Look at my baby....she just keeps growing! Does anyone know how to propagate these? I have looked on the internet, some says its hard, others says 'no problem'. I have been to scared to try, but if nothing else, she needs a 'trim'. She is 6-7 feet long.
close up
All I can say is "WOW"!
That is AWESOME! I LOVE carnivorous plants! Great job!
Amazing, how long have you had that baby?
I have had her 2 or 3 years. There is another one hanging beside it. It has bigger pitchers on it, but not quite as long in length, 4-5 ft. I think I am going to try to propagate it. You hardly ever see them where I live.
Thank for looking!
I'm not that far from you and I have never seen one like that. Are they hardy for you?
These are not hardy, they are tropicals. Take a cutting with 4-5 leaf nodes and stick in 50/50 peat moss and perlite. They root VERY easily!
So many carnivorous plants are native to this area that's why I asked about this one's hardiness in the southeast.
I keep this one and the other one in my greenhouse. Once it starts getting around 55 or 60, they are put inside.
Tommy, thanks for the info, I will definately try to root some this week. Have you rooted some before? I read somewhere not to take more than a third of the plant/branches, something like that. Have you heard that? I just don't want to kill my mother plant, but I would like some babies. I may try one or two to begin with, and if they do well, I will try again. Do you know how long it will take to root? Should I also cover to keep the moisture in?Thanks for your help.
Ardesia, if I can get it to root, would you like one?
I have rooted several, just took another cutting 2 weeks ago actually. I haven't heard the 1/3rd rule but it sounds about right. I've taken cuttings with 3-4 nodes that rooted fine.
Absolutely stunning. Makes me want to grow one. May I ask, what potting medium you have her in. Jackie
I use Jungle growth Pro for most everything and usually add more perlite.
GAgirl, I would love a little one if they take. Jungle growth Pro sounds interesting. Where do you find that?
Lowes .... It's Jungle Growth Professional Mix...there is also a Vegetable and Flower mix, but I use the Pro mix. If I am repotting something large I use the V & F mix because it is about half the price of the other. I am going to try 2 or 3 tomorrow, so I should know in a couple of weeks if they root. I will make a note.
Interesting, I am fairly certain our local Lowe's does not carry that one but I'll be sure to check.
The Pro is in a blk and gray bag with a tiger on the front & kind of a jungle scene and the other is blk & blue and has the tiger & flowers and veges. I will have to look and see where it is manufactured. That is the only place I have seen it. Walmart or Home Depot does not carry it here.
Our Lowe's mostly carries Scott's products. It is funny how the further south you go the more gardening supplies the big box stores carry. The unusual part is that it is warm enough out here on the sea islands to be a zone 9 and although Waycross is almost 2 hours south of here it is far enough inland that I bet you are closer to an 8b. We used to travel to a Lowe's in Jacksonville to buy plant material when we first bought this house. It was a lot less expensive there too.
Less expensive and a better selection of plants. Jax is only an hour from me and I can't believe the difference in plants.
We found 3 gallon loropetalums for $4 (regular price, no sale price) in Jax and the same plants, same labels and all were $16 here in Beaufort; it doesn't make sense. (and gas was cheap back then, LOL)
There are a lot of growers in florida, so that helps keep the price down. But that is quite a difference. That could have been a pricing error, you can't even buy them for $4 wholesale. I bought a bunch for our school last year, wholesale, and they were $5.95.
This was a number of years ago when that Lowe's on the way to Fernandina was brand new and they had such great plants. For a while we were going every few months for plants. The last time I stopped there the selection was only so so.
Great plant and information--Does it matter what kind of basket you grow it in? I just got my first one. The information you all have shared will come in handy when I need to transplant.
Mine is in a regular plastic hanging basket and it is in Jungle Growth Pro with extra perlite added in. I don't really fertilize it much, I think I read somewhere not to fertilize too much. But she seems to getting a little pale so I think I need to give her a boost before it turns cold.
I'd be happy to send you some mosquitoes to feed it. LOL
HA! I have to decline, I have more than my share, but thank you for the thought. LOL
Girl, that plant was beautiful. you did a great job growing her.
Charleen
Thanks Charleen, its touching the ground now. I had the hardest time getting it into the greenhouse. Puff, puff! Had to hold that sucker high and hold the rest over my arm. I know I need to give her a 'haircut' but I just can't do it. I want to try to root some, but afraid it I cut on her, she may die.
You had a wedding dress in your arms; that is what you were describing. It is beautiful. How long does it take to form the little pitchers?
I saw some of those when DH and I went down to Naples and there was a Botanical garden down there, We went in and they had the most
wonderful grouping of those. Never saw anything like it. Of coarse, you know I loved them all. They had great plants.
Charleen
I have a Nepenthes, bought without a label identifying the species. It's having problems dealing with the heat but I'm hoping it'll hold out until the wet season starts. They come from the southern/south east Asian region but mostly from higher altitudes. So they like it cooler with more even higher humidity. Lowland species aren't so numerous and far less commonly sold. You obviously have been able to give it the right environment because that growth is really great.
Do you feed them?
Tropic,
They obviously can take the heat, we have days close to 100 and some 102, add in the humidity and the heat index can get up to 118 here sometimes. I think the humidity may be the key. We have 80-100 percent humidity almost all the time. That may be the secret.
Charleen, I have to say I really don't do much of anything to her, except water, lots of water in the summer. Very seldom do I fertilize, think I read somewhere, they didn't like too much fert.
In the spring a spray with 1/4 strength orchid fertilizer helps pitchering.
GAgirl1066 getting short bursts of warm weather in a temperate climate isn't usually a problem, especially if it's around rainy periods. But in a tropical lowland climate it's hot all year so you still have high temperatures during those daytime periods when the humidity gets lower. That's why I was saying I hope it holds out until the wet season. For an October, this year we've been getting unusually dry air moving through.
I've also read that it's best not to fertilise Nepenthes as they normally get insects. But I suppose inside a house situation they might need it. As Tommy said, diluted.
So where are you located? About 5 years ago I went to Melbourne, loved it. We went to some island (Prince ?something, don't think it was really an island) to look at the little penguins there. That was such a neat experience. You had to go at night, because that was the only time they would come ashore. I would love to go back and see the great barrier reef and Ayers Rock. We also were in NZ for a week also. Beautiful there also!!
I'm near Darwin, in the north. Philip Island is the place you would have gone to see the penguins. It's very close to the mainland and you drive over a bridge to get there. That's why it doesn't really seem like an island. The penguins are out fishing all day and return to their burrows in the evening. The Great Barrier Reef is excellent for either scuba diving or snorkling, was there just last month in the Whitsunday area. And Ayers Rock (Uluru) is very dramatic in its landscape, it has an unexpected effect on you when you actually see it. It's great that you got to NZ, that's a country you could spend a long time exploring some fantastic scenery. I've only been to the North Island. There's a whole fantastic world out there, just need the time (and money) to see it.
Nepenthes cuttings root quickly in sphagnum moss kept moist. Most are easy to propagate and like a soil mix of peat moss ,sand and perlite, once they have roots.
You don't need to fertilise them as all the nutrients come from the bugs in the pitchers(you don't have to feed them either). Nepenthes handle tap water better than any of the other carnivorous plants but watering with rainwater is better. Keep them moist not wet though.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing i think is when you get them sent to you, after you pot them up is to fill each pitcher 1/3 with rainwater, check it in a day and top up if its gone down any. Will never need anymore water in them again as the pitchers open with the water in them and it always stays, unless you tip them out.
