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! 🙂
Sarracenia “Pink Eye”
Here’s the little greenhouse frame to the left. I plan on making this a Nepenthes house, as well as maybe a place for cuttings or other things that would appreciate higher humidity. Maybe throw some Heliamphora up in there too. It’s so great to have this micro climate inside The Asylum. Nepenthes will be another genus that I’ll be exploring in the not so distant future! (Yeah, there goes my savings…) I’m glad that I have space to grow them now at least. The one thing that still needs to be worked on here is that sprinkler system. You can see the PVC pipes on the table, but those are linked to another water system that’s pretty high in PPM, and not on the standard city water that’s clean. This system is automated and fully programmable as well, which is a very nice plus for me!
Before I can do any covering here, I must clean up those weeds! To the right, you can see some of the weeds that have been growing under the benches. Gotta clean that outta here! Not just because I like to have stuff clean, but it’s for good growing hygiene. Those weeds are mos ‘def fugly and make my growing experience fugly-fied! They have the potential to harbor pests and diseases. In fact, there was still some whitefly on a few of those weeds! Dahlia and I spent a good part of the other day pulling these things. And HELL NO I don’t want to use Round Up cuz that stuff will jack your lungs – especially inhaling that stuff in enclosed spaces. After we pulled as much of those weeds out, I went back in and sprayed an organic weed killer used inside and along the footprint of this greenhouse. For weed control, I’ve also heard that vinegar works wonders, so that’s something that I’ll play around with in the future. I’ll have to continually keep the weeds in check, but it will be worth it to get this all under control. Oh, weeding is just one of the joys of gardening. Good times. After we get this cleaned up, I’ll start to trim the plastic and get that up and over the house!
