What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Well as we enter June I'm starting to ask myself more and more questions from the looks of my S. leucophylla and S. leucophylla 'Tarnok'.

I know that abnormal growth is normal in the beginning of the growing season but now that we are entering June and the temps are constantly in the mid 70s during the day and mid 50s at night I figured this abnormal growth would have seized. I've asked myself if maybe the peat needs replaced, but here is a list of the factors i'm considering.

- Medium consists of Peat moss and perlite, less then 1 yr old, sat in water/ice all winter
- There is no 'burnt' look to the peat
- Water is strictly rain water
- No pest issues such as aphids, scales, spider mites or anything
- The rest of the plants in the same bog are doing fine, (Catesbaei, Wriggleyana, VFTs, filiformis filiformis.
- A flava cannot develop normal pitchers either, leading me to believe a late start in the growing season?

Looking at the above signs nothing leads me to believe that my soil needs changed but then the pitchers are still looking very abnormal. I know that phylodia are very common early on but I wouldnt say that it's early on anymore as my other leucophylla is opening just fine.

This pitcher unrolled like a D. filiformis leaf, you can see in the background the other pitcher did a complete 360 as it was growing.
IMG_2032.JPG




The leaves that did develop into pitchers rather then phyllodia all began to get a burnt/dried out look prior to opening even though the water level is about 1/2 way up the pot and after heavy rain can be around 3/4 of the way up. Roots in the wild can be completely saturated so I assume that this should not have affected the plant either.

I trimmed the top of the dried pitcher but here is a close up of what the entire thing looked like:
IMG_2036.JPG




Here is a wider shot of the plant, there are more pitchers developing but the pitcher openings 'to be' seem a bit small for the size of the leaf.
IMG_2031.JPG_595.jpg





I'd like to get some input and suggestions from the pros out there and thoughts from anyone out there. My current assumption is that this season has been slow to start and that they will eventually 'straighten out'.
 
My tarnok make goofy leaves when they've had a hard winter. Usually when a leaf wilts early in the spring that growth point will die. I attribute that to death by fungus brought on by stress ( I actually had some plant material tested by the Dept of Ag. one year). Yours will grow out of it by summer. Just let it be.
 
Here is a wider shot of the plant, there are more pitchers developing but the pitcher openings 'to be' seem a bit small for the size of the leaf.
Depending on the year, some of my leucos don't even pitcher in the spring - just throw out phyllodia or the pitchers w/ the tiny top opening. No worries - let them grow ...
 
I'd say that if the plants in the same pot are healthy and your leucos are sending up green growth (in whaterever form it may be), then it's most likely that the leucos are healthy. They just need time.


Just wait until Autumn.... :D
 
I too get a few screwy leaves at the beginning of the season and have a few now. Things will get ironed out by summer . . .
 
i have a theory that insects may feed on the developing pitchers in early spring, when htere's not much else to feed on. i think sucking-type insects, not leaf-eating ones. anyway, those type of insects would not show evidence immediately, but as the pitcher continues to develop, it becomes warped and misshapen. i get a lot of this too on my first pitchers of the year, especially S. oreophila for some reason. man, they're ugly right now. as I said, this is just a theory and i have yet to see any insects to back that theory up. could just be the effects of the long, cold winters where I live
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone.
What was throwing me off was that 1 leuco is doing fine but the other is wacked up. Guess it's just mother nature messing with them for now. Cant wait to see some nice pitchers this summer... came from a great grower :)

But while this is up, when do you know it's time to change your peat? And are there any alternative to peat? I know there's choir (spl?) and coco peat but I know there's lots of Sodium and potassium in those which would make a real pain to clean prior to using it.
 
Stick with various long fiber sphagnum, sphagnum peat, horticultural sand, and perlite mixtures. The coir composts are suitable for some Nepenthes but the sodium content of some coir (apparently harvested near beaches) is just off the charts and could prove disastrous to your plants. Sarracenia require little in the way of creativity with their composts; just provide some low pH and drainage . . .
 
This bog is currently peat moss/ perlite but i've switched to peat moss/ silica sand now, I just prefer it overall. What's the sign that your peat needs replaced? Just a burnt look or is there a 2 yr max unspoken rule?
 
  • #10
Replace the soil every couple of years, early in the season, just as the plants are coming out of dormancy. I often replace the compost annually -- a 1:1 mix of sphagnum peat and horticultural sand in my case -- if and when I take divisions of my various Sarracenia. I notice that my plants are noticeably more vigorous with fresh soil . . .
 
  • #11
Sometimes it happens. I have two flava rugeliis with have grown strange leaves that have gone brown and wilted at the top. Others around are doing great.

S. leucophylla can be picky. If the roots have been disturbed, some clones sulk all year.

You're best off buying a few different clones - you'll probably find that some suit your conditions better.
 
  • #12
S. leucophylla can be picky. If the roots have been disturbed, some clones sulk all year.
That's what I was fearing as well but I really dont have a choice, these need to be unpotted and repotted every year. It's just too cold during the winter to leave them outside. I tested that theory with a purp venosa. It croaked.
 
  • #13
F R e N c H 3 z how do you go about wintering your plants in Indiana. I thought I was successful this winter but as the season is going I lost a leucophylla tarnok and judith hindle. In Iowa I put mine in a cooler in the garage however I kept mine potted and I think they were to wet and lost the 2 because of root rot. Any help would be appreciated.
 
  • #14
denver, i was asked the same question today and I ended up writing a novel, I'll PM you...
As a partial answer though, in the fridge
 
  • #15
If it makes you feel any better, here are my two S. 'Judith Hindle' making strange pitchers, phyllodias, and things in between! The cultivar has both leucophylla and flava, which make phyllodia. Both plants made a couple of big, healthy pitchers at the start of the growing season, but are now sending these up:


P6010006.jpg



P6010004.jpg



P6010002.jpg



P6010010.jpg
 
  • #16
It's been slow to warm up here in NY this spring, I'll bet that has something to do with it. Things have been slow to take off here so far.
 
Back
Top