# Nepenthes from Wistuba



## naoki (Nov 19, 2016)

I received my first order from Wistuba of Germany 2 days ago. I've heard lots of things about their plants, but they are vey nice plants in my opinion. Pretty excited! 15 Nepenthes and 3 Heliamphora.







I posted my impression and more photos of individual plants on my blog (link).


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## SFLguy (Nov 19, 2016)

naoki said:


> I received my first order from Wistuba of Germany 2 days ago. I've heard lots of things about their plants, but they are vey nice plants in my opinion. Pretty excited! 15 Nepenthes and 3 Heliamphora.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nice haul!


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## NYEric (Nov 19, 2016)

Cool. I guess these need to be watered?


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## abax (Nov 19, 2016)

Those plants will be stunning when they grow up a bit. If
you have the means, try propagating some non- winged
fruit flies in a small container. That's what I fed my various
group of little, green carnivores and they grew to tremendous size in a terrarium.


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## naoki (Nov 20, 2016)

Eric, yes, I keep them fairly moist (compared to orchids). I don't have lots of experience, but they are "louder" than orchids (i.e., they grow quicker, and complain quickly if they don't like things).

Angela, yes, they will look amazing when they become bigger. I hope they will do ok. I have access to wingless fruitflies, but I have a small zip lock full of mosquitoes in my freezer. I don't like to kill many insects, but I don't have sympathy to mosquitoes. And some of Alaskan mosquitoes are big (the species which come out first in spring). But for Nepenthes, I'm trying fertilizer in the pitchers.


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## Secundino (Nov 20, 2016)

Impressive haul! Wish you all the luck in the world (we'll get the photographs!!!), specially with the Heliamphoras!


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## abax (Nov 20, 2016)

I had pitchers in my terrarium too, but I'd be VERY careful
about putting any kind of fertilizer inside the pouch. I
never fertilized any of the plants in my terrarium with the
exception of live insects and everything grew wonderfully
well.


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## SFLguy (Nov 21, 2016)

I use 1/4 strength balanced orchid fert for my nepenthes and they grow faster than you could imagine


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## SFLguy (Nov 21, 2016)

A friend gave me this veitchii as a seedling in may with quarter inch tall pitchers with no color, they seem to be getting bigger haha


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## naoki (Nov 21, 2016)

I think that the pitchers may not last as long with fertilizer in it. But the plant seems to grow well as SFLguy said. But from reading about more about Nepenthes, higher nutrient availability (in roots) could reduce the rate of pitcher initiation in some species.

SFLguy, I like the nice pink color of your N. veitchii! You mean 1/4 tsp per gallon of fertilizer (something like 20-20-20) by "1/4 strength", right? Do you root-drench the fertilizer or do you put it in the pitchers? I'm doing both. For root, I do something similar to orchids, but less frequently; 10-30ppmN fertilizer including inorganic fert. and fish emulsion, some humid acid, and kelp products like MaxiCrop at 1TBS/gallon. MaxiCrop can increase the EC quite a bit, but I think it is still under 300 microS/cm (150ppm or so of TDS). For the pitcher, I use the same, but also I use Osmocote Plus. I think I rotate one fertiligation with 2 pure water irrigation or so. There isn't a lot of information about Nepenthes root-fertilization (unlike here in ST). People in CP forum talk about the Maxsea, but the manufacturer doesn't supply the enough information, so it is a bit sketchy.


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## SFLguy (Nov 21, 2016)

naoki said:


> I think that the pitchers may not last as long with fertilizer in it. But the plant seems to grow well as SFLguy said. But from reading about more about Nepenthes, higher nutrient availability (in roots) could reduce the rate of pitcher initiation in some species.
> 
> SFLguy, I like the nice pink color of your N. veitchii! You mean 1/4 tsp per gallon of fertilizer (something like 20-20-20) by "1/4 strength", right? Do you root-drench the fertilizer or do you put it in the pitchers? I'm doing both. For root, I do something similar to orchids, but less frequently; 10-30ppmN fertilizer including inorganic fert. and fish emulsion, some humid acid, and kelp products like MaxiCrop at 1TBS/gallon. MaxiCrop can increase the EC quite a bit, but I think it is still under 300 microS/cm (150ppm or so of TDS). For the pitcher, I use the same, but also I use Osmocote Plus. I think I rotate one fertiligation with 2 pure water irrigation or so. There isn't a lot of information about Nepenthes root-fertilization (unlike here in ST). People in CP forum talk about the Maxsea, but the manufacturer doesn't supply the enough information, so it is a bit sketchy.



Yes, they do die quicker but I'm trying to get them to a size where it's not necessary anymore because they're large enough to really enjoy

I've been using 1/4 tsp per gallon of a 16-16-16 fertilizer (Maxsea is the current darling of the CP community from what I've seen and although I don't know much about it, I got what I have for free and it works so far so I can't complain). I'm only doing pitcher fertilizing though I have heard of people fertilizing roots too and having great results. I think if you do that then you'll have to be really drenching the media at least once a month, my water isn't good enough to be used on them regularly so i stick to distilled water which I have less of so I don't drench mine often and feel like they'd suffer if I fertilized the roots without the good drench.

I'm really happy about the veitchii, it started off really green but it's colored up nicely!


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## cnycharles (Nov 23, 2016)

Looks cool. Kind of convenient to provide a ladder to climb up before jumping into oblivion


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## paphioboy (Nov 23, 2016)

15! Instant collection.. lol. Neps are wayyy more forgiving than orchids (paphs at least). Are those mainly highlanders or lowlanders? Lowlanders like a lot of water and can grow into massive bushes of vines. Highlanders are more colourful, like better-draining medium and are more manageable in size.


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## Dandrobium (Nov 25, 2016)

I assume being in Alaska those would be all highland/intermediate. Your macrophylla looks like the same size as mine 

I too just received an order from BC (Borneo Exotics dealer) a few days ago. The big ticket items were small, but the others were 4"+ leafspan. I find them to be a nice compliment to orchids as they require near same conditions. I'd be careful fertilizing though. I've only done diluted coffee so far, but have heard of fertilizing the pitchers. Go dilute and infrequently!

So far, I've got macrophylla, x trusmadiensis, lowii, nigra, veitchii, singalana, fusca, burbidgeae x veitchii, platychila, & over 100 'highland mix' seedlings I started from seed as a trial run. Maybe in 5+ years we can swap pollen!


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## naoki (Nov 27, 2016)

PB, yes they are mainly highlanders with 3 of them intermediate. I agree they seem to be easier and faster than orchids, but I don't have enough experience. I don't know what I'm going to do when they become big. I could keep cutting them, but I would like to see more natural growth.

You have nice species, Dan. Yes, it will take for a while to get them flower from this size. But pollen exchange will be fun.


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## Clark (Nov 27, 2016)

tfs


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## Hien (Dec 1, 2016)

naoki said:


> I received my first order from Wistuba of Germany 2 days ago. I've heard lots of things about their plants, but they are vey nice plants in my opinion. Pretty excited! 15 Nepenthes and 3 Heliamphora.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
How do they do after 10 days?
any wilted leaves ?
mine have a lot of wilted leaves by the second day after being out of the shipping box .


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## SFLguy (Dec 2, 2016)

Hien said:


> How do they do after 10 days?
> any wilted leaves ?
> mine have a lot of wilted leaves by the second day after being out of the shipping box .


A lot of times the old pitchers will dry in the new conditions, something that helps is bagging the plants and slowly opening and then taking them out of the bag over the course of a few weeks


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## naoki (Dec 2, 2016)

Hien, it is still too early to tell, but I think that they are doing ok. Here is a photo. 3rd column from the right isn't Wistuba, but other Nepenthes in this photo are from this import.





It is difficult to tell from this crappy photo, but about a half of the pitchers are drying out (I think it is common as SFLguy said), but leaves are well-hydrated (turgid) and have the shine of healthy plants. Most are still in acclimation shock, so they haven't started to grow. But a few have started to expand the leaves. The only ones I worry a little are N. pitopangii (bottom row, 2nd column from left) and N. flava (2nd column from right, 3rd from the bottom). These two started to drop the lower leaves, but I think they will be ok.

The 3rd column plants (N. attenboroughii and N. jamban) are purchased in mid Sept, and they started to grow recently. So it was quiet for 2 months or so for acclimation. Lowland Nepenthes seem to start to grow quicker (they usually acclimate in 1 month or so) in my grow area.

RH is around 80-90% now, and min/max temp is around 53/67F at this moment.

Which species did you get, Hien?


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## Hien (Dec 2, 2016)

naoki said:


> Hien, it is still too early to tell, but I think that they are doing ok. Here is a photo. 3rd column from the right isn't Wistuba, but other Nepenthes in this photo are from this import.
> Which species did you get, Hien?



I order 12 but they only send 10 and refund the bellii & rafflesiana

bellii (not sent)
macfarlanei
mira
muluensis
nigra
rafflesiana (not sent)
ramispina
spectabilis
surigaoensis
talangensis
tenuis
xiphoides

I just realize from what you said of 80 & 90% RH that I don't have a set up for high humidity , just normal home temperature & humidity, so they may not survive, let's hope some adapt to normal home condition, if not I will have to abandon the idea of growing nepenthes.


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## Hien (Dec 2, 2016)

SFLguy said:


> A lot of times the old pitchers will dry in the new conditions, something that helps is bagging the plants and slowly opening and then taking them out of the bag over the course of a few weeks


 a few plants get bruised leaves inside their own individual flat shipping plastic envelopes, those leaves do not recover.
Thanks for the idea , I rebag all of them in ziplock bags . they stop wilting . 
What worries me is some of them have only a few good leaves left.


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## NYEric (Dec 2, 2016)

I wish these were more common here. Next time I see some decent size ones in Chinatown I will buy them.


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## cnycharles (Dec 2, 2016)

Check out native exotics in ithaca, ny http://nativeexoticsonline.com


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## naoki (Dec 4, 2016)

Very nice haul, Hien. I hope they will acclimate well. I'm growing N. spectabillis in normal home condition (i.e., it isn't in my grow tent), so some of those should be ok with lower RH.

You can buy Nepenthes in Chinatown?? Interesting.

Native Exotics have good stuff (for reasonable price). I've bought quite a few from Pet Fly Trap, too. They have Borneo Exotics pre-order sale occasionally, and the price is pretty decent.


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## Hien (Dec 6, 2016)

naoki said:


> Very nice haul, Hien. I hope they will acclimate well. I'm growing N. spectabillis in normal home condition (i.e., it isn't in my grow tent), so some of those should be ok with lower RH.
> 
> You can buy Nepenthes in Chinatown?? Interesting.
> 
> Native Exotics have good stuff (for reasonable price). I've bought quite a few from Pet Fly Trap, too. They have Borneo Exotics pre-order sale occasionally, and the price is pretty decent.



"You can buy Nepenthes in Chinatown?? Interesting."
Eric says that, not I.
I also doubt that Chinatown would have any nice nepenthes , maybe just a few of the non-descriptive ones?

I think most of the imported ones are in shock is because they are sending not-inpot (I am sure there is a lot of root damage when you pull any nepenthes out of the pots , from my limited observation, nepenthes have barely any roots and they look like thin black sewing threads )

The first nepenthes I bought are the red globosa vikings from Sunbelle , even those large ones suffer from out of pots, so later, I requested the second batch of vikings in-pot shipping.


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## naoki (Dec 8, 2016)

I hear that other people say that Nepenthes doesn't like to be repotted, so you might be right. Compared with orchids, they seem to respond quickly to environmental changes. So even if I change the location, they seem to pause the growth, but resume within a couple weeks. But you are probably right, when I receive Nepenthes in pots, they seem to resume growth a bit earlier than bare root.


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## SFLguy (Dec 8, 2016)

naoki said:


> I hear that other people say that Nepenthes doesn't like to be repotted, so you might be right. Compared with orchids, they seem to respond quickly to environmental changes. So even if I change the location, they seem to pause the growth, but resume within a couple weeks. But you are probably right, when I receive Nepenthes in pots, they seem to resume growth a bit earlier than bare root.



Nepenthes have thinner roots than most if not all orchids and they aren't all that strong either, so ripping them is relatively easy. 
The change in humidity, temperature, and diurnal range definitely slows them down for a period, even more so for slower growing or more finicky species. I've heard of plants taking over a year to acclimate to new conditions. Add on to that the physical damage sustained during shipping and you can see that they can take a while to adjust.


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