- Joined
- Jan 3, 2019
- Messages
- 1,074
Hola,
First post so please be kind. I've always been a fan of predatory animals and last year I decided to try predatory plants. I had venus fly traps when I was little, (you know those little plastic cubes you can pick up at the big box hardware stores with half dead plants?) but understandably I didnt have much luck. I began researching Nepenthes after seeing a picture of N. hamata and just being in awe that it was an actual plant and not a prop out of some movie. Of course, I didnt start with hamata. They are a little pricey and my green thumb doesn't have the best positive history. I finally decided on the tried and true hybrid known as Miranda (N. northiana x N. maxima). They grow large and, seeing as they are of mixed descent and possessing hybrid rigor, are more forgiving of less than ideal conditions. I found a large (12"+ leafspan) for sale on Etsy and pulled thetrigger. Big mistake. One, these things do not ship well at this size. The pitchers naturally hang down past the pot. Even though the shipper managed to get them in the pot, some inevitably fell down and were damaged badly by the pot during shipping. Second mistake was I ordered this in June in the Midwest and was only offered two day shipping. Needless to say, it was quite beat up and I didnt expect it to recover. I was wrong. After being outside in the heat and humidity that is the Midwest summer and receiving a few hours of afternoon sun and plenty of drained waterings, I started to see new growth. Attached below is a picture of the new growth. Notice the dead pitcher and the other leaves missing pitchers from the rough shipping.
Fast forward to now. Little did I know this guy would make a bounding recovery. This guy is inside for the winter and is still thriving and producing pitchers in the low humidity environment that is my furnace heated apartment.
Needless to say, I think I found a new hobby. I'm already starting to source various pure species and man made hybrids for this upcoming spring. Pretty sure I'm going to go the 3" route and grow them up from undamaged seedlings. Looking forward to growing this collection in addition to the T's.
Thanks,
--Matt
First post so please be kind. I've always been a fan of predatory animals and last year I decided to try predatory plants. I had venus fly traps when I was little, (you know those little plastic cubes you can pick up at the big box hardware stores with half dead plants?) but understandably I didnt have much luck. I began researching Nepenthes after seeing a picture of N. hamata and just being in awe that it was an actual plant and not a prop out of some movie. Of course, I didnt start with hamata. They are a little pricey and my green thumb doesn't have the best positive history. I finally decided on the tried and true hybrid known as Miranda (N. northiana x N. maxima). They grow large and, seeing as they are of mixed descent and possessing hybrid rigor, are more forgiving of less than ideal conditions. I found a large (12"+ leafspan) for sale on Etsy and pulled thetrigger. Big mistake. One, these things do not ship well at this size. The pitchers naturally hang down past the pot. Even though the shipper managed to get them in the pot, some inevitably fell down and were damaged badly by the pot during shipping. Second mistake was I ordered this in June in the Midwest and was only offered two day shipping. Needless to say, it was quite beat up and I didnt expect it to recover. I was wrong. After being outside in the heat and humidity that is the Midwest summer and receiving a few hours of afternoon sun and plenty of drained waterings, I started to see new growth. Attached below is a picture of the new growth. Notice the dead pitcher and the other leaves missing pitchers from the rough shipping.
Fast forward to now. Little did I know this guy would make a bounding recovery. This guy is inside for the winter and is still thriving and producing pitchers in the low humidity environment that is my furnace heated apartment.
Needless to say, I think I found a new hobby. I'm already starting to source various pure species and man made hybrids for this upcoming spring. Pretty sure I'm going to go the 3" route and grow them up from undamaged seedlings. Looking forward to growing this collection in addition to the T's.
Thanks,
--Matt