How to grow nepenthes!!!
This is the million dollar question on everybody’s lips. On this page I will give my care guide for nepenthes, but this is based on my conditions and what works for me, it should give you a good base line to start with or options to try if there is a plant your struggling with but always try a few options and figure out how to best care for them in your conditions.
The other part of this page I am working on as well as the basic care guide is writing up my own care guide for each individual species that I grow. This process will take quite a while but I will try and continue to update it as I learn more and find new better ways to grow these amazing plants.
If you looking for care guides for hybrids my best suggestion would be to base your care more so off that of the female plant used (first name in the hybrid ie veitchii x boschiana, the veitchii is the female plant and boschiana will be the male) so in this instance I would try follow care for the veitchii. But growth elevation of both parents should be taken into account, for example lowland x highland would probably grow best intermediate but could lean either way.
Nepenthes veitchii care guide
Nepenthes veitchii is an amazing species from the island of Borneo where it is found all the way from near sea level up into the lower highlands of around 1600m.
Temperature range: Due to its large range of elevations nepenthes veitchii can be grown in a wide range of temperatures I find my lowland location forms happy with days around 28-32c and nights of 20-24c and my bario forms look their best through the spring and autumn where my greenhouse has temperatures around 27-29c days but cool down to 18-20c at night, this night time drop seems to bring out the best colour from them.
Humidity: 50-80%, veitchii are very adaptable as far as humidity goes though with better humidity you will find faster and larger pitcher production though due to the hairy nature of the plant if the humidity is too high with out adequate airflow you can run the risk of sooty black mold (unsightly but harmless) or fungal issues.
Potting media: Fine to medium grade coco chips with a coarse to super coarse perlite mixed at a ratio of 50/50 to offer great drainage and aeration but still holds a good amount of moisture around the root system. Veitchii are a vary variable species and have various growth habits to suit but I have found that this mix works great for more epiphytic lowland veitchii as well as more ground sprawling veitchii like those from the bario region. I personally did not find sphagnum based mixes ideal for veitchii as it tends to compress and not allow as much air movement around the roots and coco chips.
Watering habits: Nepenthes veitchii do best when kept on the drier side, I heavily water mine making sure to give the media a good soak but then i will let them get quite dry before the next watering. They will show signs of oedema if they are kept too wet, I have not had success keeping a top dressing of live sphagnum moss happy as well as the veitchii as it tends to dry out too much.
Light levels: Although a lot of information I have found on growing nepenthes veitchii suggests they prefer lower light levels I strongly disagree. Mine have always done best in dappled sunlight paired with grow lights giving them around 20-30k LUX with both pitcher size and quality improving with the brighter light as well as more compact growth.
