Variegated Nepenthes gaya

[D_muscipula]

I just wanted to share some pictures of my variegated Nepenthes gaya. It's extremely rare. It's a mutation resulting from tissue culture. I've been growing it a few years and it seems stable. It has produced a basal and the basal isn't variegated. I'm wondering if I should remove the basal so it doesn't sap energy from the main growth point, what do you guys think?
Hopefully soon this plant vines for me and I can take some cuttings. I would love to make this plant common and widespread in cultivation.
Does anyone know if tissue culture can be done to mass produce variegated plants or is the only method of propagation through cuttings?

 

[andynorth1962]

From my understanding, as long as you have really good parent plant(s) TC is best way to mass produce.

 

[Grey Moss]

Introducing nepenthes tissue back into tissue culture has gotten easier but is still not easy by any measure. The most sucessful methods I've heard of use fairly nasty compounds for the sterlization. If you're determined to do it I know Florae has done it for at least a few species.

 

[D_muscipula]

Introducing nepenthes tissue back into tissue culture has gotten easier but is still not easy by any measure. The most sucessful methods I've heard of use fairly nasty compounds for the sterlization. If you're determined to do it I know Florae has done it for at least a few species.

Thanks for the lead. I should contact them once my plant starts to vine.

 

[bluemax]

In my somewhat limited experience growing Nepenthes I don't see basals as sapping the mother plant. They seem to kinda pull their own weight. I do wonder if that basal will change color when it matures. Was your original plant small and did it show the variegation it now has when you first got it?

 

[D_muscipula]

In my somewhat limited experience growing Nepenthes I don't see basals as sapping the mother plant. They seem to kinda pull their own weight. I do wonder if that basal will change color when it matures. Was your original plant small and did it show the variegation it now has when you first got it?

No it wasn't small when I received it. The last photo I uploaded is about 2 years old and shows the plant when it first arrived after I potted it up. It's the photo where there's not any red colouration on the leaves.