Nepenthes Truncata Cultivation

Nepenthes truncata has both lowland and highland forms,  being found in the Philippines. It is a very easy plant to grow under many conditions.

Cultivating Ease - Very Easy

Type - N. truncata has both lowland and highland forms. 

Temperature - Keeping the lowland forms warm at all times is advisable, although it can tolerate temperatures as low as 35 degrees (non-frost) at night for weeks at a time. Even though it can tolerate cold temperatures, it should be kept between 75 and 95 degrees farenheit for optimum growth. It grows well as an intermediate.  The highland form grows well as a highland or intermediate.

Humidity - This plant, due to its very thick leaves and pitchers, can tolerate lower humidity levels than most Nepenthes. Keeping it above 75% is usually the best way to grow it.

Light - Shaded conditions to full direct (diffused) sunlight.  It grows very well in a large chamber under lights. (I have found reports that the plant needs low light levels to be false. Most of my truncatas grow in an outdoor greenhouse under two layers of poly film in direct sun.)

Moisture - Keep the plant moist. Do not keep the roots very wet for long periods of time. Growing the plant in a deep pot of sphagnum moss that is kept moist work very well. 

Soil - Long Fiber Sphagnum

Size - The plant can grow more than 4 feet in diameter, and that is with truncated leaves. Actually, the leaves on larger plants are no longer truncated, but grow into large rectangles.  Otherwise a compact grower, it will place large pitchers at the end of its heart shaped leaves. It is an ideal candidate for larger grow chambers (4'x4'x8' when small, 6' x 4' x 8' when larger) under lights, or in a stovehouse.

Details: Truncata will eventually produce monster pitchers on leaves that are short (relatively speaking), thick, and heart shaped. For the most part, it is a compact grower, and can survive years in a large chamber. Larger plants produce large rectangled shaped leaves, Care must be taken if it flowers in a chamber with limited clearance, as the thick stem of the inflorescence can reach high enough to puncture through poly plastic. The plant will morph its pitchers from lower to uppers by differing forms of intermediate pitchers. The lower pitchers are cylindrical with a small cap for a lid. The plant will produce intermediate pitchers which have characteristics of lowers and uppers. Finally the upper pitchers are produced, which have a triangular lid, wide flaring persistome, producing long tubby pitchers that can be enormous. The pitchers, as large as they are, look even more enormous next to the leaves which are smaller  (relatively speaking) than the pitchers. Dont get me wrong, the leaves on a mature plant can be quite large. But the pitchers extreme size is even further augmented by the leaves which are usually shorter in length. The leaf petioles can be quite long and extended, then forming the thick leaf which is heart shaped in smaller plants and rectangular in larger ones.

Propagation -  I have many truncata plants grown from seed. They mature relatively quickly, and 1 foot diameter plants can be realized in a few years. Tissue culture plants that are less than 3" in diameter can be slow to grow. Once a truncata reaches about 4" in diameter, it gets much larger with every progressive leaf that it puts out.

Forms - There are several forms of truncata. The lowland forms usually have greenish pitchers with either red or striped peristomes. The highland forms can have pitchers that are greenish, to orange/rust, red, purple, and even black.

Upper pitcher of Nepenthes truncata showing nectar production on the underside of the lid and on the front of the pitcher.

Lower immature (believe it or not)  pitcher of Nepenthes truncata. The lower immature pitchers form tubes with a small pitcher opening, small cap for a lid, and less developed peristome. Note that this 6" lower pitcher is about twice as long as the heart shaped leaf, which makes the pitcher look that much larger. Immature pitchers on N. truncata can surpass the large mature pitchers of most othe species. 

Mature lower/intermediate 15" Nepenthes truncata pitcher