The tip is a healthy red covered with soft golden fuzz, not dark brown. It does looks like it finally got acclimatized in your room. Don't change anything!

By the way, what growing media are you using, is the pebbles for decoration only?

Yay! So it's doing alright then?

I actually haven't changed the contents of the pot, I didn't pot it myself. Under the pebbles, I'm not quite sure what it's growing in... it seems like peat moss and something else. I think they like to grow in perlite..? Is it? Perlite and peat moss? I was thinking of taking the pebbles out and replacing it with Sphagnum moss... which I think has a lot nicer effect with the plant. I'm just not sure where to get it. Maybe I should change the soil also? Do I rinse the plant's roots with disstilled water and repot it? Or should I not bother when it's looking healthy enough right now? I got the plant from a carnivorous plant kiosk in the mall, the people that were selling them were the people that grew them - and seemed quite knowledgeable, so I can only hope they planted it in the right media. The pebbles were also there when I got it. Would it help if I removed the rocks and rocks and took a picture of the contents? Would you be able to tell just from a picture?

Thanks!

If it was bought from experienced growers and they themselves added the pebbles, that okay. The setup look very nice and it even gave me the idea of doing it to my neps 'cause it gives them a beach or tropical look.

So leave it as is, no point of transplaning them. The pot is big and the nep is still small enought that it wont out grow it any time soon. It just got acclimatized in your room, you don't want it to go into shock again by disturbing its roots and have to wait again to recover. I had my neps grown in a pot for 2 years without ill affect but the moment you repot them, they go into some shock and may loose most of its urns.

The usual soil mix for neps is one part long-fiber sphagnum moss, one part perlite, and/or one part fine orchid bark. The simpler mix one part long-fiber sphagnum moss and one part perlite. Make sure the moss IS long-fiber sphagnum moss, that is says SPHAGNUM MOSS and not the so called "Green Moss". Green moss will kill your nep.

The water you use to water your neps is distilled water, rain water, or at least R/O purified water. Don't use tap water or filtered drinking water, they still have minerals and tap water contains chlorine that will kill your plant.

So good luck with your plants!

Those are definitely the beginnings of new pitchers.

Thanks a lot! Any idea where to get Sphagnum moss? I actually don't have any access to nurseries (they're all on the edge of town and the buses don't go out that far...)

I have actually been watering this one with filtered tap water, but I've been reading lately that you should use distilled water (or rain water). I feel horrible for torturing it with tap water for 6 months! Next time I am at the store, I'm going to pick up a jug of distilled water.

Thanks a lot for the advice! I can't wait to see the new pitchers!

YOu can always order on line, google sphagnum moss and you should find a listing. Here's a few growers that often sells sphagnum moss.

http://cobraplant.com
http://flytraps.com

You should find supplies from them.

Good luck.

Okay, thanks!

Since I'm in Canada, I think I'll have to get it from a Canadian site. But someone posted a link to a good Canadian site - I looked on there, and it advertises it has it - but I couldn't find an actual link to buy it! Haha, maybe I will have to look harder!

Thanks a lot!

Wow, those pebbles do look quite nice, much better than the randomly dying LFS I have on the top of my current N. ventricosa pot.

Definitely something to try out, perhaps on my next VFT or something.

Although, kinda worried about new traps being able to push through them -- maybe a D. adelae or somesuch...

And also, as I mentioned above I have a N. ventricosa, and it took about 6 months to recover from the repotting and move from the Deathcube to it's current spot in my room. Didn't lose it's existing traps, just didn't DO anything for the longest while.

Nowadays it's growing a new leaf and pitcher about once every 1-2 weeks or so. Looks just like that until the pitcher actually starts to expand on out -- although your plant seems to be growing "taller" than mine, which is short and compact...

http://kita.ath.cx/plants/06.01.08/MonkeyCup.JPG

Wow, yours is looking nice! I can't wait until mine will be getting pitchers in abundance!

Do you grow your VFT indoors then? How much success have you had, is it a "process"? I've heard they do well outside, but nothing much about well they grow inside. Do they require a terrarium?

I hope the fact my Ventricosa is going more upright isn't a bad thing, haha. Perhaps though it wasn't getting enough light before, because just a couple weeks ago I moved it into my room to get more light.... I'm using my other plants as shade for it so slowly get it used to full sun.

Carnivorous plants are so exciting!

P.S. What is LFS? Some kind of moss?

Do you grow your VFT indoors then? How much success have you had, is it a "process"? I've heard they do well outside, but nothing much about well they grow inside. Do they require a terrarium?

Vft's do not generally do well in terrs in the long term. They require a cool/cold winter dormancy to remain healthy. Outside they can do quite well in full sun.

I hope the fact my Ventricosa is going more upright isn't a bad thing,

Why would it be? I much prefer them growing upright (though that only lasts so long unless they have some support) to sprawling all over.

P.S. What is LFS? Some kind of moss?

"LFS"= long fibered sphagnum moss

Ah! Thanks for the info Paul!

I love VFTs, but if they won't do that well inside, I won't torture one, haha. I'll wait until I'm able to have an outdoor one. :)

Wow, yours is looking nice! I can't wait until mine will be getting pitchers in abundance!

Thank you, but I really haven't done anything special. It's in a 11" pot with pure Peat Moss and Perlite, supposedly this is a poor mix for it but I intentionally overwater it a little bit (causing water to rush out the bottom) and don't water it as frequently as the other plants, so it works out well. I hope to repot it in Winter, assuming my little guest plant is doing well enough to repot by then, during which I will try to use either pure LFS or LFS and Perlite.

Do you grow your VFT indoors then? How much success have you had, is it a "process"? I've heard they do well outside, but nothing much about well they grow inside. Do they require a terrarium?

I have 2 VFTs right now, one is on the front porch in full sun, the other is in the brightest windowsill in the house. The front porch one is getting over a disastrous winter in the fridge, whereas the windowsill one I was given as a gift from an online nursery I frequent. Of the two, the Windowsill one is doing better, but I can't tell if that's cause of where it's at or because it didn't go through the winter of hell. The one on the front has it's first functional trap of the year now, and I fed it a random grub I found on my grapes.

Basically unless your VFT sleeps during the winter in a cold environment, it will die. Mine I put in an uncovered pot in the fridge, in the crisper drawer. The problem is, my crisper drawer is a humidifying one, so I am pretty sure it got a winter full of standard tap water on accident. Big no no there. This year I might try leaving it out all winter and just pray that it doesn't die, not sure. I should probably keep track of the temperatures this winter and see what lows we hit.

I hope the fact my Ventricosa is going more upright isn't a bad thing, haha. Perhaps though it wasn't getting enough light before, because just a couple weeks ago I moved it into my room to get more light.... I'm using my other plants as shade for it so slowly get it used to full sun.

I wouldn't be too worried, It's entirely possible that yours is growing correctly and mine is stunted because of poor planting media or insufficient light.

Here is my current setup, a few weeks behind:

http://kita.ath.cx/plants/06.01.08/Bedroom%20Plants%20Captioned.jpg

I used shelves to maximize the amount of sunlight I can get in that small space. Things have been moved around lately, I moved some plants to the kitchen, others outside, got some new ones, and lost some others.

I really need to get a greenhouse or a cold frame set up outside, but, that's a project for after my roommate gives up on trying to raise dogs -- they've killed literally dozens of my outdoor plants in attempts to get the roommates to pay attention to them.

Also, LFS is Long Fiber Sphagnum. It's the plant that, eventually, turns into Sphagnum Peat Moss. LFS is really stringy, and some...

Oh no! Poor Venus Fly Trap, haha. Oh well, I'm sure he'll come out of it. :)

That's a nice setup you have there though - I'm envious! I'm hopefully going to increase my carnivorous plant collection with a sundew (D. Aliciae, I also like Spatulata), and maybe a bladderwort or two... (Sandersonii, and Bisquamata). Start with some easy ones! Hopefully. :)

I'm worried a little bit because the ventricosa's new leaf is getting a brown spot on it, maybe it got sunburned? Perhaps I introduced it to the direct sunlight too fast?

I have to get myself some of that moss! Love it!

Are you using tap water? Or distilled?

I would not recommend repotting it. I think why it took a long time to acclimatize in your room was because you were using tap water. If you do repot it, you will send it into shock again and it wont pitcher for a while

It is a tough call but for now it looks fine, so what I recommend is start watering it with distilled water on a water dish. That should wash out the minerals that may have built up in the growing media.

One part peat moss, one part perlite is not good for neps, it is a good growing media for other carnivorous plants. The reason 1 part LFS, 1 part perlite (and sometimes 1 part orchid bark, my preferred mix) is used is because media is acid and less compacting with the LFS, and the perlite and bark provide good drainage. Unlike other CP, neps don't like to have their roots wet, just moist. The peat moss perlite mix simply retains too much water and compact.

The reason it is growing elongated is simply because its not getting the required amount of light. They do that in the jungle in their search for light, once they find a good bright spot, they become compacted. Neps should at the minimum receive at least 12 hours of bright light to pitcher properly.

These are my neps.

This is a 3 inch urn from my N. ventricosa.
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I use the mix 1 part LFS, 1 part, and one part fine orchid bark. This my 2 pots of N. ventricosas.
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N. truncata âÂÂPasianâ highland form.
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N. alata ssp. elongata.
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And this are my few lowland forms.

N. rafflesiana ssp. typical 'White' speckled.
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N. ampullaria âÂÂSpeckledâÂÂ
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Unfortunately you learn by trial and error, it took me time but once you get the hang of it. ItâÂÂs the most pleasant thing growing them and enjoying the beautify of the traps. And somewhat morbid watching a fly taking his first and last dunk. He-he-he

Don't be discouraged, I went through several VFT and sundews before I got the hang of it, and these are easiest to grow.

Wow! Those are some nice looking Neps, I'm jealous!

I actually had it in the living room for the longest time, and a few weeks ago I moved it into my room. It has been doing a lot better in there. But no, I'm not going to repot it. :) Should I change the soil every year after this year though? Or should I not?

Sadly, there is no drainage hole at the bottom. I just started watering it with distilled water last week. I'm hoping all the tap water didn't damage it too much. It was filtered, but I've heard that doesn't help.

When I repot it, I will keep that mix in mind, thanks! For now, I'm not positive what it is potted in - however it looks like some kind of moss and perlite.

That's what I figured - about the way it's growing I mean. That's why I was a little concerned when someone commented on it. But now I'm thinking it still doesn't get enough light... I thought it only needed 4-6 hours of light. So maybe I'll need to invest in a lamp for it. I have a coupon to get a free compact fluorescent bulb, so that works out nicely!