NOW OPEN! AWWW YEAHHH! I received a rooted cutting of this brilliant Nepenthes thorelii x aristolochioides earlier in September from Nepenthes master, Paul Barden. Check out his posts here and here on this truly remarkable plant. I’m glad that it’s doing well and happy to report that one month later, I finally got one pitcher open with a few more on the way! So excited! 🙂
Tagged aristolochioides, Barden, carnivorous, nepenthes, Paul, Pitcher Plant, Plant, thorelii
So I finally got “The Dome” constructed (a few photos in this post) – the area that will house the Nepenthes, and some other plants — and so far so good. What I didn’t mention to you was that from the time I moved greenhouses, I just kept all the Nepenthes in a large cement mixing bin and kinda just let them hang out in some random corner of the greenhouse. They were doing their own thing this whole time though and when I moved them to “The Dome” (for lack of a better name at the moment), I had a few pleasant pitcher surprises. See, they were pretty crowded and there was so much stuff just going on in the tub that I didn’t really care to pay attention. Kinda cool cuz when it came time to move em, I was pleasantly surprised with some of my findings. Here’s a few photos of what they’ve been up without me really knowing. Interesting stuff! As the collection grows, I’ll update you with more photos. Enjoy!
Nepenthes spectabilis
Nepenthes spectabilis
Nepenthes densiflora x truncata
Some random Nepenthes hybrid – no idea what it is.
Earlier last week I received some new Nepenthes from most excellent Nepenthes guru, Paul Barden! (THANKS PAUL! DUDE — YOU ROCK!) If you haven’t already seen his amazing blog, it would behoove you to do so: Nitrogenseekers.
I do have a few Nepenthes that I’ve kind of just let “hang out” in the garden – and they actually do ok. You see, I live by the coast and it’s very mild here – and quite hospitable for the highland varieties and other plants that like it cool. I haven’t really focused on growing Nepenthes really but now that I have the dome set up, I can explore this genus a little bit more. I am hopeful for these new additions, and will update the blog from time to time showing how things develop. This is just what I need, right? Another obsession in the carnivorous plant niche? (But don’t worry, Sarracenia for me still and will always hold that special place!)
The plants arrived at my door in great condition – packed perfectly! Wrapped in cellophane, Paul’s Nepenthes looked like a shipment of large chrysalises. They contained savage primordial beauties waiting to branch out and consume in their new habitat.
I brought the plants over to the greenhouse and got ready to pot them up. The mix I used was a rough 1:1 ratio of perlite and long fiber sphagnum moss. I thought I had some orchid bark left over, (which I’ve also used in this mix with other Nepenthes) but turns out I used it all up. DOH! Anyway, I hear that this mix should be fine. Paul also gave me the opportunity to practice Nepenthes cuttings on a cane of a N. fusca hybrid. I was directed to RTFM on Nepenthes cuttings here. I am trying one, two, and three node versions and hope a few of them strike and root for me.
Unwrapping these babies! As you can see, they came in EXCELLENT condition. I mean, that pitcher is still looking good after spending a couple days in the box! I carefully removed the cellophane and potted them up hoping and praying that they would enjoy their new home.
Here are the first Nepenthes under the dome! The shade cloth makes it look like a cave in this shot. (Eh, it was getting late here anyway…) Keep in mind that when the sun is overhead, the cloth does a great job of keeping it cool and diffusing the light in there. I know that the house looks kinda empty right now and that’s the sheer beauty of it. Almost like a blank canvas; and I am eager to watch it grow. If you’re wondering, I had extra cement mixing tubs that I used here as humidity trays. I figure a little added humidity wouldn’t hurt these plants as they get acclimated to their new conditions. I also imagine that the extra humidity would be beneficial to the cuttings that I’m practicing on. As I watered the plants, I let the water run down through the pots down into the tray.
I moved the rest of the Nepenthes in, along with a couple Heliamphora and Cephalotus. (I took this photo the morning of the following day, by the way. It looks a little brighter.) It will be a fun journey to see this space slowly get filled up! For now, this is a quick look into the humble beginnings of life under the dome.
Paul – again, thank you so much for your patience and kindness! I hope that your plants make themselves at home here and grow for me as well as they do for you! Thank you! 🙂
Tagged Cuttings, nepenthes, new plants, Paul Barden, shipment, SO RAD, something new, under the dome, unpacking
Nepenthes hamata
Awwwww, isn’t it cute?! Roughly 2 months ago I acquired a baby N. hamata from Drew Martinez (Yo, thanks Drew!) and it’s been doing well despite all of the moving that I’ve recently done. It recently put up a new tiny pitcher and I’m excited to have this amazing plant as part of my humble group of Nepenthes. If you want to see a great example of the adult plant, check out this beautiful photo of Nepenthes hamata by Paul Barden on his blog, Nitrogenseekers. Can’t wait for this baby to start looking like that!
Hope you all are doing well. I grow a few other pitchers outside of the Sarracenia genus. Nepenthes are a very beautiful and stunning genus of pitchers – hauntingly beautiful. I have a few Nepenthes here and perhaps once I get more space and better facilities, I’ll explore and dive into this genus a bit more! Here’s a couple of photos of Nepenthes pitchers for your enjoyment.
Nepenthes densiflora x truncata
Nepenthes jamban
