Description & Care

Nepenthes veitchii is one of those species with which I could happily fill a greenhouse and not get bored, such is the variety of plants in cultivation.

The species is native to Borneo and is named after James Veitch, the famous Victorian nursery owner. N. veitchii has a very wide altitudinal distribution, as you can see in the chart below. There are lowland varieties right through to highland forms, and this makes N. veitchii a particularly adaptable grower as well as an excellent hybrid parent.

One of the great things about growing N. veitchii is the genetic diversity that’s made its way into collections around the world. While some Nepenthes species are yet to be bred in cultivation, and so all individuals come from either wild seed or tissue-cultured clones, horticultural N. veitchii seed has been created dozens of times by many different nurseries. Thankfully I too have both males and females in my collection, so can produce pure species seed! As you’ll see from the photos, I grow mainly the striped highland forms and have collected plants from Borneo Exotics, Exotica Plants, Christian Klein, and others. These typically have wide, flared, striped peristomes, while the stem, leaves, and pitchers are all covered with coarse brown hair. One of my favourite plants is a remarkably squat N. veitchii from the BE-3734 release, which I’ve nicknamed N. veitchii ‘Supernova’.

I find the key to successfully growing N. veitchii in highland conditions is to avoid the cold and damp. If you grow in a greenhouse and want your plants to last through winter, I suggest letting the potting mixture start to dry between waterings. They seem to appreciate good air circulation too, so a position near a fan or in a hanging basket may work well.

If you want to learn more, check out my detailed species showcase of Nepenthes veitchii.