Favorite Nepenthes

Bigboy

Arachnoprince
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This is for you folks like me who are crazy for carnivorous plants. I am curious to find out who of you out there other than myself keeps them. So for those of you that do, what is your favorite? Mine is Nepenthes hamata, I know their foliage is downright boring, but those traps are incredible. They are one of the meanest looking plants I've ever seen. The black claws on the peristome of the lower traps are what does it for me. So how about YOU?
 

Iggy

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I prefer N. bicalcarata, nice "fangs" on mature pitchers and mature plants spread out and cover a lot of ground. N. lowii is another one of my favorites, as well as N. northiana. Cheers Iggy
 

xenesthis

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fav

N. bicalcarta - hands-down!

I was really into Nepethes two years ago, but lack of a good green house and the resulting loses made me get out of the hobby.
 

Bigboy

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N. bical is pretty cool, I have to admit. Those "fangs" are such an odd feature. But boy do they ever get big. I've read of them climbing over 50feet. N. lowii I like for those little hairs that point down from the lid, I guess I just like oddities.
 

Mr. Mordax

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N. bicalcarata is a lowland, isn't it? I'd probably have a hard time with those. I really want to get an N. x miranda hybrid, but right now my favorite in my collection is probably N. mikei. The black pitchers are cool, plus my real name is Mike.

I waste lots of money whenever I see Sarracenia Northwest at an expo. :D
 

Bigboy

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I was thinking about maybe getting a mikei, I'm intrigued by the way they hold the pitchers so close to themselves on those tiny little tendrils. Could you post pictures of yours?
Yea, N. bicalcarata is a lowland species, but you'd be surprised by how hardy of a plant it is. The only reason I haven't decided to get one yet is because I really just don't have the space for one yet as a mature plant.
 

Mr. Mordax

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Alas, I only have closeups of everything but my N. x ventrata. That's also my only "big" one. :8o

I think this one is N. mikei, but I can't remember -- one of its pitchers was just starting to open.


These two are N. mikei for sure.



As you can tell, I'm a little more fascinated by the pitchers than the entire plants.

My Nepenthes species list:
coplandi
diatas
mikei
rajah
x ventrata
ventricosa

My N. rajah doesn't have any open pitchers (it's tiny!), and my N. coplandi's last open pitcher dried up so I cut it off.

I also have a Sarracenia leucophylla, and my fiancee Lori has three sundews.
 

Bigboy

Arachnoprince
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Hahah, but aren't we all more interested by the pitchers after all? A rajah, wow you are ambitious. I'd love to see its progress as it grows. I myself won't even play with the idea of getting one until I at least have my own house.
 

Mr. Mordax

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I'm in a nice-sized apartment, but I got it when I was in a studio. I only bought it because the nursery was having a Nepenthes collection sale.

I've got high hopes, though. {D

Edit: Here's the only picture I have, cropped from this one:


The smallest leaf on top has opened up a bit since then.
 
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Bigboy

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I envy the fact that you are a carnivorous plant keeper in Oregon. You're lucky in that you can keep S. oreophila if you are into bog gardens. I can only legally get hybrids. But this is about Nepenthes not those american pitchers. Right now I'm keeping N. macfarlanei, N. truncata (highland morph), and N. rafflesiana (giant). I can't wait to see how big the pitchers get on that giant. I've seen pictures of some vertebrate-kill ready monsters! By the way, what do the upper pitchers even look like on a rajah? I think I've only ever seen lower pitchers of that species.

That is a beefy looking young rajah, how much did it cost at that size?
 

Mr. Mordax

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By the way, what do the upper pitchers even look like on a rajah? I think I've only ever seen lower pitchers of that species.
Courtesy of the Wikipedia article:


The upper pitchers are supposed to be quite rare.

That is a beefy looking young rajah, how much did it cost at that size?
Um . . . I actually can't remember. I bought it and one other on sale as a collection when the nursery was clearing out their inventory. If I interpret my credit card's history correctly, it was $27.57 for the both of them, including shipping.
 

Bigboy

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Wow, even those uppers look monstrous. But holy cow talk about a sweet deal, 27dollars for two plus shipping!
 

Mr. Mordax

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Erm . . . I should have clarified. :8o The other wasn't a rajah, it was a separate species. I don't remember which one -- either ventricosa or diatas.

Two would have been a sweet deal, though. :D
 

luna

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Do you have a home depot near you?

I could hardly believe it.. the other day I was at home depot and they had Nepenthes in hanging baskets. I'm at work and do not remember the species (could it have been atlata?) but will write again when I get home. I think they all tend to carry the same thing so all of you should go and check your local store. They were only $13 each! I bought two with two plants in each pot. They have at least a dozen pitchers hanging off of them with an average sizes of 6".
Cheri
 

Mr. Mordax

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Sweet! I was at Home Depot yesterday and didn't get a good look at their plants -- my fiancee and I were looking for furniture.

On a side note, when they had the chairs we were looking at mislabelled, she went into "firey redhead" mode and we wound up getting chairs originally priced at $45 for less than $13 each.

She added that we brought home a free jumping spider -- red-backed, also for sale online at $12 apiece. :D
 

luna

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the depot plants

I was a letter off... They are labeled Nepenthes 'alata'. Usually they just have the same old stuff but I look anyway. I found two very interesting cactus in hanging baskets that I decided I needed. The pitcher plants were something I barely noticed on my way out the door... glad I did! Those are even better than the cactus!!!

Glad you found the furniture deal you wanted too.
 

Bigboy

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Yea, I've one of those, or rather my mother does and I keep it alive. They're labeled alata, but they're almost always a hybrid of some sort. Thats a good thing with Nepenthes though, don't be discouraged. Amazing plants come from crosses. It usually results in a hardier and more extravagant plant, bringing the best from both parents into one. The pots they use don't have good drainage though, take off any drip pans they might have. You don't want to let those sit in water or the roots are liable to succumb to fungal infection and kill the plant.
Cheers
 

luna

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Nepenthes 'alata' from home depot

The direction said to keep the pitchers 1/2 full with water... I didn't ... does this sound correct to you guys?
 
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