re: Which are the hardiest nepenthes?

From: kharper@energy.com.au
Date: Wed Aug 23 2000 - 15:54:43 PDT


Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 08:54:43 +1000
From: kharper@energy.com.au
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2592$foo@default>
Subject: re: Which are the hardiest nepenthes?


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Andy, I have been growing Nepenthes for about 20 years and currently
have around 35 species of Nepenthes and 60 different hybrids (mainly
with both highland parents) as part of my CP collection in two unheated
shadehouses not too far from you on the northwestern outskirts of
Sydney, Australia. Almost all of the highlands Nepenthes don't have too
much trouble with our winter temperatures (frequently down to near zero
Celsius) but some of the hybrids with lowland in them such as khasiana x
rafflesiana show pretty quickly that they don't like things by changing
leaf colour and burning off. Of the more exotic ones my N.bongso(s)
(purchased from Phill Mann back in 1991 (hi Phill)) struggle through the
winter but they hang in there okay. I lost a couple of N.villosa last
February due to a really hot summer (over 40 degrees C) but N.veitchii
grows fine in these conditions as does any hybrid with N.veitchii (I
have five different highland crosses). The best Nepenthes growers for
me in my unheated environment include N.maxima, N.khasiana, N.maxima X
alata, N X rokko (it goes beserk anytime of year), N.ventricosa,
N.sanguinea and some of my N.tobaica hybrids. I don't heat my lowlands
Nepenthes (gracilis, rafflesiana, mirabilis, ampullaria) but I do grow
them all year round inside two large plastic igloos about 1.2m high and
the same in diameter with my tropical Drosera (schizandra, prolifera and
adelae but the adelae grows fine without any protection as well). The
lowlands struggle through winter and I am almost certain that they would
not survive winter without the additional protection provided by the
igloos.

Hope that this helps,
Ken Harper



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