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Rot... not sure what to do

Baylorguy

"Oh, now he's a philosophizer"
Well, I just lost my favorite flava ornata clone from Prince George Co, VA. I dug it up because I noticed the phyllodia were turning brown along with the main growth point. Sure enough, the entire rhizome was mush. My excellens giant is not looking good either (see attached pictures).

Is it normal for growers to lose a plant every now and then? Pretty frustrating when you have only one of a particular clone and it bites the dust... from what I can see the others Sarrs in the same minibog are ok, but now I am just paranoid. Any advice on preventative treatments at this point?


Phil
 
you forgot to attach the pics..
 
I found a few rotted ones recently, too.
Most I were able to divide, thankfully, so I'm just hoping the rot doesn't magically progress.
I have no idea what caused it since their water tray was super shallow all winter, nor do I know of a good preventive, but Trichoderma and/or Neem might be useful.

Part of me thinks there has to be a cause for everything.
But then I remember in Peter's book, he says that sometimes, plants just die, so maybe yeah, it is normal for someone to lose something now and then.
 
:0o: I hope I don't have nasty rot surprises waiting for me in my minibogs this year :eek:

and OMG... nobody move suddenly or else Av8tor might disappear again... *tiptoes out*
 
Thanks for the advice and links. I'll spot check all of the plants tomorrow. Fortunately fungal infections are problems typically during inactive growth, and since most of my Sarracenia are flowering and sending up pitchers, I hope I am past this.

Phil
 
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Oooh I thought it was just me! I found a couple of mushy rhizomes in a few larger pots as well - nothing too bad but not good all the same. I've noticed when transplanting some Sarracenia, that when I found red worms in and around the rhizome, the soil was VERY broken down, almost like silt instead of peat. I've also noticed that most of the time when my plants have this going on, and I find these worms in the soil - it seems like that "silt" actually holds more water, and that it's almost like mud. I've dumped all the water out of all of the trays, but I've noticed that some plants that were on the dry side did this as well - again, nothing really bad since the plants are huge, but still enough to make you pay attention! We've been really wet here in Northern Cal. and I think that's contributing too - and more rain coming tonight!
I hope your dog is OK! If not grab the attacker and the owner and bring them here - I've got enough carnivores to hide the evidence :censor:

---------- Post added at 07:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:44 AM ----------

Also, I wanted to add - It's time to bust out with the systemic fungicides ( I know this battle cry will make some flinch ), but if you have plants going downhill rapidly..dig up the affected plant, do surgery if neccesary, cutting the rhizome back until (hopefully) it's like a creamy white color with (hopefully) some roots attached - then it (hopefully) can be saved! If you have too many, then look into a good systemic fungicide, and douse everyone to the point of runoff into the soil, keep plants you're worried about on the dry SIDE, not dried out (big difference), and in the sun.
I have found with my plants, I'm going to have to spray EVERYONE with Isotox, because of all the mealybugs that overwintered in all of the foliage..winter freezes DO NOT kill those suckers off, and if I don't spray, I'll have one hell of a bug problem come spring - the following week, I'll more than likely follow up with a fungicide application, since doing both at the same time, or even days apart can lead to phototoxicity - too many chemicals on the leaf surface and the result - napalm!
 
Av's thread is probably the best thing for you. I can report that for the years I used it I never had losses. I strongly advise against hard core use of fungicides, they never worked for me. To save the things you have that are already infected your best bet is to dig them up, cut away all dead matter (and yes, this may leave you with a rootless rhizome nub), wash them really well with clean water and then repot them in straight NZ/Orchid grade sphag and treat them like rhizome cuttings. I bagged them and kept them isolated from everything else.
 
I got the same thing from my S. leucophylla this year. When I went to check the rhizome the growing point was mush but I was able to divide the rest which looks like it had some new growing points on it. Hopefully in a month or two I'll see some above ground growth.
Last year I got about 10 plants from one seller and 8 of them died, despite not doing anything wrong, I guess they just didn't like me - plants die, oh well. I haven't had any fatalities since then.
 
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