nepenthes question

I read Peter D'amato's "Savage Garden" and in his book he gives some specific info on nepenthes..but on several other sites I find conflicting information on outdoor growing. I am in zone 8b/9a ( Jacksonville Fl), the rear of my house is east facing ( this is where my bog garden is) and I do not have any tree over head near my home ( it is Florida..hurricaines). I do have a Live Oak tree that is very large on the back of my fence line but it stays very shady under it. My front porch is west facing and I have 2 trees in my front yard that provide filters light for my front porch. I grow my orchid on the front porch hanging from the ceiling.
Now I have a Nep. alata ( highland species) and newly aquired nep 'Miranda', ( what hybrid that is I am unsure) both are large. I also have a Nep. ventricosa "orange form" and a Nep. sanguinea both are small in 3" pots ( I currently have them in a terrarium). Peter D'amato states they can thrive in a greenhouse style terrarium.

I am getting conflicting info on the web.
What do I do? As far as I know they are all are highland species. My temp ranges are typically 80-95+ during the summer with never less than 60% humidity. Night time temps are 60-70 normally.

I do NOT want to kill these. I probably would cry if they died. Anyone out there familiar witht htese species and my zone.?

picture is of ' Nep. Miranda'

Give them BRIGHT, indirect sunlight all year. NO SUN or the leaves will burn.
In fall winter in the outside temps go below say 50 bring them inside.

so in your opinion is east facing better or west facing?

That is correct.

Could you give an update? I am new, always looking for Florida growers to try to work out some of these issues. I grow most of my Nepenthes in an orange tree and in a rain tree in the back yard. Lots of N. "Miranda", N. ventrata, N. truncata, N "Judith Finn", N "Red Beauty (gorgeous!). . . My super lowlands like N. ampullaria come in when it hits 60. The rest get pulled onto a screened porch. My ventratas stay on the porch to freezing with no problem. Everyone else comes in at 40. At freezing the ventrata come in. My first plant is a N. ventrata, and it has vines 8' long. I cut 3' off every year for cuttings, and they are still 8'. I love that plant. They are all my porch right now. Next week, they will return to the trees. As long as I keep them watered properly, they do fine outside all summer. I have a couple highlands like N. lowii that I grow under growlights on an East window sill. I am worried about it being too warm.

This message was edited Mar 15, 2009 12:17 PM

Chubbydoll,
East or west windows are the same really.

I am new at growing nepenthes and was surprised when they bloomed. Has anyone tried growing them from seed?

Oooo, do you have pictures of the blooms? :) What kind of Nepenthes do you have? Mine have never bloomed. I don't think they are old enough. Do you have male and female plants? I don't think a plant produces male and female flowers, but I could be wrong. If you want to grow the seeds, I recommend reading the seed germination instructions on International Carnivorous Plant Society website.

http://www.carnivorousplants.org/seedbank/species/Nepenthes.htm

The blooms are not especially attractive. It is a spike with tiny buds about 5" long. Since I wrote last the buds are getting bigger but still haven't opened . That's been almost a month.. will write again when they open and take a picture. Since the plant is inside, I've been filling the pitchers with a weak fertilizer..orchid fertilizer.

I wouldn't put anything in the pitchers. It dilutes the natural enzymes produced by the pitchers and makes it difficult for the plant to dissolve and absorb its food.

I spray weak orchid fertilizer all over the leaves and the outside of pitchers once every two weeks during the summer.

What kind of Nepenthes do you have?