Nepenthes from seed update

It's been almost a year and my Nepenthes seedlings were beginning to crowd their pots, so it was time to separate them. I selected the most colorful or most robust seedlings and repotted them into seed trays where they'll have a little more room to grow. There must have been 200+ seedlings and I'll probably end up tossing the smaller, weaker ones and giving away some of the others. 

This represents a tiny fraction of the total seedlings...

We all know about the variation of seed-grown plants, but it's something else to experience it firsthand. Aside from differences in size and vigor, the seedlings are already showing variations in color. Some are bright green while neighboring plants are flushed with red. I even spotted a variegated seedling:

Variegation!

This is the most anxiety-inducing seedling. The variegation may not be stable and the plant could end up looking like any other as it matures. Worse, variegated plants like this are notoriously weak and there's a chance it will limp along and eventually die. With any luck, it will grow into a beautiful variegated Nepenthes. I'll be keeping a close eye on this one! 

Meanwhile, the rest of the collection is enjoying the interminably cool, rainy spring that we're experiencing here in southern New England (their human custodian would prefer to see at least a little sun and not have to wear a sweater in May). Here are two more Nepenthes that are looking good at the moment:

That is N. maxima x mira. I acquired this as a small plant and was initially unimpressed with its pitchers: the thin peristomes looked nothing like the N. rajah-esque scalloped and flared peristome of EP's cross. (You can get a sense of how thin the peristomes were on the dying pitcher in the background.) But it's starting to look better!  The newest pitchers have really jumped in size and are developing wide, cherry-red peristomes.

And that's N. veitchii x burbidgeae, one of the most beautiful Nepenthes in my collection. It seems to get its coloration, from the speckling on the pitcher to the candy-striped peristome, from its pollen parent, while the overall shape takes after the seed parent. It's a slow but steady grower and holds its pitchers for a very long time.