Question

Nepenthes Mira  
Nepenthes Rafflesiana   QUESTION: Hi, I have a question regarding the growth of my Nepenthes Rafflesiana giant and my Nepenthes mira. I grow both in a east facing window which they get about 4 hours of direct sunlight and bright indirect sunlight the rest of the day. I originally had my Rafflesiana growing in highland conditions with my Mira and my other Neps because i heard N. Rafflesiana can tolerate highland conditions but I recently moved it into a grow chamber where it can recieve proper lowland conditions because it was growing VERY slow (an average of 1 leaf per every 1.5 months). I recieved the plant from you guys in Sept 2009 and it hasnt grown much in size but also my nepenthes mira hasnt grown any bigger in the one year I had it. I give my N. Mira typical highland conditions and it hasnt produced any bigger leaves. Is this because both the plants are slow growing by nature or is there something that I am doing wrong.Oh and I forgot to mention that I live in Colorado Springs,CO. Thank you for your time and patience- Jordan

ANSWER: Hi Jordan,

Sorry for taking a bit to get to your question.  It's been a busy weekend.

With your N. rafflesiana, try to make sure the temperature stays above 70 degrees.  It is a lowlander, and fairly fast growing when kept warm.  During the day the temps for it should be in the upper 80's.  They do like humidity, so the grow chamber is a good idea for that one.

N. mira is slow growing under the best of conditions.  For both plants try fertilizing them.  As long as it has been they probably need food, and they currently don't have pitchers.  Use an orchid fertilizer mixed at 1/4 strength per gallon of water.  Spray them once a week with the solution.  Here's my favorite brand:  http://www.amazon.com/Grow-More-5271-10-Ounce-20-10-20/dp/B004G1CU6Q/ref=sr_1_1?  Try this for a month and see how they look.

What should happen is the Raff should start growing quickly.  The Mira will show some growth, but won't get much bigger.  Seeing progress is what you want, however.  N. mira is closely related to N. rajah, and both grow very slow.

Good Growing!

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

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

QUESTION: Thank you for your response but its ok take the the time you need :)But regarding fertilizer about a few days ago I did the coffee treatment on all my nepenthes so is this like a fertilizer or will I still need to use regular fertilizer after a while? Thank you for your time and expertise.
         Sincerely,
         Jordan

Answer
Hi Jordan,

Coffee is an organic fertilizer which means it will require bacteria to eat it to release the nutrients for the plant.  This makes it very slow release.  I would still do the chemical fertilizer.  This will give your plants readily available N-P-K and trace minerals.  Over time the coffee will begin to help too.  Just keep the fertilizer dilute, and apply as a foliar spray.

Ironically, I running into a similar problem this year with my vegetable garden.  I do lots of container veggies, and larger, faster growing vegetables like squash and tomatoes use lots of nutrients.  I was trying to stay organic, but since they use the nutrients so fast, I'm considering adding some chemical fertilizer to help them keep up until the organic fertilizer can break down.

Good Growing!

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