Question
QUESTION: Hi Again,
 Just wanted to tell you that the Bicalcarata is now growing a new leaf, after having it four weeks in a heated terrarium at 80 F-90 F, and 90%-95% humidity.
 I now have a new problem. One N. ventricosa and one ventricosa hybrid have twisted leaves, and red spots have appeared on the leaves of the ventricosa. My N. Sibuensis also seems to be in the early stages of the same problem.
 From reading D'Amato's book, I thought that this could be a thrip  infestation, perhaps combined with red spot fungus. What do you think? I sprayed these plants with Orthene.  It did not appear to hurt the plants, but it is too early to tell if it worked. Did I do the right thing?
 One other question I had concerns N. Sibuensis. What are its temperature and humidity requirements for optimum growth? I cannot find much information on this species.  Thanks for Your Help.
         Sincerely,
         Steve Colbern

ANSWER: Hi Steve,

Those red spots and twisted leaves could be certainly be a sign of pests.  The likely culprits would be thrips and scales.  Aphids tend to avoid Nepenthes.  The red spots could either be rust spots (fungal) or leaf damage from the pests.  

In either case, it certainly wouldn't hurt to spray the plants with Orthene.  It's a systemic so it will take a while for it to take effect.  

To tell whether or not pests were the problem, you'll need to wait until new leaves develop.  Unfortunately this can take another month or so!  You'll have to continue to monitor the plant and make sure the existing leaves don't get any worse.  If necessary, also spray your plants with Neem oil.  It isn't a systemic, but it will take care of the bugs more immediately than Orthene.

The funny thing is that N. hamata gets a bum rap for being a plant that is very difficult to grow. Ironically, N. hamata is relatively easy when you compare it to N. sibuyanensis, N. rajah and N. villosa.

N. sibuyanensis likes it humid and cool.  We also found that this plant grows best in sphagnum moss, either live or dried.  It can tolerate warm days as long as the nights are cool (below 65癋).  But definitely grow this plant in sphagnum moss.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks,
 I'll re-pot the Sibuyanensis into sphagnum this weekend. I was thinking about re-potting it into a larger pot anyway.
 It's good to know that N. Hamata is easier than N. Rajah. I want to get a Hamata, and have been able to grow N. Rajah, so far (8 months). Please be sure and let me know when you get another batch of N. Hamata.
 Is N. Villosa harder to grow than N. Rajah? I would like to get one of those as well.
 One other CP problem I have currently is that I have an N. Densiflora seedling (~2" dia.) that has not grown much. I have had it for about 8 months, and it only recently put on a pitcher. Please let me know what conditions and soil mix it needs for optimum growth. I have not been able to find much data on this species either.
 Finally, do you guys ever get any seeds from exotic nepenthes? I would like to try growing them from seed.
         Thanks Again,
         Steve Colbern

Answer
Hi Steve,

Nepenthes villosa is probably the most difficult of the highlanders.  We have one, and after five years of growing it, it finally produced its first pitcher.  We now have two pitchers, and the plant is only 4 inches in diameter.  It's very slow growing and not tolerant of high temperatures.  This species likes it cool and misty. It most often dies in summer if you're not careful.

Between N. sibuyanensis and N. densiflora, N. densiflora is the easier to grow, but not by much.  It's probably comprabale to N. diatas, a species we're discontinuing from our inventory.  We might bring it back, but we're favoring N. densiflora over N. diatas right now.  We'll be releasing N. densiflora in another month or so.

We don't have any Nepenthes seeds to sell.  They are sometimes hard to produce unless you have a huge quantity of plants. So what seeds we happen to get we use for propagation.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin