My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

Hi everyone, this is my first post. I am well experienced when it comes to growing Nepenthes, and i have not seen anything like this before. My N. mirablis var. echinostoma produces a thick salty discharge from the peristome. I noticed this and tasted it, expecting nectar, but it didn`t taste sweet at all, instead it was distinctly salty. The plant grows and pitchers very well, producing a pitcher on every leaf. I don`t ever fertilise and the plants get RO water with a TDS of 0, so it can`t be any type of chemical or mineral. I removed the salty "nectar" and it returned within a few days.

I have not heard of Nepenthes producing this type of salty discharge, i wonder what it would be used to attract? I have attached an average snapshot to show the health of the lower pitchers. Ideas anyone?

http://www.greenelectrichome.com/echinostoma.jpg

Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

Hi...I have it too....I've tasted its nectar on the peristrome and it tasted sweet...There was so much sugar deposit till you can see small white stuff on the peristrome..

Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

Hi Durban,

Wow! I think you're the first South Africa member on the forum. Welcome, welcome!

Can't find the salty discharge. Is it on the peristome itself. Does this happen to all the pitchers?

Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

Hi and welcome to PP.. :) Sorry, can't help you with the problem but that's a very nice mirabilis var. echinostoma..

Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

Hello, yes, there do not seem to be many South Africans on the forum, thanks. Yes, the discharge is on the peristome itself, not the lid. So far every pitcher produced has the salty "nectar". The plant is still producing lower pitchers, so i don`t know if this is specific to them or not.

Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

Thanks! I have noticed that this plant has a tendency to be a fussy pitcher-producer, but for me it produces pitchers quicker than any of my other plants, even Rafflesiana. From pitcher bud to lid opening it takes only 2 weeks, probably due to the thin-walled nature of it`s traps.

Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

Can you share the conditions where your plant grows? To me this is a very fussy plant. Great that your plant is doing so well.

Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

Hi Durban,
Very interesting nep you have there!! Usually pitchers will secrete nectars to attract insects... But now since you discover your pitcher produce salty deposits, it's sort of make sense to me... *biggrin2*

Anyone remember seeing Wildlife documentary/when trekking in the forest on how insects (especially butterflies) congregate in large numbers in one spot "licking" mineral salts from the ground ?? I think some animals also behaved to same way... Might this N. mirabilis "found" another way to attract it's intented prey?? Hmm.... :confused: Very interesting indeed... :laugh:

BTW, welcome to PP and looking forward to see your pics on your collection, thanks.

Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

Welcome to the fourm. How long have you grow it ? I can't wait for mine get that big.

Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

Welcome to the forum Durban! :smile:


Cpnut,

That does make sense, and plus, the plant would just be getting rid of extra salts rather than waste energy making nectar with sugars.

Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

These are my growing conditions:

All my lowland Nepenthes are in a hermetically sealed greenhouse outside under a metal awning. People often ask why i don`t grow them in the open. Well, while our weather is very sunny and warm, the humidity can drop really low for months on end, so keeping the plants in a greenhouse solves this. I keep the greenhouse out the sun or else it would cook, also it protects it from our violent storms in Summer, when we often get golf ball-size hail and damaging winds.

Light: The plants get indirect daylight (no sun), they also get 800W of Metal Halide and HO fluorescent lighting 14 hours a day.

Temps: 30c-32c in the day, 26c-28c at night, often the temps can reach 38c in the day in Summer.

Humidity: 70%-90%

Media: 2/4 Canadian Sphagnum Peat, 1/4 Perlite (dead), 1/4 Medium Pine Bark

Watering: Once weekly with RO water, 0 PPM

I have had the plant for almost a year and a half, but only recently has it`s nectar tasted salty. I`ve noticed that it never has more than three living pitchers on it at any one time, and that the lids wither long before the pitchers die, often a month before this. Also, it is doing something else unbelievable, see my other thread for the crazy details!

Hope this all helps.

http://www.greenelectrichome.com/_DSC0744.JPG

Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

Thanks, you are totally right, many butterflies will drink out muddy pools or even other animal`s urine, i see it where i live quite often. The only way to know for sure is to camp out in front of one of the wild plants for a few days and monitor what insects it catches. I bet it`s a butterfly specialist!

Re: My N. Mirabilis var. echinostoma has a salty peristome!
 

I'm not sure how nepenthes will be able to catch Butterflies, as I imagine the wings will be too bit to fit in most mouths/opening, unless it's a small species of butterfly. Maybe some other kind of insect that has the need for salt like butterflies? Another way is to inspect and do a study on what insects are found in pitchers in the wild.

TTFN
Arvin