FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

My heli (H. minor) is growing a couple of adult pitchers. (pics later).

Just wondering if this is a good indicator of good care. I only worry a bit, as my temperatures regularly hit 85 or so during the day. Nights get down to 68-70. I'm expecting a new adult plant from Native Exotics this week, and hope to do as well with it, as I have with this plant from FTS. I have heard, however, that adult plants are more picky than young plants.

Otherwise, I water regularly to keep media damp, and fertilize every two weeks. Keep it under T8's (about 4" or so).

Up until a couple of weeks ago I had it under T5's, but needed more plant space, so I renovated my grow room with new shelves and 4 ft. T8's at each shelf. It was growing at the same temperatures then, so I'm guessing it won't be stressed any more that it has (maybe) been.

Congrats on the adult pitchers! Yes, I would say that's a good indicator of good care.

The H. minor we sell is extremely forgiving. I've let them get up into the 90s and even 100s and they can do OK. They don't like it, but they don't die either as long as they get a good temperature drop at night. I think most H. minors are this way. Not sure if that's what you're getting from Native Exotics or not? If it's a different species, you might want to be more careful with the higher temperatures.

Thanks Matt. Yeah, I'm getting an adult H. minor from NE. Hope it grows as easily as this one has.

BTW, are the heli's you sell from tc, or natural division?

They're almost all out of TC, though I did divide up one of my larger H. minors this year and I think some of the divisions were sold.

Pics added. The two larger front pitchers. Left and right.

Interestingly, all other growth has stopped since these two pitchers started growing. There are at least four growth points in this plant, and each were producing pretty much a new juvenile pitcher every other week until these guys showed up. Energy use?

It will slow down when adult pitchers are produced. Try feeding it a bit and it may pick back up again

kcbugs wrote:My heli (H. minor) is growing a couple of adult pitchers. (pics later).

Just wondering if this is a good indicator of good care. I only worry a bit, as my temperatures regularly hit 85 or so during the day. Nights get down to 68-70. I'm expecting a new adult plant from Native Exotics this week, and hope to do as well with it, as I have with this plant from FTS. I have heard, however, that adult plants are more picky than young plants.

Otherwise, I water regularly to keep media damp, and fertilize every two weeks. Keep it under T8's (about 4" or so).

Up until a couple of weeks ago I had it under T5's, but needed more plant space, so I renovated my grow room with new shelves and 4 ft. T8's at each shelf. It was growing at the same temperatures then, so I'm guessing it won't be stressed any more that it has (maybe) been.

Congrats for your new pitchers Its a nice healthy h.minor var minor you got there! You can trust matt's heliamphoras(all other plants too) at 100%.

Also, like other growers said, dont worry about the high temps as long they are not extreme. From my opinion, h.minor* clones do not need very cool temperatures to grow. But cooler temperatures are needed to thrive.

Each grow point rarely push 2 pitchers at the same time, and sometimes a growing point do not make any pitcher for a month or more. Its perfectly normal. Your plant have to work on the roots too, this will sometimes slow dowm the pitchers production

Also like cory said, feeding will help a lot!

Looks great Jeff!

Maiden wrote:Congrats for your new pitchers Its a nice healthy h.minor var minor you got there! You can trust matt's heliamphoras(all other plants too) at 100%.

Also, like other growers said, dont worry about the high temps as long they are not extreme. From my opinion, h.minor* clones do not need very cool temperatures to grow. But cooler temperatures are needed to thrive.

Each grow point rarely push 2 pitchers at the same time, and sometimes a growing point do not make any pitcher for a month or more. Its perfectly normal. Your plant have to work on the roots too, this will sometimes slow dowm the pitchers production

Also like cory said, feeding will help a lot!

Thank you very much Maiden. Agreed, Matt has never let me down on plant quality.

I'm reading more and more from others on other sites, that H. minor is very tough, and high temps don't seem to bother it. I've never had any reason to think it wasn't healthy. It's been growing very well. I've had plenty of weeks where all 4 growth points were pushing new pitchers, and that impresses me to watch. However, I have also read that adult H. minor's are not so forgiving. My only concern is, that as this plant grows, it will dislike it's conditions. Not so much of a concern any more, as you, Cory, and Matt have made me a bit more comfortable with the subject. I'm also using trichoderma in my media as of late. Hopefully all my plants root systems will benefit. Hoping my ceph's do as well as the heli has done so far.

Just a side note, you have the most beautiful heli's, and whenever you post photos, I can't believe the beauty of your plants. You are truly a great grower!!!

Jeff

Don't worry so much.
If it's been fine to this point keep doing what your doing and don't let it get to hot...
That's all they really are not that hard to grow

Cory wrote:Don't worry so much.
If it's been fine to this point keep doing what your doing and don't let it get to hot...
That's all they really are not that hard to grow

Thanks Cory. I guess I've been polluted by all the "Heliamphora are for advanced growers" articles and care sheets I've read...

They do seem unusually easy.

That's why they are hard.
It's because people make to big deal out of it through worrying....

Few simple rules and that's all there is to it..

Minor is more forgiving and will tolerate more heat/ lower humidity. Some species will not..

So as a blanket statement.

Extremely Bright light. Temps below 80*F during the day. And high humidity along with regular waterings.

Simple. Ignore the grow sheets

Thx for the kind words jeff

Cory: just for you:

Heliamphora minor var pilosa clone A


Heliamphora minor var pilosa by dals009, on Flickr

Heliamphora minor 'burgundy-black'


Heliamphora minor 'burgundy-black' by dals009, on Flickr

Gnak gnak gnak (evil laugh)

how many t8s do you use?