Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 10/23/2010

Question
My N. Ventricosa x (macfarlanei x aristolochioides)takes over a month to grow a tiny bit. It grows in a greenhouse that gets lots of humidity and 2-4 hours of direct sunlight.  It has a 50% shade cloth. The greenhouse has other Highland and Lowlander Nepenthes that are growing at a rapid pace.  Can you tell what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong?

Answer
Some species grow much slower than others.  Macrfarlanei and aristolochiodes are reputed to be slow growers.  My aristolochliodes produce a new leaf every month.  My macfarlenai is a bit faster than aristolochliodes, but it's still regarded a slow grower.  Macrophylla and villosa are usually regarded the slowest growing Nepenthes.  With them, I usually see a new leaf every 2-3 months!  

Your hybrid has 2/3 of its genes from slow growing plants, so it's just a matter of being patient.  Sometimes you can speed them up slightly by making sure the daytime temperature is no higher than 80°F; nighttime temps should be in the 50s.  At these temperatures, though, your lowlanders probably would slow down or stop pitchering.  So it's usually an issue of compromise if you only have one area to grow Nepenthes.  Sometimes you just have to sacrifice the growth of one plant to make sure other plants grow in the manner you want them to.  

At our nursery, we have a greenhouse with highland growing conditions.  We can't grow lowland Nepenthes because they simply hate the low nighttime temperatures, especially in winter.  We are currently constructing a separate growing area for lowlanders.  

Good growing!
Jacob Farin