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Upper pitcher question

well, basically i would like to know if there is an average height for when Nepenthes start to vine and produce uppers.
ive noticed that for example, my Sanguinea's pitcher have become more narrow near the base and wide near the peristome which also increases in its thickness.
do the lowers start to show change as the uppers get near?
like an in between sorta pitcher?
the wings on it seem to be decreasing in size but its growing at such a rapid rate....2 pitchers have started forming this month...and its doubled in size since i received it.
 
neps also have an intermediate stage. For "MOST" neps, you can use the tendril as a guide. In lower pitchers, the tendril attachment is such that the mouth of the pitcher faces the tendril. Neps in my experience, show an intermediate stage when the tendril attachment is on the side. You can actually notice changes in shape to the lower (as you mentioned) in these pitchers. These pitchers are produced for a very intermittent period of time before the full blown uppers, where the pitchers are "for the most part" mostly funnel shapped and held in a position such that the mouth faces away from the tendril.

So a short answer to your question: YES! Intermediate pitchers are the stage in between lowers and uppers. These however, are produced in very small numbers and mean that you are at the dawn of upper pitcher production.
 
yay...ill post a picture really quick to show you what i mean
its not as orange as the others buti trust with time it will darken. but the attachment is on the side as you said before
NSanguinea4-30-08002.jpg
 
negative. sanguinea for me seems to be a species that ALWAYS have these side tentrils. the way the orange form works is that once it gets to full size with 9-10in pitchers. it will start to vine. yours is what i would call "teenage" thats how mine looked last spring. it will eventually put on a huge growth spurt and youll see the increased size in pitchers. once it vines the pitchers get smaller and smaller and less colored. with tendril placement behind the pitcher. mine has just started showing signs of vining on this leaf. the internode length is now 1in.

hope that helps.

Alex
 
Thats the reason I said "FOR MOST NEPS". I never had experience with sanguinea however, my miranda showed these as it started making its upper pitchers. For neps like aristo, talangensis, as well, the tendril attachment is on the side for even lower pitchers. So yeah.....it depends from species to species.

THe internode distance isn't also a SURE SHOT way to tell if a nep will vine. FOr instance...look at the jamban. I remember Tony once making a post showing his jamban on pitcher plants board and asking about even small plants having long internodes.

For the most part, its a number of slight modifications in the plant which you will notice as it gets to its full size to tell ya that upper pitchers aren't far behind.
 
Does a Nepenthes grow faster in the vining stage or does it keep growing at its normal growth speed?
 
My experience with N. sanguinea is that the lowers can get quite big and showy and seem as though they might be uppers. However, when you really get uppers, I think it's more obvious. My plants have recently grown much larger and are in a bit of a pitcher stall it seems. However, I've noticed that the leaves, while longer and heavier than before, seem to be suspended up at an angle as though the plant intends to support a weight with them. Additionally, internode length is increasing and the immature pitchers are showing large, distinctive lids before inflating or elongation of the tendril. All of these behaviors are new and quite distinct for these individuals. I'll try to take some pictures soon so you can see what I mean.
Put your plant in a larger pot. It looks like it's getting beyond juvenile stage and it would probably appreciate room to grow. I've seen really dramatic growth spurts in most of my plants by moving them into 10"x10" net pots and moving them out of my terraria. So far I've only tried plants that are getting large and have hardy foliage, but I recently put some hardened off N. lowii seedlings into one such net pot and they actually seem to be doing quite well.
~Joe
 
My N.Sanguinea has the tendrils like your SirKristoff it has around 4 of the kind of pitchers. When do you suppose it will grow uppers?
 
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