Hi Guys,

I've been growing Nepenthes for almost 20 years and one thing I have learnt both by experience with my own collection and seeing others as well as wild plants is that they need lots of light. Idealy no more than 30% shade should be used for all but a few species. Yes, humidity is important as is air movement. It is also important to ensure no water sits on the leaves for any lenght of time which is one of the main causes of leaf burn. That's why air movement is so critical.

The biggest problem with growing plants in the southern states of Australia is temperature fluctuations. Ideally these need to be controlled to avoid plants burning. This can be achieved quite easily with an evaporative cooler.

In my opinion, plants that are grown in these conditions will be a lot tougher. I also think they look better when they're grown in more natural conditions.

There's some good cultivation notes in Charles Clarke's book on Nepenthes of Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia.

Below are shots of my N. vietchii lowland which is grown under glass with watering twice per day and circulating fan. The N. platychilla (just about to get its first upper pitcher)and the hybrid which are grown under plastic giving about 30% shading. They are misted 6 times a day for 1 minute. Evaporative coolers run in the highland house to keep daytime temps below 35deg although I'm working on getting this lower.

Gus, There is no photo attached in your posting.

Cheers
Greg

Attach file:

---

  IMG_9493.JPG (41.13 KB)


  IMG_9494.JPG (42.90 KB)


  IMG_9496.JPG (67.60 KB)

Hi there:

Light is the most important factor to grow Nepenthes, no doubt about that. But we all know that if we place a N. glandulifera or N. veitchii or even n. platychila under the sun here in Sydney outside in the garden or backyard, they will most likely perish in matter of weeks. How can we separate light from humidity when growing a plant in your backyard? obviously we can't. Same applies if grown under a windowsill. Greg has the answer by growing his plants under artificial conditions and so am I!.

Going back to the original question, yes some hybrids may grow outside and get leaf burn and survive, but others may still need high humidity and yes, plenty of light to do the same.

Gus

P.S the leaf burn effect may be the overproduction of anthocyanins or green-blue pigment in plants which reflect the light in the red spectra and look red due to excess light from the sun.