Abortion of Apical Meristem in N. aristolochiodies

[UnstuckinTime]

Hey everyone!

I'm putting this thread in the General Discussion section because I'm not so much looking for advice/help with my problem, but an explanation. Im finishing up my undergrad degree and have been taking several plant development classes (my focus) and I would like to have a scientific discussion about this from any of you out there who are educated on the subject.

Here's the scoop. My poor little N. aristolochiodies was chugging along nicely, growing under a sandwich bag that was so cut up it wasn't holding much humidity in it anymore- so I removed it. Big mistake, apparently.

Now I WISH I had good enough camera to capture what has taken place. The leaves that it has been forming are smaller, and smaller, and smaller. Looking closely now you can see only leaf primordial, and what looks like an apical dome (though its obviously not, it just looks like it, to give you a picture of it).

(for reference, see this ESM picture http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/92/2/199/F2.small.gif )

It appears to be growing a new apical meristem off the side out of one of the auxiliary meristems, so I'm not too worried that the plant will die on me. But even still, what could have caused this craziness? Has anyone ever studied, or read a study, that described such a phenomenon? I'd love to get into as deep of detail about this as I can...

One more piece of information- using a 10x jeweler's loop on the first meristem, I was able to see small orange dots covering the "apical dome" and leaf primoridia, so perhaps it is some pest. (But if it IS a pest, how could a pest have such an effect?!)

Science is a cold mistress, making those whom she has smitten toss and turn in the night thinking of all the strange observations in the world....

Thank you,
CJ

 

[lance]

Many mature nepenthes are said to flower when they are on the 'brink of death', or in the weirdest situations (flowering cutting...etc)

Your nepenthes is probably trying to use most of its energy to stay alive...a survival technique

I have a female miranda X fusca that isn't taking the new environment so kindly...well see what happens to both

 

[BigBella]

It could be a number of things contributing to that problem. Often excess of fertilizer can cause reduced leaves and distorted growth; so too some algal infestation of composts; so too pests -- and my money happens to be on the "small orange dots" you had mentioned. Mites and whatnot can certainly wreak havoc . . .

 

[RL7836]

This summer my aristo did something similar to my understanding of what you are describing. For a few weeks, there was this odd growth of small leaves & small protrusions. It ended up forming two basals (one is slowly growing & the other dried up) and also apparently switched to vine-mode with the primary stem.

 

[amphirion]

I've witnessed this one too many times as well. Glabrata, dubia, ventricosa, and a spec x aristo I received are all going through this. I suspect my lights are too hot and the microclimate at that height too dry for the main growth point to persist. At least in my case...no magic basal inducing powder for me.

 

[Dexenthes]

It sounds an awful lot like a mite or pest problem to me. Mites are known to not to do well in high humidity environments, so perhaps taking the bag away gave them the green light.

If not that, then maybe (judging by a few other comments) N. aristolochioides does something to this effect regularly when there are sudden and significant fluctuations in humidity.

 

[swords]

You will also experience the reduction and eventual disappearance of the growing point if your temps are too warm. N. aristolochioides is a very finicky species about cool days and cold nights. Slowing down, stopping and eventually reversing growth as the days and nights get hotter. It will recover if temps go back to roughly 65-75*F days and 40-50*F nights. My older specimen suffered in summer weather of 80-85*F days and 60*F nights despite being flushed every day it lost all pitchers and stopped growing. Thankfully it was only warm for a couple months and resumed good growth in September but if those temps had continued it would have been the end of the plant.

If your temps are good and cool you might also check the roots, I've had plants reverse growth and die because I didn't repot the plants from the pots/media they arrived in. Now I always repot upon arrival, this gives me a chance to inspect the roots and use the media I am most familiar with watering and caring for.

 

[UnstuckinTime]

Hey guys,

Thank you for your input. While its not exactly what I was looking for, I do appreciate it. I guess there aren't as many Ph. D. / Master's degree in plant biology holders here as I was thinking and hoping. But as it gets colder outside, hopefully it'll recover. It was really a plant that I should have waited until I wasn't quite as nomadic as I am to purchase.

Thank you,
CJ

 

[UnstuckinTime]

Alright, this is a little embarrassing to post here, but this is the same plant I was talking about october. Amphirion, does this look like what your plants did? If so, I can move it away from the lights a little. I have a bag around it (but not over it) to increase the humidity. I hit it with some neem about a week ago just to be sure, but does it look like pests or more like... environmental stressors? I have a happy N. densiflora that I could put it next to (which is to say, it's liking its conditions), maybe a good idea?

*cue disgusting photos* (if you have a weak stomach, you might wanna not look )

 

[swords]

Looks totally like a plant who is being kept too warm and possibly too dry looking at that crispy sphagnum BUT the humidity will only affect pitchering, your leaves aren't even developing anymore.
N. aristolochioides is a cold loving & moisture Nepenthes, mine regularly get 40*F nights & 90% RH and are as happy as can be.

What exactly are your day & night temps & humidity levels?

 

[lance]

Don't sweat over the pic the plant doesn't look that bad . I've had a nepenthes do the same thing when USPS chopped off its growth point. It looks like it needs a bit of cooling and some humidity to look prime.

 

[RL7836]

As I mentioned above, earlier this year mine did something similar. Here's a pic of that section now:

When it was happening, there were three small protrusions very similar to your pic (minus the nasty-looking leaves). The plant chose to keep the one on the left as the primary growth point and also chose to enter vine mode. The end of the vine is now about a foot to the left.