| Nepenthes are increased by cuttings and by seeds. The ripened shoots, with four or five leaves attached, make the best cuttings. They may be rooted from December till the end of January, but under proper conditions the operation may be performed at any time during the year. Some of the free-rooting kinds, such as N. Dominii, N. gracilis. N. Phyllamphora and N. Mastersiana, may be rooted in sand under a glass with a little moss tied around the base of each cutting. Under this treatment the temperature of the sand should be about 80° F. When the roots show through the moss they should be put in small pots and kept close for a couple of weeks. The most satisfactory method of propagation is to put the base of each cutting through the hole of an inverted 2-inch rose pot, plunging the pot in sphagnum moss in a temperature from 80° to 90°. F. (See Fig. 2460.) During the operation of rooting they must be kept in a close propagating-frame and frequently syringed. (See Fig. 2461.) When the roots are about ¾ inch long the cuttings should be potted, using a mixture of finely chopped fibrous peat, moss and sand, with a little finely broken charcoal added. They should be replaced in the moss and kept close until the pots are fairly well filled with roots and then gradually hardened off. All of the kinds do best suspended from the roof of a hothouse, the temperature of which should not fall below 65° F. in winter. The plants may be grown either in orchid-pots or -baskets. In potting or basketing plants from 4-inch 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 over water 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 presentation for a long time in a house under conditions which would be unfavorable for their growth. All of the hybrid forms are of easy culture. N. Mastersiana, N. Dominii, 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. Northiana, N. sanguinea, N. albo-marginata and N. bicalcarata are all more or less difficult to manage, as the conditions under which they grow in their native haunts are sometimes not easily imitated. N. ampullaria, N. Rafflesiana, N. Phyllamphora, N. distillatoria and N. Kennedyana are usually seen well furnished with good pitchers. | | Nepenthes are increased by cuttings and by seeds. The ripened shoots, with four or five leaves attached, make the best cuttings. They may be rooted from December till the end of January, but under proper conditions the operation may be performed at any time during the year. Some of the free-rooting kinds, such as N. Dominii, N. gracilis. N. Phyllamphora and N. Mastersiana, may be rooted in sand under a glass with a little moss tied around the base of each cutting. Under this treatment the temperature of the sand should be about 80° F. When the roots show through the moss they should be put in small pots and kept close for a couple of weeks. The most satisfactory method of propagation is to put the base of each cutting through the hole of an inverted 2-inch rose pot, plunging the pot in sphagnum moss in a temperature from 80° to 90°. F. (See Fig. 2460.) During the operation of rooting they must be kept in a close propagating-frame and frequently syringed. (See Fig. 2461.) When the roots are about ¾ inch long the cuttings should be potted, using a mixture of finely chopped fibrous peat, moss and sand, with a little finely broken charcoal added. They should be replaced in the moss and kept close until the pots are fairly well filled with roots and then gradually hardened off. All of the kinds do best suspended from the roof of a hothouse, the temperature of which should not fall below 65° F. in winter. The plants may be grown either in orchid-pots or -baskets. In potting or basketing plants from 4-inch 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 over water 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 presentation for a long time in a house under conditions which would be unfavorable for their growth. All of the hybrid forms are of easy culture. N. Mastersiana, N. Dominii, 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. Northiana, N. sanguinea, N. albo-marginata and N. bicalcarata are all more or less difficult to manage, as the conditions under which they grow in their native haunts are sometimes not easily imitated. N. ampullaria, N. Rafflesiana, N. Phyllamphora, N. distillatoria and N. Kennedyana are usually seen well furnished with good pitchers. |