1070 



NEPENTHES 



NEPENTHES 



In potting or basketing plants from 4-in pots, large 

 pieces of potsherd and charcoal should be firmly placed 

 here and there among the potting material, which should 

 consist of rough fibrous peat, moss and sand. The 

 plants should not be allowed to grow as vines unless 

 they are intended to produce seed. When large-sized 

 pitchers are wanted the ends of the shoots should be 

 nipped out after several leaves have been made and the 

 pitchers are in the process of development; this throws 

 strength into the last-formed leaves and produces very 

 large pitchers. When the plants are in active growth 

 they should be well drenched with water at least once 

 each day and syringed frequently, but care should be 

 taken not to overwater newly potted specimens. They 

 should at all times be shaded from bright sunshine, and 

 when a house is devoted to them, or partly occupied 

 with plants requiring similar treatment, it should be 

 shaded with cloth fixed to rollers. Well pitchered plants 

 may be taken from the growing house and exhibited in 

 good condition for a long time in a house under condi- 

 tions which would be unfavorable for their growth. All 

 of the hybrid forms are of easy culture. N.Mastersiana, 

 JV. Dominiana, N. Siebrechtii, N. Outramiana and 

 N. Henryana produce pitchers very freely. The species, 

 as a rule, are not quite so free, but some of them thrive 

 equally as well as the garden forms. N. Rajah, N. Nor- 

 thiana, JY. sanguinea, N. albo-marginata and N. bical- 

 carata are all more or less difficult to manage, as the 

 conditions under which they grow in their native haunts 

 are sometimes not easily imitated. JY. ampullaria, 

 N. Rafflesiana, N. Phyllamphora, N. distillatoria, 

 N. Icevis and N. Kennedyana are usually seen well 

 furnished with pitchers. Gr. w. OLIVER. 



Nepenthes Culture at New Rochelle, N. F. In 

 propagating these charming plants the writer prefers 

 cuttings of well-ripened wood, not too hard, and of 2 or 

 3 eyes in length. The Ivs. are trimmed in one-half or 

 more. The cuttings are placed in a close glass case, 

 with a steady bottom heat of at least 80 or 85 in a 

 bed of cocoa fiber or of sphagnum moss and sand 

 mixed. The cuttings are always kept moist, and only 

 enough air is allowed to reduce condensation. 



After they are rooted, which takes from two to three 

 months, they are planted into shallow pans or orchid 



1468. Good method of propagating Nepenthes. 

 The ciitting is placed in an inverted pot. The stick 

 at the right wedges the cutting and keeps it tight; it 

 may also carry the label. The pot is cut in two vertically 

 to show how the roots form in the air, without the aitl 

 of sand, water or even moss. 



cribs in a mixture of fibrous peat and sphagnum moss, 

 with perhaps some pieces of charcoal and crocks at the 

 bottom. This material should be packed in firmly and 

 tied down. Then set the plants again into bottom heat. 



in order to have them firmly established. Increase the 

 air gradually until the plants are sturdy enough to be 

 placed in the greenhouse, either upon a rack or sus- 

 pended from the roof. The temperature where Ne- 

 penthes are grown should never be less than 60, and it 

 might be as high as 80 or 90, providing plenty of 

 moisture is given. Copious syringing, and during the 



1469. A simple propagating frame. 



Used by Robert Shore for propagating Nepenthes, 



Dracaenas and other tropical subjects. 



summer months, dipping of the plants in water, is very 

 beneficial. When the plants get too high, say above 

 18 in. or 2 ft., and their pitchers become smaller and 

 smaller, as they grow taller, the best plan is to cut them 

 back to within 4 or 5 eyes of the crown. Then the next 

 growth of new leaves will give the very finest and best 

 pitchers. When well established in their pans or cribs, 

 and while in good growing condition, a light concoction 

 of liquid manure is very beneficial. When the potting 

 material is exhausted, it is essential that it be renewed 

 at least once a year. Very fine plants can also be 

 raised from seeds. When the plants are in bloom the 

 miniature flowers should be carefully examined, to see 

 that both sexes are represented, for if either sex be 

 absent there can be no fertilization. The seed, when 

 ripe, should be sown in pans in much the same material 

 as was prescribed for cuttings, the pans placed in about 

 the same sort of a place, and the material always 

 kept moist. It takes from six weeks to two months to 

 germinate the seed. After that, care must be taken that 

 the young seedlings do not damp off. Once they are 

 strong enough, with 2 or 3 leaflets, they can be pricked 

 off and planted into other pans and fresh material, at 

 the same time gradually accustomed to the air, and thus 

 in from eighteen months to two years' time nice little 

 plants may be had. In the experience of the writer the 

 following kinds are more easily cult, than the others: 

 N. Alleniana, ampullaria and vars., bicalcarata, Chel- 

 soni, Curtisii, cylindrica, distillatoria, Dominiana, 

 Eyermanni, hybrida, var. maculata, Hookeriana, 

 Hookeriana var. elongata, lanata, Lawrenciana, Mas- 

 tersiana (2 vars.), Morganiana, Outramiana, Pater- 

 sonii, picturala, Rafflesiana, var. insignis, Savageana, 

 Sedeni, Siebrechtii, Stewattii, Taplini, Tildeniana, 

 Veitchii, Zeylanica var. rubra. jj ^ SIEBRECHT. 



