photo taken 6 / 04

photo taken: 5 / 05

Nepenthes lowii X truncata is a hybrid between Nepenthes lowii and Nepenthes truncata with the latter being a lowlander. Another one of those Exotica Plants hybrids! So you have a mix between a highlander and a lowlander. I like hybrids like that because they tend to be hardy and can tolerate a wider range of temperatures. I have several clones of this hybrid and there seems to be some variation among the seed grown plants. Some have darker pitchers than the others. As they develop adult pitchers, the peristome will widen similar to N. lowii. Exotica Plants has a few photos of some stunning adult pitchers with incredible striping. There have also been numerous photos in the Nepenthes forums of this hybrid that are jaw dropping. A grower in Japan posted a photo of his plant and the pitcher was unbelievable! The whole plant was incredible! I grow N. lowii x truncata in hanging baskets in full to filtered sunlight. They do quite well outdoors but do slow down big time during winter. They can take temperature drops to the low 40's but do best for me in intermediate temperatures. Larger plants were available for a short while from Exotica in the beginning of 2007 and then went off the list again. This hybrid doesn't vine so cuttings will be few and far between. I have a feeling this hybrid will be a collector's plant as larger pitchers are photographed and the demand increases. I wouldn't be surprised to see this hybrid top $100.00 for larger plants. 

Cultivation: easy; moderate grower outdoors, possibly quicker in intermediate conditions due to the N. truncata parentage in the hybridizing
Market availability: large plants, rooted cuttings?; limited availability at times
Species variability: some differences between the seed grown specimens.
$ / size: expensive to collector's plant; $60.00- $100.00 --may be less for smaller specimens if still available
Cuttings: none available for trade
Sex: unknown