Nepenthes Acclimation to very low humidity?

[Sgooosh]

Hi, got some new nepenthes today, and I wanted to keep one in the house. Problem is, It's like 28% humidity here and I always thought the ideal humidity was like 50%.
Is it possible to use the bag method to acclimate them to humidity this low?

 

[GaryE]

My experience has been they are not very adaptable. I have them growing well with their toes in a bog tank, contrary to what the instructions generally say. It's the most humid spot in a fishroom that runs at about 50%. There, I'd expect it to be closer to 70%, centimetres above the water with overhanging plants.
I tried them on the shelf above the tank, with normal air circulation and probably 50% humidity, and that failed rapidly. In the house, which is closer to your levels, I don't think I'd get far with them..

When they do become established, they can be very cool things.

 

[Sgooosh]

My experience has been they are not very adaptable. I have them growing well with their toes in a bog tank, contrary to what the instructions generally say. It's the most humid spot in a fishroom that runs at about 50%. There, I'd expect it to be closer to 70%, centimetres above the water with overhanging plants.
I tried them on the shelf above the tank, with normal air circulation and probably 50% humidity, and that failed rapidly. In the house, which is closer to your levels, I don't think I'd get far with them..

When they do become established, they can be very cool things.

i see, I think I'll just grow them in the greenhouse, my old ones from last year don't mind the frost at all

 

[GaryE]

I thought they were new to you - my apologies. What are conditions in the greenhouse? That my prove quite useful to me as I really enjoy these plants in my fishroom (but my greenhouse falls to 20 below zero - so no greenhouse for mine!)

 

[Sgooosh]

I thought they were new to you - my apologies. What are conditions in the greenhouse? That my prove quite useful to me as I really enjoy these plants in my fishroom (but my greenhouse falls to 20 below zero - so no greenhouse for mine!)

Honestly, I'm not too sure exactly the conditions in the greenhouse
it gets up to 100f and down to 30f which I think its 38 to 0 C, and I run a misting system throughout the day everyday, so the humidity is definitely higher than in the house at least.

They are very tolerant of temperature, less so of humidity.

They don't do the best in the extreme heat, they do better in winter here. They survive best actually under a cloche, but that defeats the purpose of them
I would imagine they are very useful in a fish room! lots of humidity and possibly bugs too.

 

[GaryE]

I have them very close to my whiteworm cultures -a great conditioning food for fish breeding. I used to have a lot of trouble with fungus gnats getting into the cultures, but when I see a few, I open the lids and allow them to explore the sundew and the Nepenthes. The flies seem fatally attracted to the plants, and that has allowed me to keep the cultures thriving when in the past, measures to stop the tiny fly populations would periodically cripple the cultures.

I also use window fans in the fishroom in summer (it's in the garage, not the house), and when the fans aren't spinning small gnats and mosquitoes get through the grates in them. There's a spider up in the corner who chips in, but if you were to walk into the fishroom now, you would think flying bugs were simply unknown in there.

Do you think misting the plants might help? I don't have an automatic system.

 

[Sgooosh]

I have them very close to my whiteworm cultures -a great conditioning food for fish breeding. I used to have a lot of trouble with fungus gnats getting into the cultures, but when I see a few, I open the lids and allow them to explore the sundew and the Nepenthes. The flies seem fatally attracted to the plants, and that has allowed me to keep the cultures thriving when in the past, measures to stop the tiny fly populations would periodically cripple the cultures.

I also use window fans in the fishroom in summer (it's in the garage, not the house), and when the fans aren't spinning small gnats and mosquitoes get through the grates in them. There's a spider up in the corner who chips in, but if you were to walk into the fishroom now, you would think flying bugs were simply unknown in there.

Do you think misting the plants might help? I don't have an automatic system.

that sounds wonderful, like your own jungle ecosystem haha

infrequent misting would only lower humidity, as once it dries it takes water away from the leaves
maybe putting it next to a room humidifier running 24/7? or near a HOB filter/other device that makes water in contact with air

one of these ultrasound humidifiers can last a long time, and it's easy to DIY with an ultrasonic mister device with an even larger capacity