Nepenthes Tissue Culture @ Borneo Exotics

An efficient method to avoid poaching of rare wild plant populations is the artificial propagation of "wanted species" by tissue culture to serve the demand of the hobby market for particular exotic plants. The company Borneo Exotics in Sri Lanka is an excellent example for such a responsible business. On our visit at the world largest Nepenthes nurseries in Colombo and Nuwara Eliya, the owner Robert Cantley proudly showed us his sterile tissue culture lab and his method to achieve wonderful healthy plants for a world wide export ... and nothing comes from nature!

[@fbt2007]

Great video. I really enjoy watching it. Thanks for posting the video!

[@Pimporly]

Amazing video! I really enjoyed watching this video! Where can I purchase a DVD?

[@yupiisnaini9868]

Nice video. I enjoy the video that explained about tissue culture technique to propagated the pitcher plant. How many species did you propagated? How about the name of your lab or nursery "Borneo Exotics", is it mean your plants are from Borneo island? sorry, I just want to know. Thanks

[@shartmeyer]

Hello yupi isnaini, you are welcome. Some decades ago, most known large Nepenthes came from Borneo. There, in the state Brunei, Robert Cantley founded his first Nepenthes nursery Isra Exotics, with the condition to sell only artificially propagated plants. Later he moved to Sri Lanka, where he founded his own tissue culture lab to propagate the endangered plants (not only from Borneo) from seeds, and selling them only with official CITES papers. He was successful and became the world largest nursery for Nepenthes with customers all over the world. In Sri Lanka he runs two nurseries: one in the lowland near Colombo and a second in the highland near Nuwara Eliya. His idea was to produce enough artificially propagated Nepenthes for the hobby market to take the pressure of poaching from the natural growing sites.

[@kodomokomodo]

thankyou so much for posting it! it really helps me! :D

[@intricatic]

@AGracelessLady Where have you been all my life? =P

[@JonathanGonzalez-id2jj]

8:09 brauchen die kannenpflanzen den keine luftfeuchte? z.b. nepenthes hamata, truncata?

[@shartmeyer]

Doch, selbstverständlich brauchen die Nepenthes hohe Luftfeuchte. Die ist auf der tropischen Insel Sri Lanka - besonders nachts - garantiert. Bei voller Sonne kann die tagsüber schon mal absinken, aber spätestens nachts erhohlen sich die Pflanzen. Im Hochland (Nuwara Eliya) gehen die Temperaturen im Winter bis knapp über 0°C zurück, da wird es dann richtig feucht.

[@Fantasmafamiglia]

i realy like pudin!

[@bodganshestov7507]

Do you guys do tissue culture with nepenthes rajah, nepenthes clipeata or any other endangered species to try to prevent them from extinction?

[@shartmeyer]

Bodgan Shestov Yes, Borneo Exotics in Sri Lanka is propagting many endangered species with tissue culture based on seeds, not on collected plants. It's featured in our movie. I consider their nurseries as an important gene poole for endangered Nepenthes, very important also for the conservation.

[@bodganshestov7507]

so are there any nepenthes rajah or clipeatas?

[@shartmeyer]

Bodgan Shestov Yes, at Borneo Exotics and at their worldwide intermediate dealers. In Germany I know the nursery of Christian Klein (Merzig) to sell plants from Borneo Exotics. In my collection is just one N. clipeata from BE, however, it is not for sale.

[@carloshakubrgamertrader8764]

I was wondering if u sell small changes cephalotus and the price?

[@shartmeyer]

+Carlos Eduardo We have no commercial business and sell only at rare occasions "surplus plants" from our private CP-collection if they grew "too much". Unfortunately we do not have any surplus of Cephalotus. However, a source for Cephalotus could be the nursery of Thomas Carow (www.falle.de) in Germany.

[@carloshakubrgamertrader8764]

this well thanks for attention!'ll keep looking then

[@tomsmith9707]

I think conserving Nepenthes is good, but there is irony in this film. He plants Nepenthes Ventricosa - a potential invasive species in Sri Lanka that might cause gene pool pollution and compete with the native plants. In addition to this, why would the world's former Nepenthes grower have sarracenias at 7:04?

[@shartmeyer]

Tom Smith The Neps are inside his nursery, so they will not be invasive or dangerous for hybridising with the endemic Neps.

[@tomsmith9707]

Look at the thumbnail of this video yourself. Do you see Robert Cantley sitting next to a flowering nepenthes indoors or outdoor?

[@shartmeyer]

No problem because his highland nurseries in Nuwara Eliya are far away from the growing sites of the endemic N. distillatoria. I am convinced that Robert Cantley's nursery is an important factor in the conservation of endangered Nepenthes. What I saw there during our filming was absolutely serious and best practice.

[@tomsmith9707]

So why are the sarracenias?

[@shartmeyer]

Also Heliamphora and Drosera! Diana Williams' hobby :-). Which I think is ok. Or do you think also in countries with endemic sundews (most countries) the cultivation of such plants should be banned?

[@Fiercedeity02]

I hear master cheif talking.....