conditions.


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Now, to get things moving, I'll add my experience with N. maxima 'mini'!
1) My plant has leaves that are about 8" in length. The traps are about 3.5" from top to bottom.
2) It basals often and after about 2 years in my care, has not started to vine.
3) I grow it under a standard desk lamp and it receives a little indirect light from near by windows and my aquarium.
4) The AC blows in the spring/summer and the heat blows in the winter. The temp in my place stays around 72 to 80 (because it's horribly insulated), but half the time I don't think the number is accurate on the thermostat anyway.
5) My N. maxima 'mini' sits in a water dish and there are 2 large aquariums in the room. I figure there is decent humidity, however I have never checked the exact humidity level.

Here are some photos.

View of one side (sorry for the glare, the lighting wasn't best for taking photos).

View of other side (color is much better in real life).

Largest pitcher in comparison with my finger.

Any questions about my plant? Ask away!

Now add your experiences with a 'Nep for Small Spaces' to the thread!

 

[SFLguy]

Someone told me that Nepenthes gracilis(?) could be kept compact, basals often, and can tolerate indoor conditions. The "black" form also makes very nice pitchers

 

[nimbulan]

There's always Nepenthes (s)lowii. Also there's a thread on the forum about possibly the slowest species out there, N. clipeata. I wouldn't worry about conditions too much until you get into the known picky species like N. edwardsiana, N. villosa, and the like.

 

[Dexenthes]

I'm a huge fan of N. glabrata x aristolochioides and N. singalana x hamata. They both seem to stay very small for a long time.

 

[hcarlton]

Someone told me that Nepenthes gracilis(?) could be kept compact, basals often, and can tolerate indoor conditions. The "black" form also makes very nice pitchers

The black or dark purple forms (I have several from seeds) do require fairly high light to maintain their color however. And, while gracilis is considered a "diminutive" species, its vines can get huge; my Bukit Barisan plants are producing vines that are probably exceeding 8 feet in length at the moment. They do basal readily and so theoretically they could be cut back on a regular basis, but that could have to be done every few months.
Other "small" plants, like the miniature maxima forms, are a similar story; they can be kept fairly small for an extended period of time, but the vines can eventually reach several feet in length. Species that are all-around small that would supposedly work for such cramped conditions don't like room temperatures etc. like argentii or campanulata.
N. ventricosa can actually be a good candidate because it can be heavily pruned and kept small, and of course is very tolerant of wide conditions. [MENTION=10989]nimbulan[/MENTION], the reports I am hearing suggest that, other than liking fairly high light levels, edwardsiana is a plant that can be grown in nearly intermediate conditions and is nowhere near as fussy as its villosa relative.

 

[nimbulan]

Ah that is interesting. I've read a few places that N. edwardsiana is fairly fussy, though it's expensive and not very common so I suspect that most people just aren't willing to experiment with it. I forgot my grain of salt!

 

[SFLguy]

The black or dark purple forms (I have several from seeds) do require fairly high light to maintain their color however. And, while gracilis is considered a "diminutive" species, its vines can get huge; my Bukit Barisan plants are producing vines that are probably exceeding 8 feet in length at the moment. They do basal readily and so theoretically they could be cut back on a regular basis, but that could have to be done every few months.
Other "small" plants, like the miniature maxima forms, are a similar story; they can be kept fairly small for an extended period of time, but the vines can eventually reach several feet in length. Species that are all-around small that would supposedly work for such cramped conditions don't like room temperatures etc. like argentii or campanulata.
N. ventricosa can actually be a good candidate because it can be heavily pruned and kept small, and of course is very tolerant of wide conditions. [MENTION=10989]nimbulan[/MENTION], the reports I am hearing suggest that, other than liking fairly high light levels, edwardsiana is a plant that can be grown in nearly intermediate conditions and is nowhere near as fussy as its villosa relative.

Seeing as how op said they were also looking for small leaved plants that are prone to vining, I figured that wouldn't be much of an issue. As for lighting, if it's a south facing windowsill it should get enough light to color up at least a bit.

 

[hcarlton]

I guess it depends on what you consider small leaves then (yeah, I'll admit I missed the note about vines). N. gracilis leaves can exceed a foot in length (mine do), but that is on the larger end of the scale; pitchers can be up to 6-8" in the largest forms.
If small leaves but long vines are okay, look into the gymnamphora/pectinata complex, or some of the compact mirabilis or Indochinese species (which might push it but possibly doable).

 

[Bluemoon99]

My seed-grown N. gracilis has stayed pretty small in terms of pitcher size and leaf length, though I've only had it for a year. It did fine on an east-facing windowsill and even pitchered during the winter (min temp of 60F) and produced basals readily. I'm not sure if it would do well given these conditions for prolonged periods, since I grow mine outdoors for most of the year.

 

[Flip_Side_the_Pint]

N. campanulata is also another great candidate for compact growing. I'd consider it truly compact and diminutive in its growth morphology. I always thought it would be cool to have a terrarium with just camps in it. However given the parameters that you have stated its probably not the best choice unfortunately. Unless you're willing to provide it with a small terrarium or chamber. I don't think a campanulata would lend itself to windowsill growing. The plants the previous posters listed would be good choices since some of them are hybrids.

 

[Gregbey]

I think nepenthes gaya could be a good candidate as it seems to thrive for me regardless of conditions

 

[bluemax]

Wow! A nearly 6 year jump into the present! Good information often remains as such despite changes in technology and availability of species. I would like to nominate N. glabrata. It produces small but very pretty pitchers and can be grown as a small plant. However, I recently saw a photo of one that reached from the main bench into the rafters and beyond of the greenhouse it was grown in. But it might be easier to keep small than most and is enjoyable when it is.

 

[hcarlton]

I would not recommend glabrata, partly because yes it is a far larger plant than people realize (my adult vine is 7 feet tall and it grew most of that in the past year, and didn't have uppers until it was over 3 feet straight up) and it is fussy about needing high humidity and cool conditions, which can be tricky to get both properly in a small space and not end up with condensation sitting on the leaves all the time or temp-shocking the plant with rapid fluxes.

 

[bluemax]

It does seem to like lots of humidity.

 

[BugBiters]

N. lavicola is kind of in the same boat. Lovely mini, perfect for someone with a...damp, chilly house?

 

[TheLastAdept]

N. Bellii might be a good candidate, as it's supposed to stay small.

 

[Acro]

I love it when a thread I created gets brought up again. The topic is still relevant!

As for vining, as mentioned in my original post "small leaved plants that are prone to vining should be added, as there's often available real-estate above a window for vine growth, if set up properly".

. . .perfect for someone with a...damp, chilly house?

That made me LOL!