Date: Mon, 09 Aug 99 18:46 EDT From: Dave Evans <T442119@RUTADMIN.RUTGERS.EDU> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2872$foo@default> Subject: Re: Nepenthes question.
Dear "MARIN" <marin@SPRINT.CA>
> have been forming. Should I do anything to it or should I just
> leave it be and have some wei rd many branched Nep. It's currently
> growing in a mixture of chopped long strand sphagnum, perlite,
> vermiculite, tree bark and sand. It only gets watered with
> distilled water. Could a change in lighting cause this to happen.
> I changed one of the fluorescent tubes for a grow tube, more on the
> reddish side of the spectrum. The rest of the tubes are cool white.
Your Nepenthes is not doing anything "weird." Nepenthes,
like most other higher plants, like to get bigger and bigger.
As your Nepenthes grows from seed to maturity, will take on a few
different forms. The first is a flat rosette and can last for
only a couple to several years. The second is a long(er) liana
which has a much thicker stem, this is the stage in which most
Nepenthes climb and produce their first flower. Many species will
then start producing sideshoots, or let sideshoots that had started
growing earlier take over. Sometimes the sideshoots go through a
flat rosette stage, but most go right into the liana stage. On
all my plants, the secondary branches were thicher and more robust
than the original liana(s). After about five years, _N. ventricosa_
can produce a lot of sideshoots and start resembling a small hedge.
Dave Evans
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:32:02 PST