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A beautifully dark form of a tiny, highly variable species!
Also how NOT to acclimate your new plants! Ugh! |
Plant arrived in great condition and even had a cute little pitcher! August 2020
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Signs of poor acclimation! Sunburned, tiny, stressed out leaves >.< Finally starting to recover! October 2020
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From jcoveney70 Lowland Nursery: "This is a very rare form of N. gracilis Black. This is the classic plant that produces the gracefully slim solid black pitchers that are so sought after. Both the upper and lower pitchers of this form turn jet black. They start out an incredible deep maroon color as the pitchers develop but soon turn black as they age. There are many forms of this plant out there, but this is by far the best one that I have ever come across. This plant does very well in terrarium like conditions or in any warm and humid spot. The new leaves get a unique copper color in strong light but the pitchers end up deep black no matter what. I only produce only a very small number of this very special Nepenthes every year. This plant needs good light to show its full potential."
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Whelp, this was one of my "OOPS!" moments! This Nepenthes gracilis was one of my very first lowland plants and I decided to put it in the hottest part of my setup. I didn't bag it because I thought the humidity would be high enough. Wrong! Poor plant went through a really rough case of shock! You can tell it was shocked because it stopped growing altogether for over a month, the leaves got sunburned, and when it did resume growth it had very small, stressed out leaves that did not pitcher. Thankfully it recovered eventually and has resumed normal growth! I now have it underneath my maxima x jacquelineae so that it is partially shaded, which it seems to tolerate much better!
Update December 2020
Finally recovered from the transplant shock! First pitchers are absolutely gorgeous! I love the slightly woody texture and the speckled waxy zone. The slim peristome and ribbed wings give this pitcher a very elegant profile! I wonder if it will darken up and become truly "black" - although the leaves are quite red and it appears to be in a high light intensity for it, the pitchers are still just a dark red.
Another interesting thing that appears unique to gracilis - there is a slight reflexed indentation in the wall of the pitcher right up near the top next to the base of the lid. It indents quites a bit and makes the pitcher lid very stiff!
Another interesting thing that appears unique to gracilis - there is a slight reflexed indentation in the wall of the pitcher right up near the top next to the base of the lid. It indents quites a bit and makes the pitcher lid very stiff!
Love these tiny pitchers!
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Hopefully they continue to darken and become truly black!
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Current Growing Conditions: Warm Intermediate Terrarium
Light: ~160 PPFD or 8930 Lux under 4000K LED shoplights
Humidity: ~90% night and 67% day
Temperature: ~68F night and 85F day
Water: Moist but not wet
Potting Mix: 50% long fibered sphagnum moss 50% perlite
Fertilizer: MaxSea (1/4 tsp/gallon) every other week into pitchers and lightly spray leaves
Additional Notes: Important lesson learned! Acclimate to conditions slowly and use the bag acclimation method! Once established, very quick growing - two new pitchers in less than one month!
Light: ~160 PPFD or 8930 Lux under 4000K LED shoplights
Humidity: ~90% night and 67% day
Temperature: ~68F night and 85F day
Water: Moist but not wet
Potting Mix: 50% long fibered sphagnum moss 50% perlite
Fertilizer: MaxSea (1/4 tsp/gallon) every other week into pitchers and lightly spray leaves
Additional Notes: Important lesson learned! Acclimate to conditions slowly and use the bag acclimation method! Once established, very quick growing - two new pitchers in less than one month!