Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 23:22:15 -0500 From: "Richard Brown" <esoft@ix.netcom.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3454$foo@default> Subject: Re:Highlanders (Nepenthes again)
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>Any research been done why highland nepenthes need the nighttime
>temperature drop (except that it's an adaptation to their natural
>habitat)? Does it affect the plants physiology or is it not the temp
>drop itself but the result of it, that is increased humidity nighttime,
>which the plants need to survive the drier days?
Hi Chris and all,
Increasing the night humidity on a hot summer night does not help highland
Nepenthes, and low humidity during the hottest part of a summer day can be
the kiss of death. Even with a single species, such as N. maxima, there is
variation in heat tolerance, depending upon the altitude of the original
plants. I've had some maxima plants go belly up after a down hill struggle
through the summer, while others, such as the wavy-leaved Sulawesi clone,
take the heat fairly well. The best pitchers are produced during the winter
months when nights are cool and days are warm (not oppressively hot). The
same applies to some ventricosa and alata clones. What happens in a plant's
physiology to cause this phenomenon is an interesting scientific question,
as it applies to other tropical highland plants as well (a personal favorite
of mine, orchids like Masdevallia and Dracula).
Until later,
Trent Meeks
Pompano Beach, Florida
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