FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Currently I have Ampullaria and Mirabilis v. Echinostoma as my main low landers. I'm wondering how Bicalcarata compares to them in terms of cold tolerance? I also have Campanulata but I only got that on the tail end of winter. But Mirabilis survived winter fine in my mini, unheated outdoor greenhouse, which is all I have in terms of a greenhouse. I'm also establishing it now over the warmer months prior to winter, which should help.

Ime bicalcarata doesn't like the cold at all.

According to this chart: //uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016092 ... 45994d.jpg

Bicalcarata is considered as an ultra lowland. I have a bicalcarata 'Marudi' and it's not liking the cold weather in my area, which is 55 degrees F at night. Had to get a heat mat for it.

Very sensitive. I have mine in a large enclosed tall box with two heat mats under it that are always on. If it's falling below 70*F they will not grow well. I would not let them get under 60-65*F ...and I want to specify that they could likely survive that low, but will be in rough shape and recovering afterwards. Above 70 you're safe.

Coco wrote:According to this chart: //uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016092 ... 45994d.jpg

Bicalcarata is considered as an ultra lowland. I have a bicalcarata 'Marudi' and it's not liking the cold weather in my area, which is 55 degrees F at night. Had to get a heat mat for it.

That chart is helpful, cheers. It's a bit blurry for me though - is there a higher quality one online somewhere?

It's a little misleading in some cases, I think, though. Smilesii and Khasiana might both be lowlanders, but they are also noted for their high cold tolerance. I can clearly see, however, that Ampullaria and Mirabilis are more cold tolerant than Bicalcarata if just going by that chart.

I use "Great White" on my neps, which includes Trichoderma, one of the benefits being it helps plants to regulate their stress hormone and to grow better in environmentally stressful conditions. Hopefully that helps some.

SundewWolf wrote:Very sensitive. I have mine in a large enclosed tall box with two heat mats under it that are always on. If it's falling below 70*F they will not grow well. I would not let them get under 60-65*F ...and I want to specify that they could likely survive that low, but will be in rough shape and recovering afterwards. Above 70 you're safe.

I will consider having a heat mat on stand by just in case, cheers. I will try and see how it goes in the unheated greenhouse first. Definitely getting the impression it's one of the more finicky with cold. I do have a campanulata as well, which I got at the tail end of winter, and while it didn't have prolonged exposure to the full brunt of cold weather, it did still get several cold weeks and it didn't seem to mind, and that also seems to be listed as an Ultra Lowlander, so maybe I'll be okay.

If I remember in roughly 6 months time I'll try and report back how it went. Still interested to hear how any one else went with it.

Here's a better link: http://www.michaelkevinsmith.com/nepent ... Chart.html

jpappy789 wrote:Here's a better link: http://www.michaelkevinsmith.com/nepent ... Chart.html

That's helpful, cheers.

Also fwiw there's this one which is tailored a little bit more by species rather than broad elevation groups. https://www.carnivorousplants.co.uk/res ... ive-guide/

I can't vouch for how accurate it is, but suggests absolute lower limit for bicals at about 60F/16C. Seems to match up with the previous replies here.

jpappy789 wrote:Also fwiw there's this one which is tailored a little bit more by species rather than broad elevation groups. https://www.carnivorousplants.co.uk/res ... ive-guide/

I can't vouch for how accurate it is, but suggests absolute lower limit for bicals at about 60F/16C. Seems to match up with the previous replies here.

That's pretty awesome, very useful, thanks! I think there must be some inconsistencies, because it appears to be basing a lot of it's data off of elevation still, whereas khasiana is rumoured to survive down to at least 5c, possibly even lower for brief periods. It's been hard to pin point an exact number, but it's very cold tolerant - partly because it's from a different part of the world, in India.

I suspect the Bical information is fairly correct, however, at least in terms of what it's naturally exposed to, so it will be interesting to see how much a species can be pushed given the right care. From what I've heard, though, highlanders tend to cope with heat better than lowlanders cope with cold. My highlanders so far are coping with 37c+ days fine outdoors, but under high shade.