Some Shots of My Lowland/Intermediate Nepenthes & Terrestrial Utricularia Collection

About 2/3 of the 55-gallon tank collection

My lowland Nepenthes collection and some of my intermediate Nepenthes collection reside in a 55-gallon aquarium that I converted into a terrarium. The conversion mostly consisted of getting glass cut for the top of the tank and placing 4-bulb T5 units on top of the glass. The photos above and below show off the entirety of this collection.

The rest of the 55-gallon tank collection

 As you can see, I have quite a few young plants. Most of my collection was acquired through sale or trade over the past few months. Before November, the only Nepenthes that I owned were an N. kongkandana, N. bicalcarata, and N. ampullaria. I had purchased all three from Black Jungle Terrarium Supply and, before getting this tank in late December, kept them in relatively small tanks, which they quickly outgrew.

Utricularia sandersonii 'blue' (left), Drosera prolifera (left),
Nepenthes rafflesiana (middle)
Nepenthes ventricosa x spectabilis 'Giant' (right)

One of my most recent acquisitions was a very fine N. rafflesiana from a grower in Oklahoma. It was much larger than I expected (I am used to buying tiny plants from nurseries) and had a ton of pitchers on it when it arrived.

N. rafflesiana

I had to include the shot of this pitcher since, as with most Nepenthes that move locations, I expect it'll lose all of its wonderful pitchers in the next couple weeks due to transplant shock. I'm very excited to see what the pitchers end up looking like as it gets older. (N. rafflesiana is one of the most variable species).

Nepenthes dubia (left),
Nepenthes ampullaria (middle)
Nepenthes bellii x robcantleyi (right)

Above is my happy N. ampullaria 'Williams Red x Harlequin.' The photographed pitcher originally opened in October and is still present, nearly five months later! Actually, that's the smallest still present pitcher, only about the size of a small thimble. A larger pitcher is around the other side of the plant.

Unfortunately, that N. ampullaria had to be treated with Physan because my N. kongkandana developed a scale problem, which led to a fungus problem. I was afraid of it spreading to the rest of my collection, so the amp, which had resided with the kong had to be treated as well. As a consequence, it slowed down growth considerably, but is starting to bounce back.

Nepenthes ampullaria (left)
Nepenthes bellii x robcantleyi (center), Nepenthes truncata (center)
Nepenthes 'St. Hedwig' (right)

The N. bellii x robcantleyi is a purchase from Cook's Carnivorous Plants from early January. You can see that it is inflating its first pitcher for me. To the right is the wonderful N. 'St. Hedwig' that I purchased from Native Exotics. It arrived yesterday with two, very large pitchers. (Actually, I'm very impressed with the plant. It's much larger than I expected. About the size of what PetFlyTrap considers "medium.").

Nepenthes eustachya 'red' (front)
Nepenthes 'St. Hedwig' (back)

I'm waiting to see how the N. eustachya turns out. It's a seed grown plant from a grower and, I believe, a pretty popular release in the United States, at least over the past few months. So, I was able to buy it relatively inexpensively. N. eustachya was never on my want list, but the price was right, and it's kind of a neat looking pitcher when it grows up.

Nepenthes x hookeriana

My N. hookeriana from PetFlyTrap hasn't grown too much since I first got it. It still has its single pitcher, which you can see the back of above. Frankly, I'm hoping it turns out to look like the picture they have on their site, but it's such a variable plant that it's hard to tell.

Nepenthes vogelii (left)
Nepenthes kongkandana (center)

 Ah, N. kongkandana, simultaneously my pride and joy and my most frustrating plant. This plant, from Black Jungle, has certainly been my most rapid growing of all my Nepenthes (N. x ventrata excepted). It went from a little plant with two growth points in late June to a fairly large plant with three growth points by December. (Then, of course, it had to be treated for scale and fungus, slowing it's growth tremendously). This pitcher is the first in a few months. I love it's bright red and yellow coloration.

Ordinarily, the leaves are a bright reddish-orange, just like the pitchers, but pesticide treatment turned them green. I'm hoping that new growth continues and it gets back its wonderful red flush, a great addition to my mostly green Nepenthes collection.

Nepenthes vogelii

One of my favorite Neps, N. vogelii (or 'little greenbean' as it is affectionately known in my home), has just grown and opened its first pitcher for me. I'm somewhat surprised at how big the pitcher is as compared to the plant overall, and excited to see it start to inflate more pitchers on some of its other new leaves. With the exception of my N. ampullaria, N. vogelii seems to have the slowest growing pitchers of all the species/hybrids that I grow.

Nepenthes bicalcarata (left)
Nepenthes bicalcarata x ampullaria (center)

To the left is one of the larger pitchers on my N. bicalcarata. After languishing in a non-growth state from June, when I bought it at Black Jungle Terrarium Supply, to October, this plant has really come into its own, producing multiple pitchers in the months since. The largest, just about the size of a small thimble, can be seen here. It's colored up a nice orange.

The N. bicalcata x ampullaria hybrid above is a recent and giant acquisition from a grower in Florida. Not surprisingly, the pitchers are starting to die off as a result of transplant shock, but, before they go, I decided to snap a few photos. Although not as wonderfully colored as crosses between orange bicals and red amps, this cross, which is most likely between a greenish bical and speckled amp, does have some of the finest features of both species. It has the nice, tubby pitchers of N. ampullaria, and ferocious fangs, like N. bicalcarata. Actually, having looked at a number of examples of this cross online, I'm surprised by the prominence of the fangs.

Utricularia calycifida 'Asenath Waite' (left)
Nepenthes spathulata x jacquelineae (center)

My N. spathulata x jacquelineae is one of the two plants that I'm most excited to see how it turns out. This little pitcher inflated in the couple weeks since I acquired the plant from Cook's Carnivorous Plants. It looks nothing like Paul Barden's at this moment, but I'm very hopeful that it turns out similar. I am happy to report that the plant has suffered almost no transplant shock, as far as I'm aware.

Nepenthes dubia

The plant I'm most excited about is this one, N. dubia. Also from Native Exotics, this plant is already impressive looking. The red stem and small, thin leaves remind me of a vine. Not so secretly, I hope it grows like a vine as I'm very excited to see it produce some upper pitchers for me. Definitely one of the neatest Neps, in my opinion.