Question
Hello! I was looking at the sun pitchers and was wondering if I'd be able to grow one alongside my N. villosa and N. rajah. I live in zone 9 southern california. In the summer and fall its pretty dry here so right now i have them in a greenhouse i made myself (well, dry for these species. right now the average humidity in the day is 40% and 80% at night). In my greenhouse i never let the humidity drop below 70 % in the day and it always reaches 100% at night. I mist once in a while, usually only if the humidity is dropping close to 70 % or if the temperatures start getting a bit high. Temperatures in there are normally in the high 70's low 80's and sometimes reaches mid 90's but thats usually when the weather outside is 100 degrees which hasnt been that often this year. The night time temperatures usually drop to the high 50's sometimes low 60's but thats normally during the first 2-3 months of summer. When summer starts ending the night time temperatures here start to fall below 60 degrees. They do get some morning sun and bright light the rest of the day. Here is a picture of my N. villosa that i bought from you guys early this year. Hopefully you can see it.

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o162/doku_ninja/Carnivorous%20plants/CIMG2339...

You cant see all the pitchers, but it has 5 fully developed pitchers, 1 unopened and  2 more leaves growing out. The tallest pitcher is about an inch tall. Sorry, but while im at it im going to ask. Which nepenthes is tougher to grow? Rajah or villosa? I received my rajah almost at the same time that i did my villosa, i even have 2 villosa, both with several pitchers, but i have not been able to get one pitcher out of my rajah, just new leaves. The tendrils kind of just stay there. They dont grow nor do they dry up and turn black. From reading several forums i was under the impression that villosa was harder to grow. Thanks for any feedback.

Answer
Hi Manuel,

Yes, join the club!  Even I have difficulty getting pitchers on my rajah, even after growing it under misters that come on every two hours for 10 minutes!  Overall the humidity on our greenhouse is very low, only 5-10 points above outside humidity.  In the summer, we keep the doors wide open and fans blowing to reduce heat buildup.  Most plants we grow will tolerate it.  The ultra highlanders tend to lose their pitchers in summer.  However, my 10-year old villosa has two small pitches.  Yeah, go figure.

Your conditions are fine for Heliamphora.  We have friends in Hawaii who grow Heliamphora outdoors, so if they can grow them there, you can grow them in southern CA in your greenhouse.  We keep ours in the greenhouse under misters.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin