Unlike the other posts in this thread, *this* one will serve more the function of a lab notebook than a photo brag. I need a record of this stuff somewhere, because I don't have a very good natural plant-intuition yet.
So I've got two things going on with my nepenthes lately: higher (seasonal) light levels, and more regular feeding (osmocote pellets).
--
First, the light levels. Some of my nepenthes seem more sensitive to it than others.
Nepenthes that have speckling on their leaves from getting more light than they were expecting include, notably, anything I have with N. spectabilis or N. veitchii parentage. Nothing is actually getting so much light that it gets holes burnt in the leaves or whatever, just red/dark speckles. In descending order of speckliness:
N. spectabilis x aristolochioides
N. 'Bloody Mary' (=ampullaria x ventricosa)
N. spectabilis
N. spectabilis x leonardoi
N. glabrata x veitchii
N. (veitchii x mira) x klossii
N. hamata
Things I have that *don't* have speckling, despite getting the same amount of light (there are others, but these are listed for species-based comparison with the light-sensitive list above) include:
N. glabrata x hamata
N. glabrata
(In case I look at this later and wonder: My N. burkei x hamata is too new to draw any conclusions about what it thinks of the light levels.)
--
Food-related thoughts, sorted by plant:
N. burkei - This plant was by far the most excited to be getting more food! Its newer leaves look so much greener now!
[Edit 3.7.2024: Its new pitcher has greener greens than I've seen from it before. I think it must be happy!]
N. ventricosa (sg) - I've been told that this is an easy-grower, but this N. ventricosa is absolutely the most finicky nepenthes I own. It never seems *very* happy. Does it appreciate the extra food? Maybe. The new leaves look very slightly greener than the old leaves. Some of this may just be because the new leaves are new. I'm not sure if the difference is any more pronounced now than in the past. ... Its new leaves are also decreasing in size. Still. So who even knows.
[Edit 3.7.2024: Yeah, the leaves are definitely staying more green now, since I started osmocote-ing it. That's good, it had been looking too sickly-yellow for a while now. It has partially digested 3 pellets in 3 pitchers so far. It also just put out a new pitcher which is both much smaller than previous, and also the absolute most boring beige coloration I've ever seen on this plant. I think the leaf size is still shrinking.]
N. 'ventrata' - I think they definitely *might* both be looking greener these days.
N. 'St. Gaya' - This guy got by far the most osmocote pellets, because it has the highest number of adequately sized pitchers. I don't think it can even tell the difference, tbh. Oh well.
N. "most of the plants I haven't mentioned specifically" - I can't tell if they appreciate the extra food or not.
N. glabrata x hamata - Did the osmocote pellet actually kill the pitcher? I'm not positive, but I was expecting that pitcher to last a fair bit longer than it did.
N. aenigma - I've had this plant since February, and am currently a bit worried for it. It promptly dropped all its pitchers after I got it, as they do. Up until about a month ago, it was actually a super vigorous grower in terms of putting out new leaves; I was really amazed watching it. But, as is often the case for nepenthes with longer pitcher-tendrils, it can take a while to put out new pitchers. In fact, it still hasn't put out a working pitcher, but it has a bunch of long tendrils that look like they may eventually pitcher. The problem is, as of a few weeks ago, it's started getting a bunch of yellowish patches on its leaves, which I'm pretty sure means that it needs food. It's got one immature pitcher that looks like it *might* be ready to go in a week or two, but I've been thinking that for the past couple of weeks, so I don't know. I'm about ready to osmocote the media and hope for the best.
[Edit 3.7.2024: I think the foliar fertilization is helping. I hope. It's probably too soon to tell for sure.]
Edit (23.6.2024): !
N. sanguinea - I can see a definite 'slightly more dead' spot right below the resting spot of the osmocote pellet in one of the pitchers. I haven't noticed that anywhere else. The rest of the pitcher seems fine, at least.
Edit (28.6.2024): !
N. mikei - The osmocote pellet killed not only the pitcher, but actually the entire leaf. To be fair, it's a pretty tiny pitcher and a pretty tiny associated leaf.
N. veillardii - This plant has leaves and pitchers of a comparable size to N. mikei; I actually ended up ripping the top off of a pitcher in order to squish the osmocote pellet in. The remaining half-pitcher and associated leaf are doing fine.
[Edit 3.7.2024: In fact, I see now that at some point after osmocote-ing this plant, it actually abandoned its almost-fully-formed next pitcher. Leaves are getting a bit bigger though.]
N. tentaculata/murudensis hybrid - A third plant of almost-comparable size to the N. mikei. This one also seems happy enough with the osmocote pellet, which is currently sitting in the very pitcher shown at the start of this thread. I am actually kind-of amazed that that pitcher is still alive at all after this long.
[Edit 3.7.2024: I guess I jinxed it. This pitcher is now starting to die back a bit on its lid/peristome. In other news, after feeding, the new leaves are increasing in size, where before they had been stable/slightly shrinking. But this could also be related to light and/or getting moved outside to more highland-y temperatures.]
Edit (3.7.2024): !
N. glabrata x veitchii - Noticed a 'slightly more dead spot' similar to what happened with N. sanguinea.
N. spectabilis x aristolochioides - New leaves are more green than ever before! Its lone pitcher is also more boring-colored than ever before, having lost its gorgeous yellow undertones. Alas.
