The plant seems to prefer "upper" pitchers. It has produced only one
frilly "lower" pitcher, and each new stem almost immediately switches to
upper pitchers even though the mature pitchers are resting on the
ground. Is it known what stimuli cause Nepenthes to switch between
different pitcher forms?
The plant also seems to have two types of stem. One type has leaves set
relatively close together, and the tendrils do not coil. The second
type has leaves that are far apart and tendrils which coil. If they fail
to wrap around something, the tendrils seem to die. When they do wrap
(tightly) around a bamboo cane that I put in the pot, the tendrils form
a pitcher that is indistinguishable from the ones on the non-coiling
leaves. Am I imagining things, or do Nepenthes have climbing and
non-climbing stems?
And finally, regarding Demetrios' recent comments about rooting N.
ventricosa in water: You can do the same thing with N. alata. I didn't
bother puting the cutting in a sealed propagator. It's just sitting on
my desk, and as of yesterday had several visible roots. Cuttings that I
tried to root in damp sphagnum in a plastic bag are now growing some
nasty looking mold.
Nick
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Nicholas Plummer
nplummer@umich.edu
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nplummer/homepage.html