- Mon Jan 31, 2022 8:17 pm
#398912
Good news:
Nepenthes will grow in LOTS of suitable medias.
Bad News: what you will get the best results with depends upon the individual plant, pot size, watering habits, fertilizing, humidity, temperatures, and where you grow.
LFS/Perlite is the choice media of the majority of growers. The majority of growers are growing in a controlled space, such a greenhouse, terrarium, grow tent, or otherwise protected place.
I grow primarily exposed to the sun and rain of South Florida. I also foliar feed and wet the substrate with the solution. In my conditions, LFS grows too many ferns, slime algae, and it decomposes rapidly under Summer conditions.
I’ve moved to a less organic mixture of washed coconut husk chips, washed perlite, washed lava stone, orchiata bark, and bonsai mix ( premium, tropical, or boons mix from superflybonsai.com ). This isn’t inexpensive or simple, BUT it last for virtually ever, and plants people have historically struggled with are thriving. I grow mostly lowland species, with a few intermediates and have about 20 species.
They come indoors from Nov-March to wait out the chills and low humidity of Winter, but are outdoors on my screen lanai, in a lattice house March-Nov. They thrive outdoors and the intermediates do better indoors, with some sooty mold causing some cosmetic concerns while they are in indoor conditions, since I don’t have ideal ventilation in my temporary holding area.