N. ventricosa "porcelain form"

[marvin1997]

So nice and cute!

[Ghan3sh]

Is this the same kind as the "white" ventricosa (ventricosa blanco) or is it another kind? I have the ventricosa blanco and i must admit that it isnt an easy plant to pitcher. It is in the same conditions as my other neps which are doing pretty well (many new leaves, lots of pitchers). I does produce lots of healthy looking leaves but no pitchers.
- Do they need lots of light or do they prefer a bit more shade? They get about 3-4 hours a day of direct evening sunlight as they are in front of a west facing window. Do they need more or less? Other neps seem to have enough.
- Which soil are you using? I have mine in a mix of peat/LFS (2 parts peat to 1 part LFS and a topping of LFS on top for extra humidity) but im not certain if this is the right soil for this plant. Ive read several posts that not all neps do well in peat mixes, especially not the highland kind. Since its not pitchering i was thinking of getting a more airy mix like burnt earth mixed with orchid ground with lots of bark (lots of bark since ventricosa grows between roots of trees).
- Do you give them extra food? Ive been giving it some turtle food (small shrimp) which works well with my other neps. Since ive read on this forum that you can give your neps extra food by watering them with stale coffee ive been thinking of trying that. Since its habitat is between roots of trees i guess that the ground they live in is a bit more rich in nutrients. Maybe peat and LFS isnt enough? Orchid ground usually has a bit more nutrients and thats one of the reasons why i would try that substrate for this plant.
So how should i approach it? Which of these conditions do i tackle first? If you have other tips i'd really appreciate it.

[Ghan3sh]

These are some pictures of the plant (the one in the middle, the one on the foreground is a young nepenthes spectabilis and in the background a nepenthes xMiranda). As you can see the leaves look healthy. It still has two pitcher whitch it already had when i purchased it, i removed the dried up part but left the healthy looking part of the pitchers. I also added a picture of the plant from back in november 2008 as you can see it has grown nicely but no pitchers.

[rsivertsen]

Ghan, this is more picky about what it grows in as well, and I've found that it doesn't do well in peat mixes, as it gets too acid and stays too wet too long. Longwood Gargens had them growing in orchid bark with a little LFS mixed in to keep it a little more moist. I have mine growing in cedar bark mulck with chopped tree-fern fiber, perlite, LFS and some charcoal on the top in about equal parts. I also added some NJ Pine Barrens sand recently to see if it helps. It's still just emerging from dormancy, and is in very slow growth now.

When it's in full growth, and producing pitchers, I'll give it some mild applications of fish emulsion fertilizer, with a few drops of liquid iron in the mix which also has many other trace minerals and elements. Fertilizing them when they're dormant and not actively growing can be diasterous, and I have lost a few plants thinking that a shot of fertilizer should give it a kick start, only to see it collapse in another month or two. I'll also spray in some of this fertilizer into the pitchers when they open.

There is an "alba form" which is very similar in shape and color, but doesn't get as large, perhaps they're from a similar region. - Rich

[Ghan3sh]

Thx for the info! Im gonna follow your advice and see if i get better results. Ill keep you posted.