FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I've noticed that N. ventricosa x (maxima x talangensis) has come back in stock. I think this plant looks pretty cool. Is it a good plant for someone who's never grown Nepenthes? According to Carnivero, it is an easy plant (but how easy).

Most hybrids are a bit tougher of a plant, and by that I mean hardy, easier to handle. For $15 from carnivero, that would be a risk I would be willing to take.
However, just remember that Neps can take months to recover. They ship OK, not showing much in the way of visible stress, but pretty much stall out for a bit. Hang it in a sunny windowsill, keep it moist, and give it time.

Not having grown it, and only reading Carnivero's description, I think it would be a good choice for a first nepenthes. It's hitting all the highlights of what to look for (marked as "intermediate" with words of "vigorous", "windowsill" and "wide range of conditions"). I will note that, at least in my personal experience, Carnivero tends to err on the side of caution when they write their descriptions. For example, if it's an intermediate plant but it's on the higher end of intermediate temps, they'll often mark it as a "highland" plant. They also tend to overplay the difficulty of the plant somewhat, and overemphasize the need for bag acclimatization. Which I'm perfectly fine with to err on the side of caution, by the way, but just mentioning it.

But ChefDean is correct. The plant, even if a vigorous grower, is likely to go into "shock" for a month at least, sometimes 6 months. Nearly all nepenthes does it. Typically the plant stops growing and just sits there, occasionally pitchers will die back and new pitchers won't grow. Once it's used to it's space, it'll take off growing. The same applies when you repot the plant, or change rooms. Some nepenthes are impacted more by these conditions than others though (I think I can cut up my sangunea and put it in a trash can and it'll keep growing as if it didn't notice a difference, while if I look weird at my vogelii it'll stop growing).