Nepenthes Advice?

[Christopher Howard]

Howdy everyone.

I've been succumbing to buying some new non-succulent/cactus plants lately for inside the house, and one that I decided to get is a Nepenthes plant in a hanging basket.

I'm wondering if anybody on here has experience growing them and if they could tell me what potting substrate these plants will do best in. This forum seems to have some of the most experienced growers I've found online so I'd really appreciate any help I can get.

I'd like to get it into some version of my inorganic/non-peat based mix if I can since it seems everything I grow does better when their roots can breathe. But I wonder about these plants.

My trust is in you. Thanks for any help.

[Bruce]

I know nothing about these. But if nobody here has any real experience with them, I suggest going to http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/tropi ... lants.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. The folks over there are as friendly and helpful as they are here.

[Christopher Howard]

thanks a bunch Bruce, I'm going to check that forum out.

[BarryRice]

Heh heh heh. I know a thing or two about carnivorous plants....

[Gary]

I'm no expert but I've grown a couple of "Neps" in coco husk mixed with orchid bark, I kept them moist but not wet. They need lots of light. Anyhow, talk nicely to Barry, he's your man for carnivorous plants. Good luck.

[Christopher Howard]

From taking a quick look at that forum, I had decided to put them in a mix of long fiber spaghnum and fir bark. I'm hoping it'll do the two plants some good. If anyone advises against this for whatever reason, I'd appreciate the words. Otherwise, thanks everyone for chiming in and helping me.

[BarryRice]

What species or hybrid is it? These plants are usefully broken into two (broad and partly overlapping) groups based upon elevation: lowland and highland. The former like it hot, the latter like it cool. You'll want to give the plant very high humidity, no matter what, or else the pitchers won't form.

[Christopher Howard]

The plant didn't come with any i.d. of any sort. It just came from the hardware store so I imagine if there is a most common plant seen in cultivation, this would be it. I'm not sure what defining characteristics say which of the two types this one would be. Here are a couple pictures if this could help you at all. If not, I could try to provide you with other information.

Thanks.

[BarryRice]

Looks to me like N. X ventrata (= N. ventricosa x alata); a good plant to start with.

[Christopher Howard]

Thanks Barry. I'll do my best to keep it alive. I'm beginning to look into trying to keep a Sarracenia as well if I can manage it.

[Saxicola]

Get Sarracenia purpurea. That species grows into Canada and can probably survive your winters. At the very least it can be in a cold porch or the garage in the winter. I'd wait until next spring to get one so that it has a full season to adjust to your climate before dormancy.

Carnivorous plants are pretty easy to grow. They just need the exact opposite watering pattern of cacti. Except for Nepenthes (and a few other oddballs) the rule is to soak them in a tray of (purified) water at all times. Never, ever let them dry out or even partially dry out. Again, Nepenthes doesn't work that way, but it still needs a lot more water than cacti.

[Christopher Howard]

Thanks, Sax. Sarracenias are pretty unique plants. never thought of them as living outside here, but it sounds like an interesting idea.

[Saxicola]

The US has the most genera of native carnivorous plants of any country if I remember correctly (Sarracenia, Drosera, Dionaea, Utricularia, Pinguicula, and Darlingtonia) with three of them ONLY found in North America. Certainly you can see more genera of carnivorous plants in one place than anywhere else in certain spots in the South (except Darlingtonia I've seen all of those together in one swamp in North Carolina). I'm pretty sure that there are still native stands of S. purpurea (along with a couple species of Drosera) in Illinois. You might want to try to find out where one is and take a trip to go see them next summer. There is nothing like seeing "exotic" plants in the wild to give you an appreciation and understanding that these things really do exist in nature and don't need us fussing over them to do well!

As for Neptenthes, I've seen them in the wild in Thailand. I was surprised at first to find they are kind of a weedy vine that you only see in very exposed, sunny areas that can get quite hot and dry. Not in lush rainforest like I imagined.

Carnivorous Plants were the second group of plants that I became interested in as a teenager (the first were roses), and were really the group that helped make plants my "life" (I am a plant taxonomist by training and now have a small C&S nursery). Of course it helped that the guy with the largest collection of these plants in the country lived 10 miles from me when I was a kid!

[BarryRice]

If you do grow S. purpurea outside, make sure you get the northern subspecies, subsp. purpurea. This is hard, as most growers sell the southern subspecies (venosa) which has larger pitcher bodies and is easier to grow.

A good place for you to see a bog, and native pitcher plants, is Volo Bog. Google it for info.

[Christopher Howard]

You might want to try to find out where one is and take a trip to go see them next summer. There is nothing like seeing "exotic" plants in the wild to give you an appreciation and understanding that these things really do exist in nature and don't need us fussing over them to do well!

As for Neptenthes, I've seen them in the wild in Thailand. I was surprised at first to find they are kind of a weedy vine that you only see in very exposed, sunny areas that can get quite hot and dry. Not in lush rainforest like I imagined.

Carnivorous Plants were the second group of plants that I became interested in as a teenager (the first were roses), and were really the group that helped make plants my "life" (I am a plant taxonomist by training and now have a small C&S nursery). Of course it helped that the guy with the largest collection of these plants in the country lived 10 miles from me when I was a kid!

Thanks for sharing your experience Sax. I'm also quite partial to roses. Always nice finding people whose sentiment for plants I share. Most people despise the moments I start to bring up plants.

If you do grow S. purpurea outside, make sure you get the northern subspecies, subsp. purpurea. This is hard, as most growers sell the southern subspecies (venosa) which has larger pitcher bodies and is easier to grow.

A good place for you to see a bog, and native pitcher plants, is Volo Bog. Google it for info.

Thanks for letting me know about that area Barry. There's good fishing up in that area too.
A sidenote- I just returned from the library and while there looked in the catalog for any books in the system about carnivorous plants. Found one written by someone with a familiar name.