The Crab Spider

The Crab spider, scientifically called Misumenops nepenthicola (that lives in/on nepenthes) is one of the infauna associated with pitcher plants. Reddish to blackish, the can look scary, but are pretty harmless. The ones pictured here are from cuttings of Nepenthes gracilis taken from your typical 'semak'. Not realising that the pitchers weren't empty, I dumped the cuttings into a bucket of tepid water. After a while, out comes the crab spiders, scurrying away from their sunken homes. I saw 2 females (very large - sexual dimorphism) and two males plus a smaller one, possibly a juvenile male. All I can do is to allow them to crawl onto my pots of nepenthes. Hopefully they find is as homey as their original house.

Nepenthes rafflesiana

Nepenthes rafflesiana is a good recommendation for any beginners into Nepenthes cultivation, well at least in the tropics. The pitchers are interesting, and depending on the type (as in variants), it could be large and highly decorative. Even the common, Johore type itself is interesting enough. As for the plant care, it is a very forgiving plant; water it well, enough sunlight and bingo, you've got a very rewarding plant that you can show off to your friends. You might want to occasionally feed it with insects or worms. My favourite food for them is none other than freeze-dried bloodworms. People have tried other insects as well but I prefer bloodworms as it doesn't leave much indigestible remnants in the pitchers. Besides the standard type, there is also a pretty pink one (as in the pitchers are pink in colour) plus a whole range of colours in between the two. All-white pitchers is considered rare. Another type worth mentioning here would be the 'Sandakan winged' where the wing of the pitchers continue towards the stalk of the pitcher.

Nepenthes ampullaria

Now here's a cutesy pitcher plant; Nepenthes ampullaria. Squat round pitchers that look more adorable than menacing. The vines of this scrambling climbing pitcher plants can be used as a form of crude twine in the jungle. Large pitchers are used by local folk as containers to cook rice. Very much like ketupat except that you need not weave the coconut leaf casing. Talk about convenience! Shown here is the all-green pitchers. They something appear brownish green due to brownish hairs on the outer surface of the pichers. Rub it off, and its pure green below. The peristome (the rim of the pitcher) is also green in colour. Other forms include green pitcher-red peristome, speckled pitcher, mottled red, and var rubra-totally red form, which is the rarest. I like the green ones best, having the common speckled type and the Gunung Ledang reddish purple-mottled version. But the best grower goes to my N. ampullaria from Gunung Ledang. A monstrous climber that went up my mango tree, flowered and reached for the skies. He (as in male, since pitcher plants are dioecious) just didn't know when to call it quits. Now, with the mango tree chopped off, he has begun to put out multiple rosettes. I am sure in no time, my garden would be overrun by him again!

Miracle Fruit

Just got a miracle fruit tree (Richardella dulcifica syn. Synsepalum dulcificum) from a nursery in Shah Alam. On almost every branch, there are buds. Gonna get my dose of miracle fruits soon.

Now, going to a plant nursery is a dangerous affair for me, for if I have the means, I would've bought a whole bloody load of trees. Thankfully I still have some self-control in me. The drive to the nursery was dreadful. Old road and large number of heavy vehicles plying the road. Will post more pics of the plants when there are berries.

The nursery, which will remain unnamed, has a collection of plants not usually cultivated in home gardens. Things like black pepper, candlenut tree, the assam gelugor and petai. The lack of popularity of such plants is, I believe, due to the space taken up by such trees. Thankfully, the miracle fruit tree is a small to medium size shrubby tree, which is very amenable to pot culture.

Waiting for the miracle to happen ;-p

Nepenthes xMiranda

Nepenthes xMiranda - A beautiful Nepenthes hybrid that is easy to grow. A good plant to start with if you are new to Nepenthes. Pitchers can grow huge, and so will the plant. Overall, I think it is a very satisfying pitcher plant to have. Feed it, and watch it grow. Does very well in a peat: spaghnum moss:perlite mix. The basal pitcher, in my opinion, are visually far more engaging than the slender aerial pitchers.

It draws a lot of ants to its pitchers, so if you have ants in your garden, you might be shocked to see swarms of ants marching to the pitchers. Let them be, and your N. xMiranda will be well-fed at all times. In a nutshell, it is an innocent looking but deadly plant (to the ants, that is). So if you are six-legged and attracted to N. xMiranda secretions, my advice is... RUN!!!