Carnivorous plants

[kak1]

Hornet you are quite right an RO unit is what is required and an RO unit is what I was suggesting but I did not make that clear. I love my RO unit and wouldn't go with out it. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Radar]

I just found out that my missus's workplace discards hundreds of litres of RO water every day. They use RO to gain salt from sea water to use in their marine tanks, then pump the RO water back out. *Sigh*. Wish I had known this earlier, lmfao. Time to build a pipeline across town to our house....

 

[AUSGECKO]

This is my ventricosa when I received it 2 days ago.

This is the same plant today

Some of the leaves and pitchers are browning off and dying, it is getting around 4 hours of direct sunlight a day and is sitting in about 1.5 cms of water at all times.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Or should I pop him in the freezer......

 

[hornet]

It would have been crushed in the post so some die back is normal, along with the stress of conditions changing i wouldnt worry, it should come right

 

[Radar]

Trim the dying pitchers off. If the leaves are lighter and yellowing out compared to what they were the other day, cut down the intensity of the sunlight (use some shadecloth or put it in dappled light) as it will be getting photostressed. Nep's don't really handle drastic sudden changes in conditions well, if the place you got it from raised it under shade in a greenhouse and it's gone straight from that into full sun it will stress it. Also, maybe don't sit it in the water, just water it daily, constantly sitting them in water can be no good for them.

I know there are others on here that know more about them then me, so if that's rubbish advice feel free to say it, lol.

 

[AUSGECKO]

Cheers, thanks guys

 

[hornet]

Nope rednut is right, cut off dying leaves and pitchers and put it in partial shade for a week or 2 ,then full sun. They dont need to sit in water like other cp's. You can do it but dont sit them in too much water, only 5-10mm

 

[kak1]

Yes Rednut is correct with everything he has said. I wouldn't sit it in water but instead water it as required. Let us know how you go.

Kak

 

[AUSGECKO]

Thanks for your help guys, it sux being a noob at something again. It's out of the water, out of direct sunlight and dead/dying pitchers gone. Fingers crossed, if it doesn't pull through i should still have plenty, I went nuts on eBay and now I own close to 200 seeds for 10 species

 

[kak1]

Geck you will get the hang of it real soon and then you will be addicted . Once neps head to their new home they can at times go a little backwards. In time though they do acclimatise and particularly easy to grow species such as ventricosa will do well in most situations.

You can gradually introduce the ventricosa to brighter light as they do enjoy this. Mine for example grows well in the front garden under one of my palm trees where it gets a huge amount of sun. Placing it under shade cloth will certainly help. If you can get as much info from the grower as possible on how they have grown the plant in question when you make your next purchase that will help acclimatise the plant. I hope this helps.

 

[Jumala]

Kak - that is a very nice plant that's for sure!

Farma - well my want list is huge lol .... a good dark albomarginata would be a nice addition for starters .....

Well the cutting experiment is still going .... there are no real changes but they haven't died yet which is a positive lol.

I'm always on the lookout for plants lol it's never ending. I will get back up to the nursery in Kuranda one of these days and will come back with new babies .... Just need more money - nothing unusual there

 

[hornet]

Went to Big W today and they had 5 nepenthes in stock, must have only came in over night as they wernt there yesterday. Anyway they have Miranda, Gothica, Gentle, Jungle Bells and Red Dragon. My missus was nice enough to shout me one so i got a N. miranda, very nice plant, nice shape and color to the pitchers and nice large broad leaves. Anyway i did some research and found out some interesting info about its parentage, its thought to be a natural hybrid, N. x mixta. I found that quite an interesting fact. The other thought is its N. x mixta x maxima. What ever it is the maxama influence is very obvious and its an amazing plant. Will get pics tomorrow

 

[Radar]

Must go check out Big W now, lol. Would be the first time I've seen them in department stores up here. Seedlings like the bunnings ones?

 

[hornet]

nope large(ish) plants, will snap a pic now

 

[Jumala]

mmm sounds like a plan for going to Big W provided the trucks made it up here ok .......

 

[hornet]

here are some pics of the Nepenthes "Miranda" i picked up for just over $16

 

[Radar]

Not bad, that's about the size mine was when I got it a few seasons ago for about $25 at the local nursery. Will have to keep my eye out and get to them early before they go downhill in BW's care, lol.

 

[AUSGECKO]

That's awesome hornet, I wish I could find a BigW down here that has a gardening section.

 

[Jumala]

that is a nice little plant when the Big W here had them I opted for the smaller plants because I wanted Miranda and Alata Lantern lol. I think the little ones were $6 :? can't remember .. I'm going to have to expand the guttering system at this rate lmao!!!

 

[AUSGECKO]

I found this sad looking N tobaica x ampullaria at a local nursery today for $9.00 I still have to clean it up a bit.

Do you think it is worth repotting it? I have sphagnum moss, perlite and propagation sand.