Nepenthes Clipeata Cultivation

Nepenthes clipeata is a lowland plant being found on limestone cliffsides in pockets of moss.

Cultivating Ease - Very Easy

Type - This plant is a true lowland, being very restricted in its natural range.

Temperature - Keeping it warm at all times will make it grow fairly fast. Although it can tolerate intermediate temperatures, it should be kept between 75 and 95 degrees farenheit for optimum growth.

Humidity - Should be very high at all times. Humidity should be above 75% at all times for optimum growth, and will grow faster if the humidity is higher than this.

Light - Shaded conditions to lighted conditions. I use diffused light and keep it out of direct sunlight, although in the wild it does grow in full sun.

Moisture - Keep the plant wet to moist. Do not let the soil dry out.

Soil - Long Fiber Sphagnum. Reports that the plant grows in an alkaline soil is not true. In the wild, the plant grows on a limestone cliff, but always in pockets of acidic moss. (Actually, the cliff may be granite, and not limestone.)

Size - The plant can grow to a significant size, although it does not really climb. The pitchers can exceed a foot in length.

Details: This plant produces perhaps the most orbical leaves in the genus. In mature plants, the tendril only reaches to the middle of the leaf before dropping off to form the pitcher. The pitcher is connected to the tendril on the side, and can be hidden from view. With the way the tendril emanates from the center of the leaf and attaches to the pitcher on the side, it can appear that the pitcher hovers next to the leaf in mid air. N. clipeata is nearing extinction in the wild due to its very restricted habitat. Recent forest fires and even more recent over collecting have made this possibly the rarest plant in the wild. There have been several hybrids made with this plant, some accidentally. The pitchers of the hybrids can look amazingly like the true clipeata, so you must examine the whole plant to ensure its integrity. For instance, I grow the hybrid N. clipeata x N. ventricosa, and the pitchers are identical to N. clipeata. The leaves are different, in that they are elongated. Checking the leaves carefully is a good way to ensure you have a true species of clipeata, as the leaves in the species are very orbical, and the tendril drops out of the middle of the leaf. Most of the common hybrids I know of produces leaves which do not appear to be N. clipeata, lthough the pitchers may be dead ringers.

Propagation -  I have yet to propagate this plant.

Forms - I only know of the typical form.