Question
I just received my Edwardsiana-x Nepenthes and was wondering if you guys could shoot me any pointers on this particular hybrid, and what to expect compared to a Miranda and Sanguine both of which I both currently. I know the Edwardsiana is not as hardy and slower growing, so I'm curious what the burbidgeae x brings to the table as far as care. This is a general care question, so immediate response is not necessary as I'm sure you are busy, but when you have the time I would love some positive guidance on this plant. One last question, I know some growers use coffee grounds in place of fertilizer with Nepenthes, do you guys use anything besides pure water with your Nepenthes?

I just sent you an email on this, then saw the link to this website. It said you preferred to answer care question via this outlet rather than email so I "moved" it here.

Answer
Hi Jared,

N. edwardsiana x burbidgeae is going to be a much fussier plant than N. sanguinea or N. miranda. The main pointers I would give are to keep it bright and cool, not always an easy thing to manage.  Night cool downs really help, which isn't too hard in the Northwest.  They do tend to like elevated humidity too, which the other two plants are not as picky about.  Unfortunately, we haven't grown this hybrid yet, so I won't be able to offer much in direct experience with it.  We've had burdidgeae and a couple hybrids and they seemed to be happiest when they were low on the benches in the greenhouse, and we had the misters going.  I also know growers with much more experience than us growing Nepenthes have had a very hard time with N. edwardsiana species.

We've tried doing the coffee thing a couple different times and have not seen any significant difference from it.  I know some folks claim it to be a miracle ingredient, but we just haven't seen that.  Most folks get really good results from a bi-weekly spray of either Maxsea, Seagrow, or GroMore Phalaenopis fertilizer.  Use it at 1/4 strength.  If the plant has pitchers, squirt it in pitchers, or just feed it some bugs instead.

The best piece of advice I can give for growing any Nepenthes is to figure out where the plant is going to be, do whatever you need to with lights, etc..., then just leave it alone!  Nepenthes hate disturbance so don't move them around or mist them unless you have a mister that comes on at regular intervals.  Changing conditions such as big humidity fluctuations caused by household misting often inhibits pitchering.

Hope this helps.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.growcarnivorousplants.com