Nepenthes Growing Tips from Box to Bench

[rainforest]

For those who have purchased your nepenthes from overseas or across state lines, here are a few guidelines and tips to acclimate your future prize to your new growing conditions.

Michael

[rainforest]

What you can do in advance of your arrival:
Premix, moisten and get your soil ready. Many bag mixes are really dry and seriously need some additional time to wet properly. This idea is good to have just as a back up in any event. I usually keep bins of different media, one for seedlings, one for soil additives and another for large specimens. The premoistened soils are ready to scoop and replant immediately.

Also get your tags ready for tagging. So many times we rely on memory and do the tag-thing later. Start right off and be ready when the bags are opened.

I like to soak newly arrived plants in a solution of Superthrive or other Vitamin B1 starer solution. A cat litter tray or even small bucket will work. Set aside an area for these new arrivals to be placed. Placing these in a shaded, yet humid or semi-enclosed area is best.

If your plants arrive in a root ball then the dangers of root transplant shock are reduced. But if they are sent bare-root, you will experience transplant shock. The evasive measure of cleaning soil particles off these fine roots seriously hurts the plants. Many times roots are even trimmed unmercifully and all that remain are the main tap roots and thickened side branch roots. If you should be the recipient of this kind of abused plants in shipment, you will need to place them in a Superthrive solution for a few hours with part of the plant (stems, leaves, and shoot tips) in solution to help the plants absorb water and vitamins to reduce the stress they were put in. Even when planting them, they should be kept in an enclosed humid chamber in a shaded area. A watchful eye is also important to observe any changes in plant appearance. A dry leaf appearance means that the plants have not been able to absorb even water through the root system. You may need to trim the leaves in half cross sectionally to save it. It is not unusual that every leaf from the time of arrival will eventually turn black and die. The idea to trim the leaves only helps prevent the plant from losing too much water. Frequent misting with a Superthrive solution will help feed the plants through their leaves. When repotting these plants that arrive bare root, it is advisable to repot them in a small pot so as not to hold too much moisture and furthering root rot. A loose particle media works best and a top dressing of LFS (long fiber sphagnum) and or other media will help prevent drying.

M