How do you grow your N. ampullaria

[Rainforest Carnivores]

Just thought this might start an interesting posting of how you grow your favorite clustering nep.

I grow mines rather wet with as much light as possible. Although basal carpets are not as full in full sunlight, the texture and coloring of the pitchers are gorgeous!

I use a mixture of coarse peat moss, cinders, bark, RWSC and some coco chips.

M

[jess]

I grow mine in a mix of NZLFS/coursepeat mos/fine and large bark/lava rock and really wet as you do. Mine where in the full blast of teh MH but I noticed that they started to creep unter the shelves/shade of other plants and they're "happier" it seems in slight shade.

[kinabalu]

Hello,

Interesting post as i like !...How to grow N.Ampullaria....

About mine i use 2 compost:
- NZLFS 80% - Perlite 20%
- Peat Coco or Coco Mix like peat moss 70%, 15% Séramis clay pearls, 15% Perlite.

So, i have severals questions for you professionnal of Ampu , when i went to Borneo, i saw Ampu growing as well in full sun or shade exposition. Do you think the height of pitchers depend of the light ?
And about the mixture, what will you suggest about my mixture, maybe too much sphagnum....could you give me some advice ?
Last question, i find sine one year that the ground pitchers are quite small but the plant is growing well, so is it normal or is there a problem about light or compost ?

Here is a picture from my Tricolor for the example of small pitchers :



Thanks a lot for your answers.

Regards

Kina

[Rainforest Carnivores]

I find n more direct sunlight don't produce as much carpet pitchers as those in deeper shade. this goes back to my theory of the purpose of carpet pitchers is to allow falling fruits, debris and bird droppings from the upper canopy (thus shade) to fall in. Whereas plants in full sunlight tend to produce more leafy plants with fewer ground pitchers.
I get better upper pitchers on leaf ips on plants grown in bright light as opposed to plants grown in shade where many lack pitchers altogether.

Michael

I grow mine a bit more looser, open mix.

Michael

[sunbelle]

Nice looking cluster of pitchers, Kina. I'm always impressed with you growers who achieve nice looking plants in growing chambers or temperate greenhouses. Amps are so tropical!
Where most of our amps grow, side by side with rafflesiana and echinostoma, the vine reaches up into the brighter light, and the clustered pitchers are more shaded under the canopy of vines. Conditions are bright shade and extreme humidity at the surface of the potting mix.
We find that ampullaria are not demanding when it comes to potting media...just the typical. We use our cypress mulch-coco husk chips-aliflor-sphagnum-sponge rock-peat mix...well drained but moisture retentive. We fertilize. Amps love to be fertilized!
Kinabalu, you could probably grow ampullaria in pure lfs. It would require less watering than other mixes, but it is safer to include components that increase aeration and drainage. We find growing all Nepenthes a little on the dry side not only discourages fungal problems, but encourages the plants to grow stronger root systems that are "seeking out" more water in the medium. However, if you give them a little less water at the roots, high humidity is a must!

[lamwn]

Hello,
I grow them in straight cocobark (chips) or just mixed with charcoal. I think BE uses cocobark only. I also want to find out more about lighting...while pitchers on the leaf are usually small, the carpet pitchers can get very big in deep shade. I think the leaf debris is the best explanation. old plants in habitat usually have basals every 30cm or so, even when under 5cm thick leaf litter, and it looks very cute because some covered pitchers can be pink/whitish on a green speckled plant ;D very cute! and in very deep shade
Plants in habitat usually climb up trees and flower in the canopy, where vegetation is shorter, they flower once they climb over the shrubs, so I guess the increase of light/ the full blast sunlight induces flowering. ..
those in bright sun produce smaller basals
Thanks

[kinabalu]

Hello Sunbelle,

when you said : " Amps love to be fertilized! ":
- Is it not too dangerous for this plant, cos after a while, the plant will be addict no ?
- For how long do you give to the plant fertilizer ?
- And which are the results for this plant ?
- Do you use " Osmocote " for the neps ?

I know too much questions....sorry

Thanks.

[jason]

kinabalu said:

Hello Sunbelle,

when you said : " Amps love to be fertilized! ":
- Is it not too dangerous for this plant, cos after a while, the plant will be addict no ?

Thanks.

Addicted? Depends on the fertilizer tolerance level of the plants. For example, if they get high and drunk on fertilizer every day (say for example Michael's plants), then I suppose it will be 'hard' for you to rehabilitate, err I mean acclimatize them to grow without ferts. Probably will revert back to slower growth.

I have heard (and seen) good results with osmocote (nearly twice the height of plants grown with osmocote), but it is a slow release fertilizer. Don't want to be trying that in an enclosed space, may cause mineral buildup. And I want to get a good quality one that I can use to spray all parts of the plant, and be able to monitor the growth after (how many) applications. Also varying the strength will be easier with soluble ferts.

Jason

[sunbelle]

Hi Kinabalu,
no problem. Ask questions anytime. Both winter and summer day temperature can get up to 33 C, in summer even higher for a couple of hours. Summer night temp is typically 24 C.
Winter nights are typically 18 C, with cold nights going down to 10 C--this is mostly in January and February when cold snaps are more frequent. Winter nights will vary, most stay around the 15-18 C. What is important is that during the day the temp is warm, and always humid.
We do not use osmocote, but other growers do. We like to flush water through the pots between fertilizing to remove excess salt build-up. We use an orchid fertilizer that uses no urea for the nitrogen, and contains a good supply of micro-nutrients. It is a formulation manufactured here in Florida by a large commercial orchid grower who sells to Home Depot. At Home Depot it is called "BetterGro" as I recall. They make two formulations, a bloom-booster which we do not use, and the growth fertilizer, which is slightly higher in nitrogen. We can get the exact ratios and post them if you or anyone else is interested. We use it at half recommended strength. We fertilize every two weeks, and we apply to the roots mostly, but it may splash on the foliage or into pitchers. With ampullaria the cluster pitchers get fertilizer too, but it becomes dilute with the first watering afterwards.
If we forgot anything, please ask.

[kinabalu]

Thanks a lot for your answers.

Yes Jason i meant " addicted " ( Sorry cos i'm french

Tell me Sunbelle, or anybody else of course, what does fertilizer do to the Nepenthes, does the plant is getting taller and taller, or will there are more pitchers and much bigger ?

Thanks a lot !

Regards.

[sunbelle]

Fertilizing results in plants growing up to size faster, with more and bigger pitchers.

[jason]

kinabalu said:

Thanks a lot for your answers.

Yes Jason i meant " addicted " ( Sorry cos i'm french

Tell me Sunbelle, or anybody else of course, what does fertilizer do to the Nepenthes, does the plant is getting taller and taller, or will there are more pitchers and much bigger ?

Thanks a lot !

Regards.

I'll let Michael answer that.

Oh, sorry, no, addicted is probably the right word to use.

[sunbelle]

Regarding fertilizer, here's a link describing exactly what we do
www.sunbelleexotics.com/Sunbelle/Culture_Neps_GrowSecrets.htm

Michael has unique conditions and anyone trying fertilizer on Nepenthes for the first time should be careful not to over do it.

[kinabalu]

Thanks a lot Sunbelle

[Volker]

We like to flush water through the pots between fertilizing to remove excess salt build-up

The question is, can you do that with your setup Kina? If you have a closed glass terrarium with no way for the water to flow away, then you might be in trouble if you fertilize (too much). If there is no way for the water to drain, I'd think about milk fertilizing the pitchers instead.
I have some times a pretty low humidity and it doesn't bother the amps at all. They are so close to the soil level, that they are protected from those fluctuations. I grow mine in rain water filled trays with good success. My green house is generally on the bright side, but I allow some weeds to grow up to 3 meters, thus providing shade and climbing opportunities.
Volker