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Post by exoticplantseller on Oct 2, 2016 9:14:29 GMT -5
Hi all, I have had a pitcher plant for a year now and I am pretty sure it is a ventrata. It is starting to produce uppers which look very nice. When will it FLOWER? And how do i encourage IT? Thanks in advance
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Post by lloyd on Oct 2, 2016 14:12:25 GMT -5
Ventrata flower stalks should just be cut off.
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Post by H2O on Oct 2, 2016 16:07:53 GMT -5
Haha! I agree Lloyd, no need to flower such a useless plant. Ours at the gardens flowers all the time and it doesn't even cross my mind to pollinate it with anything.
As for the OP, Nepenthes need to be large to flower properly. As they climb they eventually reach the canopy and some say an increase in light at the growth point helps them flower. Some are also photoperiodic, without a natural light change they won't flower.
Flowers are pretty much useless on Nepenthes you aren't trying to breed, they don't look nice, they often smell musky and they often mess up the growth point that is flowering.
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Post by exoticplantseller on Oct 2, 2016 17:02:36 GMT -5
Haha! I agree Lloyd, no need to flower such a useless plant. Ours at the gardens flowers all the time and it doesn't even cross my mind to pollinate it with anything. As for the OP, Nepenthes need to be large to flower properly. As they climb they eventually reach the canopy and some say an increase in light at the growth point helps them flower. Some are also photoperiodic, without a natural light change they won't flower. Flowers are pretty much useless on Nepenthes you aren't trying to breed, they don't look nice, they often smell musky and they often mess up the growth point that is flowering. Oh ok. I thought it would be cool to pollinate one and try to grow the seeds. I know it is a cheap plant, but I want to try some from seed and want to use my own seed instead of spending money on other seed to experiment with lol never mind than I guess. |
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Post by edwards7 on Oct 2, 2016 19:12:25 GMT -5
Haha! I agree Lloyd, no need to flower such a useless plant. Ours at the gardens flowers all the time and it doesn't even cross my mind to pollinate it with anything. As for the OP, Nepenthes need to be large to flower properly. As they climb they eventually reach the canopy and some say an increase in light at the growth point helps them flower. Some are also photoperiodic, without a natural light change they won't flower. Flowers are pretty much useless on Nepenthes you aren't trying to breed, they don't look nice, they often smell musky and they often mess up the growth point that is flowering. Oh ok. I thought it would be cool to pollinate one and try to grow the seeds. I know it is a cheap plant, but I want to try some from seed and want to use my own seed instead of spending money on other seed to experiment with lol never mind than I guess. Nepenthes are either male or female. you can't get seeds from a single plant. |
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Post by exoticplantseller on Oct 2, 2016 19:14:04 GMT -5
Oh ok. I thought it would be cool to pollinate one and try to grow the seeds. I know it is a cheap plant, but I want to try some from seed and want to use my own seed instead of spending money on other seed to experiment with lol never mind than I guess. Nepenthes are either male or female. you can't get seeds from a single plant. Yeah, but I wasn't going to worry about that until it flowers lol I guess if I got a male flower I would have to give the pollen away or get rid of it or something. But do you know if they flower male Everything? Or do they change Every time? |
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Post by edwards7 on Oct 2, 2016 19:19:47 GMT -5
Nepenthes are either male or female. you can't get seeds from a single plant. Yeah, but I wasn't going to worry about that until it flowers lol I guess if I got a male flower I would have to give the pollen away or get rid of it or something. But do you know if they flower male Everything? Or do they change Every time? They do not change. A Nepenthes will flower either male or female (although I've heard of at least one instance where this has not been the case). Your plant would most likely follow the rule though. |
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Post by exoticplantseller on Oct 2, 2016 19:40:23 GMT -5
Ok that's what I thought.
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Post by snapperhead51 on Oct 2, 2016 20:02:43 GMT -5
its fun to pollinate nep flowers yes, as usual there not so easy to get right, pollination of the nep flowers is a bit of a skill to do properly and get viable seed .
the timing is critical, as is harvesting the pollen from other male plants, applying pollen to a female nep flower is done when they are most receptive , this is when the petals produce the usual smelling nectar on each petal at the base of each flower and the flower looks ripe and sticky and usual a greenish colour , its a bit of trial and error it get right to produce the fertile seed we seek.
harvesting male pollen is a lot easier thank goodness, when the male flower pollen is ripe it very yellow and plump looking , and can be extracted very easily, I personally pick each flower with a pair of tweezers pollen on it carefully, as when ripe the pollen falls off easily, I get same baking paper opened up after folding it for storage of the pollen , i get a art brush and scrape or push off the pollen on the the paper (baking paper ), use clean fresh paper for each pollen extraction too as the same for seed storage, as cross contamination can happen or contamination ,not good, especially when for T/c , after getting the fresh ripe pollen of each male flower fold paper back up and put in air tight container and put in fridge , repeat process till enough pollen is harvested to do several pollination's as u may need to pollinate flower a few times to get right until u lean to see when the receptors on female flower are ready or ripe. a male flower spike put out about 6 to 10 flowers that ripen each time ,so a full spike can take a few months to fully finish ,if u want a lot of pollen , do not water over top of flower spike as your pollen will spoil, I move the plant to where i hand water on pot only not all over the plant , this allows for full pollen extraction.
The female flower is ripe also when the petals have nectar forming on them has the same unusual smell to it as mention before, I personally like to use the nectar on the petals to apply the pollen to the receptors ,you will find that the pollen is soaked in quickly , by using pollen and nectar on your art brush to pollinate the female flower your pollination is more effective,takes practice though !! , but quite rewarding when huge pods with plump seed are harvested some 4 to 5 months later or still use the standard of applying the pollen dry to the ripe female receptor is as effective and rewarding with a bit less hassle than the nectar mix.
hope this may help , have not used proper flower terms as thought it may be less confusing, but I am sure people will know the stigma and anther and (ovary not used) are in to relation ship of the plain English procedures , may be using petal instead of correct sepal is not right , but the nep flower in not your normal flower that's for sure
John
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Post by snapperhead51 on Oct 2, 2016 20:09:42 GMT -5
Yeah, but I wasn't going to worry about that until it flowers lol I guess if I got a male flower I would have to give the pollen away or get rid of it or something. But do you know if they flower male Everything? Or do they change Every time? They do not change. A Nepenthes will flower either male or female (although I've heard of at least one instance where this has not been the case). Your plant would most likely follow the rule though. A nep plant will flower usually when it vines , not all ways depends if its hybrid or specie, and what it is , very hard to know , but the norm is as it goes to upper pitchers . as far as if its male or female,you never know till its flowers, no way of tell from just looking at a plant, but approx 80% + will be male flowers, and if its male will be male all ways will never revert to any other sex , its not possible with nepenthes John |
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