FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Okay, I've got two very rare Nepenthes Ventrata that I think I need to repot. Would a basic dried sphagnum and perlite mix be okay? These are from cuttings that are currently in a 4" pot of peat and perlite and each has a couple of pitchers. I thought about mixing a little locally sourced pine bark in with the moss and perlite...maybe bake it or microwave it before mixing it in to kill any bad critters. Good idea??? Bad idea???

I just use spag and perlite. I don't like bark it breaks down and gets mushy over time. Not sure it matters to ventrata i have heard of it growing in potting soil. my vent came in peat in 2019 and its still in it i just packed spag around it to hold more water. It grows multi vines like 6ft+ every summer.

i have my ventrata potted in a bucket of rusty nails and shredded newspaper. it's already grown 2 round trips between the ceiling and table.
jk jk i use peat/perlite. if it ain't broke, don't fix it

So, I don't need to ask what size nails or if you include the Sunday color comics???

Well, since my ventrata is exceedingly rare I may go ahead and do some Better-Gro orchid moss and perlite...pamper it a little, maybe. Of course, it *has* rooted and grown well in the peat and perlite mix (a little heavier on the perlite). Thanks for all the feedback! Signed, "OCD-Me"

What makes a ventrata "exceedingly rare"? inquiring minds want to know

Legitimate question! Answers are $5, mumblings are $2.50. Hey, it's tough all over, ya know!

But, being the supportive, enabling, and downright nice person that you are I'm gonna give you a freebie!!!

This is exceedingly rare Nepenthes Ventrata because it is the *only* nep that I have. Furthermore, it came to me as cuttings...and I haven't killed it...yet. Sadly, it would have been only semi-rare had the Lady Luck I got about the same time had survived my fumbling care. So, relatively speaking, this is an exceedingly rare nep for me. (In thinking about it, I'm not certain I can really say "relatively" because of kinfolk situations, but, well, that's another story! )

Ya know, if I put it on eBay and explained the situation clearly and concisely as I usually explain things, I could probably get a hundred or two for it. But, it was a gift, or I won it, or something...so I'll hang on to it.

Hmmm, eBay....

I generally use a mix of Spag and orchid mix, which is a bark, charcoal, perlite mix. But then I grow a lot of orchids. Orchid mix isn’t too expensive either if you do get it from someplace like Lowe’s/Home Depot/Menards. It does allow for a bit more breathability around the roots, and the plants seem to do just fine. in your area, I think I’d worry about something like peat moss simply because with your high humidity, I would just think you might be better off some that has a bit more breathability and dries out a little bit more. But whatever you found works just go with that!

Well, I'm thinking about sticking with the peat/perlite mix...a little heavy on the perlite and with maybe a few strands of sphagnum mixed in. Add a top dressing of some dried sphagnum moss and "let'er go!".

The plant(s) are currently together in a 4" nursery pot. I haven't looked at the roots since they've rooted so I have no idea what's there. I've been keeping it inside over the winter and it gets subjected to a humidity range of between 35-60 percent with every-other day splashes of top-watering and a misting. I know there's been a few times I didn't give it bi-daily water and it was "dry" looking. Just now I looked at the grow mix and, though I watered yesterday, it seems to be dry *and* hard. So, maybe I haven't looked as closely as I should have. After seeing the dry(ish) mix I'm reassessing whether to go more with LFSM/orchid moss in the mix.

Regardless of the mix, I do have a concern with the small pot drying out too quickly this summer as it will be moved outside to a shady spot "somewhere" and it gets HOT down here and can either be humid enough to carve a chunk of humidity out with a knife...or the ponds go dry and creeks stop flowing. But, whatever the case, somehow you can rest assured your shirt will be soaked with sweat just walking to the mailbox. So, do you think that going from a 4" to a 6" pot will be enough to hold these two rootings for a year or two? Should I separate the two rootings into their own pots? Thanks!

Here is some shots of the pot. The 4" pot is sitting inside the hanging basket and the plant is outside for the photo-op. Each plant has two pitchers, though one pitcher (one that has basically been on the shaded side of the pot, is dying from the top end. I'm thinking of feeding a pitcher on each plant with either a single Osmocote pellet or either a beta-min pellet or two...any thoughts on feeding them?

I'm with @DragonsEye on this one.

I think the breath-ability helps when you've got a pretty humid growing environment (especially with highlanders). I've got a few Neps that are in straight sphagnum or just sphagnum and perlite, and they do well but I bet they'd be better once they're in an even more open mix.

Intheswamp wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2024 5:40 pm Here is some shots of the pot. The 4" pot is sitting inside the hanging basket and the plant is outside for the photo-op. Each plant has two pitchers, though one pitcher (one that has basically been on the shaded side of the pot, is dying from the top end. I'm thinking of feeding a pitcher on each plant with either a single Osmocote pellet or either a beta-min pellet or two...any thoughts on feeding them?
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IMG_5406a (Custom).JPG

Wish my cuttings looked like that. right now they have leaves and are putting out pitchers but the pitchers themselves aren't growing. I'm currently debating on whether I should repot or let the cuttings grow some nice pitchers and then repot. I think that the cuttings are growing bad because I forgot to water them a few times

So would it be better to repot or to wait a little and then repot?
The cuttings are in three inch pots. (i think)
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I do my cuttings outside in the open air in July when the humidity is at its peak. This is a photo from today. WTS cuttings =p



@Panman if you want to avoid misting fill a shot glass and use it to submerge undeveloped tendrils.