Will my veitchii have stripes!?

One of the most common questions I get is "How can I tell if a veitchii will have a striped peristome or not?". While it can be difficult to tell, especially with small seedlings (under 2" in diameter), there are certain features that can help you determine whether a plant will eventually have that candy cane peristome we are all chasing! 

Who doesn't want something like this in their collection? N. veitchii (m) '1' - Female

Nepenthes veitchii is highly polymorphic, which means in a given grex, every plant can (and likely will) look different. From highly striped peristomes and pink, squat pitchers to pure gold and elongate, anything is possible with seed-grown plants! Though, breeding two squat, striped Bario forms will usually favor those traits in the offspring, it absolutely does not guarantee it. Be wary of people advertising plants as "striped" solely because the parent plants were striped, particularly if the seedlings are under .75" in diameter, as it is basically impossible to tell at that size.

Three N. veitchii 'Pa'umor' siblings, all from the same seedpod, displaying different traits.

I've seen people suggest that red/pink blushing on the leaves can indicate striping... This is absolutely false. Given bight light and cool temperatures, any veitchii will develop reddish leaves, peristome color has no influence on leaf coloration. A few veitchii, like 'Candy Dreams' do show actual red flecking on the leaves even in lower light, similar to what is seen in N. ampullaria 'Black Miracle' and it's hybrids, but this is the exception, not the rule.

A small seedling that turned bright red after being moved from T-5 to LED lighting. This particular specimen is a gold peristome plant.

Alright, so what can you look for on smaller plants that does indicate striping?

Obviously, first thing to do is just check the peristome! Even tiny plants will develop striping, it can be quite difficult to spot but oftentimes a magnifying glass can give you a good enough look. However, stripes can be incredibly faint on small plants, particularly if they're being grown in somewhat shady conditions, so don't immediately despair if you don't see anything. What else can you look for if you don't see any stripes?

Another one of the biggest tells on small plants is red flecking on the underside of the pitcher lid. Small plants (~1" diameter) will display this trait and I'd say 95% of the time, those plants later developed stripes, even if they weren't actually displaying it at the time. Gold peristome plants almost always have a pure green lid with no flecking. 

A small (2" diameter seedling) showing very prominent stripes

So your small plant doesn't show any obvious striping or red flecking on the underside of the lid? Does it mean you're 100% not going to get stripes? While rare, you can have "late bloomers" that don't show any signs of striping until they get some size. The few instances I've personally had it happen, the plants only ever developed very light striping. 

IME, if a plant isn't showing any signs of striping at 3-4" diameter, you have a gold peristome plant. So again, if you're looking to purchase a plant from a vendor at this size or above and they try and tell you "Don't worry, it will get stripes eventually!", they are either uninformed or being outright disingenuous. If you're not looking to play the veitchii lottery with small seedlings, vendors will often sell plants with confirmed striping, specific clones that are known to be striped or larger plants as WYSIWYG style listings so you know exactly what your getting. 

One final thing to think about. Everyone wants that super squat, round pitcher body to go along with the stripey peristome. The Bario form typically displays the squat, egg shaped pitchers whereas the lowland and climbing forms remain cylindrical even on mature plants. So avoid lowland and non-Bario parentage plants if you want that squat pitcher body. That being said, it can take several years for a plant to display mature pitchers shape. Most veitchii start out with fairly cylindrical pitchers when small (though Bario forms are still far squatter), but given enough time and correct conditions, they will begin to show that amazing squat shape. 

The same seedling about two years apart, showing the dramatic change in pitcher shape. This plant is from my (m) '1' x 'Cobra' grex

Hopefully this can help you find that striped veitchii you've been searching for!