|
|
Post by kohwei on Jul 21, 2009 19:02:56 GMT 7
Hey forum, my name is Coeway and i would probably be doing a year long experiment regarding highland Nepenthes. I live in Singapore, a tropical country, where temperatures hardly drop below 25degree Celcius and there have been some debates about what highland Nepenthes truly need in order to grow in our climate.
Some believe that the cold temperature is what causes the highlanders to thrive in our climate, while some believe that it is the temperature drop which allows them to thrive, instead of both. If the latter is so, it means that all we probably need to do is to have the Nepenthes put in an air con room, or around 18degree Celcius, at night, and that would be all, leaving the plant in the sun and high temperature in the afternoon. What i would like to know is if there truly is such a debate and if it is possible that the factors affecting is only ONE of them rather than BOTH. What do you think?
|
|
|
|
Post by marcello catalano on Jul 21, 2009 20:25:00 GMT 7
The temperature drop is the key, but most species are used to their own temperatures and won't grow well in environments where the temperatures are too different from the ones of their habitat. So, most highland species will grow fine with 10 C by night and 30 C by day, even if in their habitat they get maybe 5 C and 24 C, for example. But once you go too far from their range of tollerance, you'll get more plants having problems, and the problems will be bigger the more you go far from that range. Again, for example, if instead of 10 C by night you give 18 C, then instead of having the 10% of plants that are not too happy, you will have the 60% of plants that are quite unhappy  If you mean that the drop itself can be the key, so that instead of 10-30 C, you're planning to give 20-40 C, I don't really think that will work. It's true that they like the drop, more than the low temperature for itself, but again, that drop must stay within their tollerance range, that for most species is not so wide. Of course, if with highland species you include khasiana, ventricosa, alata etc, those will grow anywhere! Lots of people use air-con devices, garages, basements and water-walls (or whatever is the name of those great things, they work so well!) with good success. |
|
|
|
Post by delwin on Jul 22, 2009 7:38:44 GMT 7
I second marcellocatalano comments. I am growing HL neps in Singapore. So far, they are growing well with pitchers. Some HL plants are not so sensitive to temp but more on humidity. You can try to grow them in you room temp by day, and give them aircon treatment by night. But aircon will kill your humid.
The best way to plant HL neps in order for them to do well, is to plant them in a tank. However as i said earlier, not all HL neps are really that demanding, some can grow even in my balcony.
|
|
|
|
Post by mikulas on Jul 22, 2009 20:20:25 GMT 7
hi delwin - it would be interesting to know which of your highlanders are the least demanding, and which you are able to grow on your balcony. That could save others a lot of time & experimentation  |
|
|
|
Post by delwin on Jul 23, 2009 12:48:21 GMT 7
Sanguinea, veitchii, burbidgeae x edwardsiana are least demanding....
Jamban, hamata, aristo and alot more are demanding.....
So these are the top 3 ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by lazarus on Jul 23, 2009 23:55:34 GMT 7
I think this mostly applies to clones or seed originating from the wild. A generation of seed grown plants developed in cultivation would seem to exhibit greater hardiness by virtue of the fact that the the seedlings that grow fastest in this unnatural environment are the ones most suited to it genetically, leading to the development and spread of a gene pool in cultivation that doesn't adhere to the environmental conditions the species lives under in the wild.
|
|
|
|
Post by justjack on Jul 24, 2009 5:20:26 GMT 7
I think this mostly applies to clones or seed originating from the wild. A generation of seed grown plants developed in cultivation would seem to exhibit greater hardiness by virtue of the fact that the the seedlings that grow fastest in this unnatural environment are the ones most suited to it genetically, leading to the development and spread of a gene pool in cultivation that doesn't adhere to the environmental conditions the species lives under in the wild. Unnatural re-selection? |
|
|
|
Post by MarkA on Jul 25, 2009 21:12:35 GMT 7
I agree, the clones that survive are those that are best adatped to the conditions, they may be the clones that would have died in the wild.
|
|
|
|
Post by quogue on Jul 28, 2009 0:15:41 GMT 7
Growing HLers in a very Temperate climate such as Long Island, NY can be challenging.
You really don't know if you're doing it right until you go through all the seasons of at least two years.
I grow my HLers somewhat seasonally, where it's cold in the Winter (upper 40's to mid 60's) perfect in the Spring (around 60-75) and A/Ced in the Summer which gets it to around (70-80) and back to those perfect temps in the Fall.
During the Winter, the plants grow much slower but the most healthy & beautifully!
When things warm up they grow much quicker but get exhausted once things get too warm for too long and start to suffer.
The cooler they get in the Winter, the more heat they can take in the Summer it seems...
Also what seems to happen is the growth of the plant stretches into the next season.
The plants get kinda hit in the Summer and take awhile to recuperate throughout the Fall and grow slowly in the Winter regaining their health and generally do best for me from Spring to early Summer.
Also in the Summer, I use refridgerated water for the plants and refridgerated water for misting.
Say it's pointless? Think of a hot day at the beach... take a dip in the Ocean and it's quite refreshing!
Year-round warm/hot temps and most HLers would collapse sooner or later I would think.
The plants seem to enjoy cool temps more than any temp-swing in my experience. The warmth of the swing just helps the plants grow a little faster it seems to me.
Hope this helps Kohwei
|
|
|
|
Post by macamus3 on Aug 12, 2009 3:50:28 GMT 7
You can put N. khasiana on that list. I have been growing one in Inter./lowland conditions for quite some time. It actually grows faster in the summer months when it get solid lowland temps. and higher light levels. Most list this species as a highlander. It also has adapted to low humidity levels and still pitchers.
|
|
|
|
Post by delwin on Aug 12, 2009 7:28:04 GMT 7
I second mac view on N. khasiana, mine also growing well at my balcony, low humid and hot. Another to add in is N. lowii x muluensis.
|
|
talos
New Member
Posts: 20
|
Post by talos on Aug 12, 2009 15:04:08 GMT 7
i've been growing neps for a couple of years in singapore and i realise that some highlanders actually do really well in lowland conditions.
take veitchii bario for example.
only difference in lowland is that the pitchers are a little smaller.
i guess as long as some requirements such as ample humidity and light are met, then its no problem at all.
sanguinea is not bothered by l/l conditions at all.
burbi x ed seems does well and pitcher as long as there's sufficient humidity.
even sibuyanensis pitchers in singapore, albeit having smaller pitchers.
there's no need for a highland chamber for some of these.
of course hamata and rajah are those that will get cranky and die whenever there's a sudden heat wave.
i had a rajah that was pitchering well but it died quite abruptly due to the sudden rise in temp i'm guessing.
a friend of mine is growing boschiana x densiflora (BE) and has great results.
also EP's lowii x camp.
|
|
|
|
Post by nepsaroundthehouse on Aug 12, 2009 20:45:20 GMT 7
My growing conditions don't get hot enough over a long period of time to see the effects of warm temperatures on highlanders. I have tried growing some as windowsill plants with limited success but most highlanders didn't like it. Here's some plants I've found that don't like lower temperatures as highlanders that other highlanders appear to tolerate.
N. boschiana, burbidgeae, veitchii, platychila, vogelii, fusca (some forms), eustachya, ventricosa (some forms), highland truncatas, alata (some forms), sibuyanensis (could be a humidity thing too) that stress during my colder months.
I'm not saying these are lowlanders but these species appear to be closer to intermediates and those type of temperatures.
Joel
|
|
|
|
Post by vraev on Aug 12, 2009 21:59:23 GMT 7
I truly support "lag effecT" as someone here already posted: The effects of heat waves on plants can be seen in the subsequent growing seasons. I think even Jeff once mentioned that....N. villosa can be easy when its small....but if not given significant night time cooling in the required temperature range....it can easily get tired from all the fast paced growth and give up. I do myself notice a increase in my highland plant leaf production....but for the most part...the early leaves were a bit distorted....pitchers open prematurely etc. Regarding highlanders that don't like it tooo cold: (48-50F at night and 70F day max temps) N. ramispina, N. rajah are ones in my collection that I found which don't really appreciate these intensely low temps.
|
|
talos
New Member
Posts: 20
|
Post by talos on Aug 12, 2009 22:29:15 GMT 7
interesting to know that some highlanders actually don't like it too cold.
here we are in singapore thinking that these highlanders prefer very low temps.
boschiana seems to do well in our local l/l climate.
veitchii x platychila is extremely slow.
puts out one leaf in a month or so.
highland truncatas grow pretty well though the heat makes the pitchers a little smaller.
any leaf deformities that we experience are due to heat stress (for highlanders) or fluctuating humidity levels (for lowlanders)
|
|
