Potting up an unknown nepenthes cutting of mine

[Spectabilis73]

Hello,
I have an unknown Nepenthes cutting I got at the raffle at the november BACPS meeting, it's rooted now, and ready for potting up.

all I need to know is, how, and what soil?
Thanks in advance
-Spec

 

[swords]

Since you don't know exactly what it is I'd say go with pure LFS til it grows some pitchers and you can figure out what it is and whether it may like more peat or more drainage (bark). My chosen medium for rooting any neps or orchid divisions is LFS as it retains moisture without restricting airflow. Customizing can come later on. Many times pure LFS suits neps just fine and that's how I leave them to grow.

Depending upon how much the roots on your plant have been manhandled you might fare better dividing it into 3 leaf sections and making more than one plant out of it. Some plants don't mind root disturbnace others seem to pout for months on end afterwards.
Sometimes (depending upon the species or hybrid) making new plants out of the dormant nodes is quicker than acclimating a full plant to new conditions (both my maxima X ?? hybrids grew better from cuttings than the whole plants did)

hope this helps some!

 

[Spectabilis73]

ok, thanks! Yeah, that's me, I dip it in rooting jell every week, and mess with the roots so they stick out of the jell, and I broke off an entire root almost!!!

Nah, I'll just leave it as one cutting, took like 3 months for it to root in the first place, and don't want to see it sitting in an ugly peanut butter jar full of water, lol!

Does it have to be live Sphagnum moss?

 

[Tony Paroubek]

ummm I must admit I don't fully understand. You have a great picture of a N. spectabilis so you must know how to grow Nepenthes....


Take cutting.. Put in pot. Gently fill with whatever potting mix you use for your Nepenthes and carefully press it down. Make sure the potting mix is moist. Put the plant in a lower light area with higher humidity for a few weeks to settle in and let the roots start growing again. The key to all this is being careful and damaging the roots as little as possible.
Tony

 

[swords]

You don't need to root it in a jar of water. I've never had that work for me where I root in water then transplant to soil so I quit trying long ago.
I get much better results just by planting it in LFS (Long Fiber Sphagnum) it doesn't have to be living. If you are worried about seeing root development, plant it in LFS in a clear container (like a 35 mm film canister or clear deli cup with a few holes punched in the bottom for drainage). This way you will see when the roots reach the sides of the starter container.