Variegation in Nepenthes

[Cunka]

First off, hey all Been a couple years, happy to see some familiar faces still around, I hope everyone is doing well
I couldn't remember the account password at first, and I've been waiting for over a week for my gmail account to get approved so decided to give this account a couple more tries and here I am
Back in the day I lived with my parents and sadly the few CPs I had didn't make it. But, I've had my own place for a while now and recently found it to be somewhat sterile so decided to green it up a bit
CPs were, of course, at the very top of the list (and even after 10 years still feel incredibly rare and hard to get).

But anyway, I got a small bog planter now (I'll make another thread for it), but as things usually go, I got a hint from one of the ladies at the garden centre they'd be getting some CPs a couple weeks back. Years ago, they would usually stock ventratas (and I once came across a 'Rebecca Soper' - beautiful thing, so sad I lost it, amongst other things (Drosera seeds I got from one of the forum members come to mind ).

But anywayy, to my disappointment, all they had gotten was a tray full of VFTs lol. So I picked up a few anyway (I needed some CPs in my life at that point so I was like ty for at least that . and drove to another garden centre where I honestly wasn't expecting to find anything besides Dracenas and ZZ plants. But hey, I figured I had nothing to lose (pretty much had the day to myself for a change so decided to do some irl browsing. Lo and behold, I was greeted by Stelitzias nicolai and a shelf full of Nepentes ventratas (labeled as Monkey Jars - some Dutch company, they have a facebook page with some very nice Neps for those in the EU that might be interested and have the means to arrange an order from a garden centre *fingers crossed I manage to do the same with one of these two*, but one step a time).
Anywho, to the topic at hand. I picked up a ventrata that looked to be in the best condition/the one I was "drawn to" although they all looked in virtually perfect condition.
So I got home, hung it on a wall mounted lantern on the terrace and forgot about it until it was watering time two-three days later. And then I saw it. Variegation. On a Nepentes.

The growth point:


I'm not sure what happened to the deformed leaf tip (I'm going with transport damage). The pics are around two weeks old now and that leaf pushed out all the way (blackened out a bit but might even pitcher) and the newest leaf is already about 10cm long and looking perfectly healthy. Can't wait for it to unfurl and see if the variegation is still present.
There are two plants in the pot, only one is showing the signs of variegation. I did think mosaic virus at first, but I googled it and this doesn't look like it. I wouldn't be entirely opposed to having a TC mutation.

But it gets better. I found a Slovenian garden centre with a Croatian webshop (I'm Croatian) that I ordered some Sarrs from. Looked around for a bit and noticed they offer a couple of nice Neps but they were all out of stock so I subscribed to all of them lol. And last week they got a Nepentes 'Gaya' and a Sarr I didn't have so I jumped at it.
I opened the box and was like Wait.

The pitchers are normal (the ventrata also has normal baby pitchers - the exact same chain garden center at another location had the same ventratas but a bit bigger and fully developed adult pitches but I had already bought mine -.-. Although I won't mind if it keeps the variegation haha):

The newest leaf reddened up and seems to have lost just about all of the variegation (you can just barely see a small splotch at the very bottom of the leaf). It's a tiny little thing, barely 10 cm tall. I have it in my living room atm next to some Alocasias (got a grow light coming in this week hopefully) but I'm not entirely sure it will be enough for it to keep the red coloration in the leaves but we'll see. Two Sansi 22w bulbs but they'll be hanging from a shelf up above and the nep is right next to to the TV way down below so it won't be getting that much light. Or it might, I dunno

But yeah, is this a normal thing with TC grown plants or did I just insanely luck out (assuming they keep the variegation and don't grow out of it)? I should probably repot them too, they're both in pure peat atm with Gaya having a strand or two of sphagnum wrapped around the root ball. Neps just scare me though I also ordered their premade mix for CPs, looks pretty drainy so it should be okay but I'm just scared of transplanting them :S

 

[bluemax]

Welcome back to TF! I don't have any ideas about the variegation, though I do think it's cool, but I would suggest that when you transplant you raise the humidity levels for a month or so, keep the soil very moist but not in standing water and have the plant in appropriate lighting. 'Works for me, at least.

 

[Cunka]

Thanks Yeah I'm not entirely sure about the variegation either, although I wouldn't mind if it stayed. I'm not usually exactly a fan of white variegation (but I do enjoy seeing light and dark green combos on a plant). And thanks for the advice about the humidity. I'll be sure to give them a spray once or twice a day plus what they'll be getting from being surrounded by other plants. I do have a grow rack idea cooking in my head but that's ways off. I'll be happy to just keep them alive at this point.

 

[EndyW]

That's a beautiful splash of white on the leaves. In the past year or so, there have been a lot of sales claiming variegation on a TC'd St Gaya. It's unclear how stable the variegation is as it hasn't been around long. You may have received one that wasn't showing enough for them to try to jack the price.

Nepenthes variegation is very rare. It is usually seen as an uncommon side effect of TC that the plant grows out of in the first 2 years.

 

[Cunka]

Yeah, looks like the (St.) Gaya is already growing out of it. Shame though, the three variegated leaves it has are gorgeous imho. Fingers crossed for the ventrata though. Ty Endy, I reckoned it was something along those lines.