Hello.If you grow Orchids you can treat your Nep as the same.Don't overwater your plant keep just wet.
May be your plant will get many insects so you don't need to fertilize.You can repot when the soil is compact or looks "old".

Happy growing

Dont ever ever ever fertilize the soil (roots)
They can be foliar fed with stuff like Epiphytes Delight.
They like bright light but no direct sunlight (they grow in trees and under canopies in shaded areas from trees)
Soil mix would be the same as CP's, stuff like a basic 50/50 Peat moss/Perlite mix is fine.

Hope you have good success with your new plant.

Cheers

Sheldon

I got one, too, and was about to post the same questions. Instructions also said to fill the pitchers with rainwater or distilled water. Why is this? Is that correct? And mine is sopping wet. Should I repot it into fresh soil?
Most of the pitchers are drying from the top, but a couple are fresh, and I think they caught a bug or two yesterday.
Thanx for any advice. I killed my last one.

Hi

When a pitcher is formed on Nepenthes, the plant produces the liquid inside, so no, you do not need to fill it up.
However, if you purchase a plant online, all the liquids would spill out during shipping, in this instance it is ok to fill them 1/3rd full of distilled water.
I have read from many growers that if the picher senses movement (from an insect inside or from you shaking the pitcher a little) the plant immediatley starts pumping out acidic liquids which turns the liquid it currently has to an acidic state.

I have no proof of this though.

They like the soil to be moist at all times, but they dont like their roots to be flooded, unlike their american pitcher cousins.

Hope this helps abit

Sheldon

I never see Neps at my Lowe's :(

Same here LG
Infact I have not come across one store or nursery that has any form of CP.

Dont really care though,am happy supporting Cobraplant.com

Cheers

Sheldon

Thanx for your help. I am too occuppied with (or by)orchids to start another collection, but these things, like a number of orchid genera, have a science fiction quality like they were fresh from Jurassac Park. Really intriguing. My Lowe's in only a couple of years old. Maybe they are upscaling their nursery stock? Just guessing.

Hi,
I just bought one at Lowe's yesterday. I was doing the happy dance! I found it on a pallet (extention of the death rack?) in a corner next to the near death tropicals . There were about 10 and in decent shape, just waterlogged. I asked the cashier and since I found it where I did, she gave me 50% off which brought the price to a little over $6. It is now happily (I hope) living with my orchids.

Rebecca

DH and I also saved a Nepenthes Alata from Lowes this weekend. They had them in full sun but they still looked good, just completely dried out as far as the medium was concerned. She is now hanging out on our front porch with our orchids and will be spoiled with rain water whenever she needs it. I spent an hour Googling for info on their care before I gave up and came over here to see what I could find as far as their pitchers are concerned. The tag says to fill the pitcher up to half full with rain- or distilled water but I don't trust the tags.

Dawn

Just FYI, the lowes Nepenthes Alata's although they are tagged as "Alata", they are not. Lowes purchases these from Deroose' nursery. (They are commonly sold in a 6" white plastic hanging basket.) They are actually N. Ventrata, a hybrid consisting of N. Alata X N. ventricosa. Some information has identified them as N. Alata X N. Ventrata, nevertheless ... a hybrid.

The pitchers lack the true Alata hourglass shape, have more green coloration near the bottom of the pitchers. The peristome is not "rolled" as tight as a true Alata either..... commonly it has two folds, one on either side.

As for repotting, most recommend sphagnum/perlite 50/50, or peat moss/perlite 50/50.

newbie 22,

Not to be snotty or anything but what makes you so knowledgable about what Lowe's has as mis-labeled Neps and where they come from???

I have been researching for atleast 1 - 2 hours a day on this one all over the net. Just want back and spent 2 more hours looking up pix of what you are stating that Lowe's is actually selling and the bottoms of my pitchers aren't as green as you are stating they should be.

Anyways, I don't care if its a hybrid or not personally.

I looked, I saw, I fell in love...

Dawn

Hi Dawn

Well I have a N. Ventricosa, its an awesome plant, very very tough and darn pretty too.
Its a real nice beginners plant and can adapt to pretty much any humidity.
So if you do have a Ventricosa cross, thats not a bad thing at all.

Anyhow,Lowes down here dont have cool stuff like that :)

Cheers

Sheldon

I didn't mean to be offensive in any way...especially being new to CP's. But if we Lowe's rescuers don't have what the tags say.....you understand, hopefully..Please!

I'm sure that mine is a hybrid due to several different characteristics that I am finding in various pitchers all on the same plant and will get some pictures later today to show you all why I made the earlier post. Like I said..not being snotty...this inquiring mind wants to know and that is all!

Sheldon (hope you don't mind me using your name),
I have learned so much from your posts and replies and several others also that a Thank You doesn't seem near enough thanks so..."Group Hug", go catch a bug...

Dawn

Deroose has been producing N. Ventrata labelled as "N. alata" for about 25years. They are found all over the world in garden centers and home centers along with their other plants N. Miranda, N. Gentle, N. tobaica (not N. tobaica). They produce great easy to grow plants of a nice large size for dirt cheap. The "N. alata" is a really bombproof plant and fast growing and colorful. The plant doesn't care what it's labelled. It is however an ongoing battle to keep records straight and reduce confusion as to what folks are growing. Particularly in avoiding confusion with the someone who is looking for the pure species that might receive this plant instead.

A great place to look at CP photos

Tony

Here is a link that might be useful: cpphotofinder

I got my Nep from Lowes, and after some new soil and a few weeks of some difused sunlight, some distilled water and some TLC, it has done very well, currently it is eating an army of ants and a moth. =)

TnWren (Dawn),

Sorry for the long time between posts, ... I was out of town. No offense taken at all.

I have two reasons for having the knowledge I have concerning this subject. First, a very close buddy of mine works at our local Lowes hardware.... in the garden department. (He has confirmed the information I was told.) Also, I personally have one of the hybrids in my collection.

As for your research on the web, if you will e-mail me I can forward you a few links that will confirm what I posted earlier. (I don't want to be rude to this website by posting links to other forums outright) Personally, I feel its VERY important to know what you actually have, .... review TonyP's posts as he too seems to understand the importance. If your wanting a "pure" species, it can be hell when dealing with uneducated growers.

Further, if you'd like, I can attempt to post pictures of the two different pitchers for you?

The bottom link? .... if you like it, and it works for you, Great! That's what's important. However, As a responsible grower you should know what you have so when the day comes that you share a cutting or two with friends, etc.

Thanks newbie!!!!

Still haven't gotten any good pix yet...had company for the weekend and now its whats left of Dennis (rain yesterday & crazy wind today).

Since I've brought the plant home and got her on our front porch, the bottoms of the pitchers are more green than red so the colors of them must have been affected by the full sun that Lowe's had them in...ugh

Sending you an e-mail!

Thanks!!!!

Dawn

Aaawww thanx Dawn

Its a plesure, I too found my info from some very kind people (mostly cobraplant.com and Byron_1's articles).
Any info I can share and gather from you guys can only benefit our plants.

Cant wait to see them pics when they are available.

Cheers

Sheldon

You are so Welcome!!! I'm plotting my Bog Garden (thanks to you!) as I type this and DH is all for it!!! I'm cackling madly...mmmwahaaaa...die bugs, DIE!

OK, sane again and here's a pic attempt...

The wind is still whipping and we are getting rain right now that the Nashville weather didn't show us as getting...gotta love being rural!

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:555265}}

newbie 22,

Couldn't find an e-mail addie for you so here's mine:

huckleberrysmurf@yahoo.com

Thanks for your help!

Dawn

mine is: necro1234 at yahoo dot com
Any of you guys are welcome to email me at any time :)

mmmm yes, that plant appears identical to my Nepenthes Ventricosa, the pitchers and leaves are just like mine.
Heres a pic of my young ventricosa before hail hit it (its recovered and is back to sprouting new leaves though)
{{gwi:555267}}

Cheers

Sheldon

Dawn,

That there is indeed N. Ventrata (ventricosa x alata).

Yours too probably Sheldon. Although it's a little young to say for sure.

Tony

Ye not 100% sure myself, its slow growing so I know its HIGHLAND, it looks like a Ventricosa but as it grows I can know for sure.

They really neat plants, I got mine and never botherd to even harden it off, growth stopped for a week or so and then continued without any problems.

Cheers

Sheldon