- Mon Sep 28, 2020 5:35 am
#366214
Think what's most important is not letting the media get too dry. I've had experience with pitchers dying off from not having the media damp enough. I live in Florida too and find myself watering a lot, especially if you're keeping it in the sun. LFS works well for maintaining moisture at a nice level while supplying aeration to the roots. I'll typically do a 50/50 sphagnum/perlite or something like 40/30/30 Sphaghnum/Perlite/Orchid bark as a mix for Nepenthes. Most do well in soil mixes like that. Peat moss, not so much. Ventricosas are supposedly very tough and adaptable. The newest leaf on the one burning out still looks healthy. I think your ping probably died from inhabitable conditions, tbh. Both Pings and Neps grow in climates outside of ours and don't really enjoy direct sunlight here (except the warm temperates like primuliflora). Neps generally like bright shade (indirect) all day.
Also if the pitchers are drying out on the newer ones and you don't see any liquid in them, fill them up a bit with some distilled or RO water. Every time I got a Nep and didn't do that, they all dried out from losing their fluid in shipping. They react in different ways and don't tolerate changes in their environment well. I've had them act out in several different ways if I didn't carefully adapt it.
This also might be a silly question, but what kind of water are you using to water them? Nepenthes are tougher but they still need low mineral water, RO or Distilled. I wouldn't do tap water over 50 ppm. Humidity definitely won't be the problem for Nepenthes. Virtually all of them do best in high humidity. Ventricosa is considered an intermediate plant, they're likely not going to thrive in direct Florida sun for any length of time, especially during the tail end of Summer. I'll bet it hasn't had that kind of light exposure before. Florida sun in 9b is brutal, I imagine where you are it is straight abusive lol. If you can, try putting them into a semi-shaded spot for a time and see how they do. It'll improve during the Fall, I'm sure. I have a Rafflesiana x Mira that I kind of adapted to heavier sun but it took a beating to get there. It's had a rough life lol, I'm determined to do right by it now. Just don't keep it outside when it starts getting "cold." Look into Ventricosa care as all Neps have their own nuances. Those are supposedly easier to care for (next on my list probably lol) but a general idea and knowledge of the plant will go a long way. It does help that all of your plants are ventricosa based. The Diana probably won't like the sun at all, it's crossed with a highland but probably has the tolerance of the mother (Ventricosa)
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