FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

My wife wants a Nep, and I wouldn't mind getting her one. However, I have my own cp babies and would most likely end up taking over its care.
With that in mind, is there a type of Nep that would be OK on a windowsill for a good chunk of the year, relatively easy and hardy, and stay small? By small, I mean an adult that would be comfortable in a 3 or 4 inch pot.
I already have peat, perlite, lfsm, and distilled, I just need to find her one for herself. I don't need criticism on keeping it on a windowsill, or 8 different "best" ways to care for one as she is doing her own research on raising it. I will help until I have to take over, if I have to.
Thanks in advance,
Chef

How is she doing research on how to care for a Nep if you don't know which one you want? You are doing it backwards. Depending on if its lowland, intermediate or highland (and all the different species in-between) they all require different growing conditions.

And why would you not want to know the best way to care for the one you end up picking out? Growing plants the way you want instead of the way it has evolved to grow and thrive is a recipe for a dead plant.

Starting out I would recommend the Ventrata. Its bullet proof. But it will not stay small for long which isn't a big deal, just trim it down. Even if you did that you would still need a bigger pot than 4".

Sadly, not many Neps can stay in a 4 inch pot for their whole life. The smallest species is Argentii, but it is not so common. Some other small species are: N. talengensis and N. tenuis. I don't think these are small enough for a 4in pot, but they are the smallest of the genus. I recommend a N. X Ventrata. They're practically bullet proof, but do grow quite large (I've seen one with a couple 10 ft vines).
Hope this helps!
Nepenthes0260

My windowsill currently houses at house temps and humidity:

N. ventrata
N. burkei X hamata
N. dubia X ventricosa
N. ventricosa X hamata
N. aristocoides X ventricosa
N. ampullaria X ventricosa ('Bloody Mary'/'Lady Luck')

Some pitcher more than others, most are young but have been on the windowsill for 3-18 months.

They will all vine eventually.

Evenwind, Nepenthes0260, Jeeper, thank you for your great suggestions and advice without the condescending critique of the other one. I'll look into these and see if any might be able to fill this small niche until I find a different solution. Hanging basket maybe?
Chef

Also keep in mind when selecting a species that depending on where you live, you might be able to more easily provide either lowland or highland conditions.

Definitely lowland where I am in Tennessee. But someone in another forum suggested Cephalotus, any thoughts on them anyone?
Chef

Ventrata is a nice and easy hybrid. As others mentioned they can grow quite tall as vines, but you can just chop them and they grow new shoots from the cut point, or form basal shoots, so you can perpetually have small plants if you just keep chopping them back every year. There are probably other good ones but the only neps I have ever bought are ventrata, miranda, and bicalcarata, so my input on possible good neps to choose is limited.

Cephalotus is a little more tricky, but from my experience not the worst plant to try and grow. All I do is grow mine under some fluorescent lights in a tray with my tropical sundews and water it like anything else (soak it and then re-water when the surface soil starts to dry). They seem to like a more 'open' mix so I use about 60/40 lava rock and peat, but also put them in oversized pots so the soil moisture is more stable even though it drains well. Would windowsill growing with no additional light be possible? probably, but it would have to be fairly sunny for a good portion of the day. The remedy is as simple as buying a good growlight (mine are under some daylight CFL bulbs) so up to you. It's not too hard, but a common hardy nepenthes hybrid will definitely be easier.