Thursday, May 2, 2013

Nepenthes rafflesiana AG3 Clone

Nepenthes rafflesiana, an AgriStarts 3 tissue cultured clone.



AgriStarts 3 is one of a chain of wholesale tissue culture facilties is right here in Florida. Number 3 in particular produces probably the majority of TC carnivores, (amongst a myriad of other tropical and garden plants,) that are resold in grocery stores and big box stores in the US. Too bad they're wholesale only, it would be a cool place just to visit.

Oddly enough I see very little of their TC carnivores in FL. Saw them in NY all the time as they supply to many of the companies that sell carnivores in cubes, tubes, and other little packages. My Nepenthes 'Judith Finn' and Nepenthes ventricosa are both AG3 clones, supplied to Botanical Wonders and then to me via a "Death Cube" at Lowe's. It appears as if they also produced N. madagascarenis N. truncata, and N. sanguinea at one point, but it doesn't look like they do anymore.

This Nepenthes rafflesiana is also an older clone they don't produce anymore. I was real excited to get a hold of it.



It's just a little plant still, but it should do great out here this summer. I should probably get around to repotting it sooner than later too as rafflesiana's get big.

3 comments:

  1. Eles são enormes e lindos.
    Não vejo na minha região.
    Parabéns e abraços

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  2. Very nice looking plant, love the wings at the back of the flower.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, these get even nicer the bigger they get. The pitcher is actually not the plant's flower though, it's part of the leaf. As the leaf grows it extends a tendril from the mid-vein that swells and opens, fills with digestive fluid and excretes nectar to attract insects to get it's nutrients. Nepenthes flowers are actually extremely small and uninteresting.

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