"Genetics matter". People sometimes say this of Nepenthes hybrids to mean that if a hybrid's parents have particularly good traits, then the hybrid will have outstanding traits as well, so one would do well to only breed "superior" plants. But the conversation almost always focuses on aesthetics; seldom does the discussion turn to vigor, stress tolerance, performance as a houseplant, etc. ### One-year comparison In the image below, taken 2026-08-23: - Left: [[Nepenthes (lowii x x Tiveyi) x (platychila x lowii)|N. (lowii x x tiveyi) x (platychila x lowii)]] - Right: [[Nepenthes spectabilis x mirabilis var. globosa BE-4523]] Both were purchased in Augutst 2025 at similar sizes: The lowii hybrid was about 2" / 5cm across, while BE-4523 was 3-4" / 8-10 cm across. Both were grown in household conditions under LED lights, no supplemental humidity, for a year. A few caveats: I left the lowii hybrid in a pot too small, which caused it to dry out more frequently, a couple times to the point of wilting, and it required re-bagging on those occasions. Without those setbacks, one could imageine that it might be up to 4x as large as it currently is,. But even then there would still be a striking gap between the amount of size gained by the two plants in the course of a single year. The combination of globosa genes + highland genes produced a far more vigorous plant than a plant with roughly 50% of its genome from N. lowii. In theory this is not surprising, but observing the difference in person is striking. ![[Nepenthes_hybrid_growth_rate_comparison_2026-08-23.jpg]] --- [[Nepenthes]]