Nepenthes Entry - July 2009

[David]

Entry 01 - N. boschiana

[David]

Entry 02 - N. xhookeriana

[David]

Entry 03 - N. ampullaria "green"

[David]

Entry 04 - N. xgentle

[David]

Entry 05 - N. xmiranda

[David]

Entry 06 - N. ampullaria "speckle"

[David]

Below are the judges' comments on the entries for this competition. I think the judges were very detailed in their comments and this is good as it will help us improve our plants. Hope members will take this positively and improve.

The judges would like to see a bit more careful preparation put into the plants before submission. A lot of simple things like grooming, weed removal, repotting, etc. can go a long way towards scoring better in the judges' eyes.


Entry 01 N. boschiana

Well-grown plant, healthy sphagnum is a good sign. There is some yellowish discoloration underneath some of the leaves (possibly caused by fungus) but otherwise the plant is in good condition. It is young, though.

Nicely grown and presented, free of pests.

Beautiful specimen of a beautiful species. Really like the presentation of this plant, grown in a bank of moss. Cultivated specimen is clearly very healthy and vigorous - beautiful pitchers, good size and good colouration!

- 3 votes


Entry 02 N. x hookeriana

Good mature plant. Would have benefitted from having the dead pitchers
removed. Also more upper pitchers (which can be helped by allowing the
tendril to curl around something) would be better.

This is a very well grown plant

- 2 votes


Entry 03 N. ampullaria

Although healthy this is pretty much just a standard plant, nothing really
special about it.

Another well-grown and presented plant

Entry 04 N. x gentle

Well grown plant, nice abundance of pitchers. Nothing really wrong with it
but this hybrid is very easy to grow.

A nice plant, but there is some yellowing on the older leaves.

- 1 vote


Entry 05 N. x miranda

Nice mature pitcher but otherwise this plant is not particularly competition
quality.

The pitcher is nice, but the pot is broken and the mix looks old. The main problem with this entry is the presentation.

Entry 06 N. ampullaria

This plant would need better grooming (i.e. dead pitchers removed) to be
even considered for competition.

A well-grown plant, but there are some dead pitchers around the base... a little more attention required for presentation.

Entry 07 N. gracilis

Plants submitted for the competition should be photographed alone (i.e. the other pots sitting on this one should be removed for the photo). Otherwise not a bad plant, though it is lacking in outstanding characteristics.

There are three plants in this photo. I am not sure what I should judge. I’ll do the plant in the largest pot... it’s a nicely grown plant, just some more attention to detail required regarding presentation of pot and mix.

Entry 13 N. reinwardtiana

Nice large well-grown plant. Ideally it should be photographed away from
the surrounding plants so that the judges can discern it a bit better.
Could also benefit from a bit more grooming of the older leaves which are
discolored.

A very well-grown plant. The pot is a bit ugly though!

Eventhough N. reinwardtiana var. samarindaniensis = Entry 13 - N. reinwardtiana, this is a fantastic speciment and is clearly very well grown by the copious number of pitchers that this plant bears. Really like the light red colouration of the pitchers of this specimen and the size of the traps is very impressive! More sunlight is likely to yield yet stronger, more intense red traps! Like the presentation of the photos with vegetation as a back ground! Very nice!

- 1 vote


Entry 16 N. rafflesiana

Nice pitchers but otherwise a very standard plant.

Nice plant with good sized pitchers, but there seems to be some marks ont he elaves and the lack of pitchers on many leaves suggests that it has been grown in low light conditions.

Entry 19 N. ampullaria "hot lips"

This does not appear to be the true "hot lips" as the original cultivar. A
decent plant but not exceptional and some damage to the leaves.

Nice plant, but there is an old, damaged leaf on the climbing stem and the stem should be trained to grow upwards in terrestrial species.

Entry 24 N. albomarginata

Although the plant is healthy, no attention has been given to the
presentation of this plant: the old pot, brown sphagnum, rusty wire, white
residue on leaves, etc.

This plant is a little small and looks like it has been grown in low light conditions. Quite a nice plant though – it should look good in 2-3 years.

Entry 27 N. ampullaria

It appears as if it is a recently wild-collected plant stuffed in a bucket of water. Unless it has been hydroponically-grown this plant should be disqualified. Even if it were cultivated, the tangle of leaves, vines, and damaged leaves do not make it competition quality at all.

A great plant, but the presentation is very messy in all respects.

Entry 37 N. gracilis x ampullaria

A decent plant but could have benefitted more from better presentation and cleaning.

It’s healthy, vigorous and seems to be free of disease. The pot is a little ugly and the mix is very low in the pot. Quite good, though.

Entry 38 N. rafflesiana

Decent plant, nice pitchers. Pity about the sunburn damage on the leaves.

Nice plant with good pitchers. Some leaves are discoloured and the mix is low in the pot.

Really great, compact plant. Clearly very healthy - very large pitchers in relation to the foliage - with five formed traps. Very nice strain of N. rafflesiana!

- 1 vote


Entry 39 N. gracilis x rafflesiana

Too much damage/discoloration on the pitchers and leaves.

Nice plant, but the sudden change in leaf colour suggests a sudden change in growing conditions. Some pitchers are damaged or discoloured.

Entry 52 N. albomarginata

Decent plant.

I like this plant, and the pot. It appears healthy and well-grown.

- 1 vote


Entry 61 N. rafflesiana

Very nice pitcher, too bad there is only one. The plant would need to be
presented better for a competition.

A nice, big, healthy plant. Looks great, but hard to give it a vote due to presentation.

Entry 62 N. x hookeriana

Discoloration on the leaves and pitchers.

The leaves are discoloured, so the plant does not appear to be 100% healthy.

Entry 64 N. ampullaria

Damage/discoloration on the leaves.

This plant looks to be well grown and healthy. It’d look a little better if a nicer pot was used and it was filled tot he top with potting mix.

Entry 65 N. rafflesiana

This plant needs more careful grooming of dead leaves and weeds.

Looks like a big, impressive plant, but there are other plants in the same pot, and also a lot of dead leaves etc.

Entry 66 N. x miranda

Not a bad plant, but the dead pitchers should have been removed.

A nice plant, but there are some dead pitchers still on the plant. These should be removed.

Entry 71 N. thorelii

Doubtful the true species (probably N. anamensis). Plant requires more
careful grooming of dead pitchers and leaves.

A vigorous, healthy plant, but the pot is a little ugly, the plant is growing to one side and there are some dead pitchers still on the plant. Nice plant, though!

Entry 72 N. x kuchingensis

This plant is not N. x kuchingensis, but appears more like N. distillatoria
(difficult to be certain from the photo). It is healthy but otherwise
should have been groomed of dead leaves and pitchers before submitting to the competition.

A nice, healthy plant – just needs to be tidied up a bit.

[David]

Each member is allowed one vote. So vote for the best entry. Each member's vote represents 1 point. Poll will be close on Sunday, 26 July 2009.

[David]

5 members votes for "Entry 38 - N. rafflesiana" has been forfeited as the votes came from members with 0 posts on the forum. The competition Terms and Conditions state that a member must have at least 5 posts on the forum to vote in the poll. The five votes are from the following members and their computer IP address for four of them are the same:

- CeciliaTan
- Mickey
- Storm
- WaiFun
- Watermelo

Entry 38 N. rafflesiana = 3 members votes + 1 judges vote = 8 points

Entry 13 N. reinwardtiana = 1 member vote + 1 judges vote = 6 points

Entry 1 N. boschiana = 11 members votes + 3 judges votes = 26 points

Entry 2 N. xhookeriana = 3 members votes + 3 judges votes = 18 points

Entry 4 N. xgentle = 1 members vote + 1 judges votes = 6 points

Entry 6 N. ampullaria = 1 member vote = 1 point


WINNERS OF THE NEPENTHES COMPETITION:

Certificate of Cultural Excellence
Entry 1 N. boschiana from cpnut

Certificate of Cultural Merit
Entry 2 N. xhookeriana from Hosh