Sunday, September 25, 2011

Nepenthes Overload!

Nepenthes ventricosa green
Nepenthes alata
There seems to be a renaissance for pitcher-plant hobbyists nowadays as more and more Nepenthes and carnivorous plants are becoming available in cultivation.  Before, the only Nepenthes species I see are alatas and ventricosas. Now even the big Nepenthes truncata is very much available.

Nepenthes truncata
I went to Manila Seedling bank last week and discovered that some of the plant stalls were selling garden grade Nepenthes, already adapted and reared for garden use.  They have nice looking and established pitchers and have better chances growing in Manila.  The only other problem is that whether the sought-after species is highland or lowland.

Probably N. mindanaoensis
The Philippines has about more than 20 species of native pitcher plants, but only a handful are lowland dwellers.  Most grow in high humidity and full sun in high altitude areas like mountaintops, which is hard to duplicate in Manila. I only saw specimens of Nepenthes alata, N. merrilliana, N. ventricosa green, and N. truncata being reared in gardens around  the metro.  There are probably more but given controlled conditions by their patient owners.  
Cultivated nepenthes with numerous pitchers

2 comments:

ivanlakwatsero said...

pinagalitan kami dati nung tindera dyan sa manila seedlingbank kasi tinapon ko yung laman nung nepenthes.

Plant Chaser said...

Did you buy some for yourself? I have a wall for my Nepenthes, VFT's and Drosera.