Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 11/19/2011

Question
Hello my name is Matt and I have another nepenthes question for the experts. Today I got the chance to go to a nursery and I found these  small nepenthes growing in a 3 inch pot that was covered and sealed to keep humidity high. My big question is what specific kind of nepenthes is it ?

The reason why it is so important for me is becuase I live in Southern california , and the humidity in my house is not that high and I do not have a terrarium for my plants, so I am worried if it won't grow well. I am hoping that it will be something easy to care for like a ventrata, or ventricosa.

The only information on the package about what nepenthes it is, is that it is a nepenthes spp. and that it is a nepenthes hybrid ?

Also to help you guys I have attached a couple pictures with this question.

I really look forward to some help with my mystery nepenthes plant!


         thanks - Matt

Answer
Thank you for uploading the photo.  Based on the photo, my best educated guess is Nepenthes ventricosa.  It's a common species found in cultivation, and the young pitchers look very similar to young pitchers of ventricosa.  Of course, the best way to identify the plant is to see adult pitchers, so the identification may change, but it seems to match very closely to young ventricosa.  The care for ventricosa is similar to ventrata, and it will grow well for you in Southern California.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin