Carnivorous Plants/Hardy Neps

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Expert: - 7/28/2009


Question
Is there somewhere a list with all the hardy and easy to grow neps that can tolerate lot of heat during summer and colder winters much like a mediterranean climate or the SoCal climate....with relatively low humidity??? Do you know any other than ventricosa, ventrata or khasiana? Maybe a lowland truncata? Others?
Thank you for any help!

Answer
Hello Paula,

N. sanguinea and N. truncata might be good candidates for your climate, however; you will want to keep the plants from being exposed to temperatures below 50 degrees as they are tropicals and will expire if much lower temperatures are encountered. You might try cobraplant.com to find a good list of Nepenthes that might be tolerant of your environment. In general, Nepenthes like temperatures no higher than 90 degrees. I have found that Nepenthes typically are plants that prefer a balance rather than an extreme in any one direction.

Christopher

Carnivorous Plants

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Christopher Littrell

Expertise

I am capable of answering questions about the most common carnivorous plants found in cultivation. I have no personal experience with Byblis, Drosophyllum, Aldrovanda, and Heliamphora. I have not cultivated gemmae forming pygmy sundews nor tuberous sundews. For information regarding those aforementioned species, I would suggest contacting other experts. I can answer questions regarding most species of Nepenthes, tropical and temperate Drosera, Mexican Pinguicula, Sarracenias, and Dionaea. I have some limited experience with growing Utricularia, Cephalotus, and Darlingtonia.

Experience

I have grown carnivorous plants off and on for about 27 years. I have made the same mistakes and suffered the same mishaps that many growers make as they attempt to separate the myths from the realities of growing these plants. Currently, I am successfully growing a variety of tropical sundews, a Nepenthes, several Venus Flytraps of varying ages, and Sarracenias. I have been successful in stratifying Sarracenia seeds and providing artificial dormancy requirements for my temperate plants when needed.

Education/Credentials
I hold a Master's degree in Educational Psychology. Over my lifetime, I have constantly read books involving the growing conditions of carnivorous plants. I hope to incorporate the educational aspects involved in psychology with teaching other people how to cultivate carnivorous plants.

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