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!

Need advice from experienced growers

I paid 40$ for a male specimen of nepenthes khasiana. It arrived with one beat up leaf but had two more and new growth emerging. I put it on my window in a plastic baggie with the corners sliced off. I was planning to cut the corners a little more each day for several weeks or so to help acclimate it to lower humidity. It was suppose to be a fairly simple process but for some reason all the lives died and the apical meristem has kicked the bucket. I have since moved it into my four foot tank under fluorescent lights. I still have the plastic baggie over it. I cut off the apical meristem because I was not sure if the hormone contained in the growth tip would still suppress basal production even though the apical meristem had died. I am waiting for new growth to emerge from dormant nodes but the entire vine itself was a woody vine and the plant that died appeared to have grow from an activated node from when the previous owner had last taken cuttings. I took a photo today their appears to be some round dots olive green and some orange things on the woody vine. I will take a picture and upload it. I have heard LFS is great for ill nepenthes, I have a bit I could re pot it in. Or do you think I should leave it alone and re pot it once it recovers.

Click for a larger view.



 
thats mold. activated nodes dont often come from the woody vine. but it does sometimes happen. and they dont appear like that. they appear as one bulbous mass then emerge into the new growth point. your plant is dead. sorry =/ the best you can do is hope for a basal. but if it was a root problem to start with (ie. root rot) then its not worth saving.

Alex
 
It's dead and that is the fungus from inside the stem trying to release spores.
 
Do not give up yet! I had a N. merrilliana which had it growing tip cut off during the shipping process/hanging basket wire was shipped with pot and cut growing tip off. The main stem died but I kept it and now 2 months later I've got two basals coming up. You never know. Put it in an out of the way spot and wait awhile, maybe something good will happen. By the way keepwatering it like a normal plant.
 
Yeah its deffinitly mold, and not true glider, ive seen many activated nodes come from woody stems of plants, I believe it depends on if the plant is known for node/basal production. My N. Madagascariensis' "apical meristem" i usually call it the lead growth point lol, but it died and started sending out nodes like mad once the conditions hit right.
Call the people you got it from and ask them about it, 40 dollars for a plant with 3 leaves seems a bit stupid imo.
usually when you see a node starting, it looks like a small split just above a leaf, or the point where the leaf was, over time it splits more and produces a little nub which adventually opens leaves and turned into an immature plant, which if on a plant producing uppers, can go straight to upper pitchers, or maintain lower pitchers and start over, depending on where you took the cutting from.
 
C'mon guys! He said experianced growers! :-))

I was reading online awhile ago about some guy's Nep that pretty much died and looked like yours, he didn't give up on it and kept watering like usual. Sure enough, some time later it grew a basal and went back to normal growth. He said it was a root related problem.

Good luck!
 
I know what the nodes look like, I was just wondering is it some disease that killed my plant or is that just mold? I repotted it in live LFS and I will keep the moss moist instead of sopping wet. I also took the bag off to discourage mold from growing.
 
Well, i figured youd know what nodes looked like, i didnt quite understand why you wouldnt xD i was like wait wha? when i read it. but yeah. keep with it, it will hopefully come back >_<
 
and not true glider, ive seen many activated nodes come from woody stems of plants,
but it does sometimes happen.
haha :) ive had nodes come from a woody stem before. its just more frequent from the green parts.

Alex
 
  • #10
Some of the misconception may be that activating nodes from cuttings is more difficult than plants activating them themselves while during normal growth.

If you do decide to keep it, I would certainly isolate it so the fungal spores don't infect your other plants. That would not be good.

xvart.
 
  • #12
Any suggestions for treatment? How do I isolate the plant when the terrarium filled with other plants is the only vacant spot. I had a spot on my window, (plant still would not be isolated) and that is now taken up.
 
  • #13
Rearrange everything. Or just throw it out since some have said it's dead.

xvart.
 
  • #14
So what did the plant below the soil look like when you repotted?
I'm sorry I didn't catch that. It had plenty of roots looked really good growing in a mass/ball kinda but all growing down and outward. I did not see any white everything was black or just really really dark brown.

Is it a disease that will only affect nepenthes? would placing the bag back over the nepenthes help stop it from spreading?

I am not sure if it is disease, the plant arrived in good shape with one leaf damaged, it was after arrival that the plant started to decline. I think it might have been an extreme case of shock. None of my nepenthes have any pest/diseases so it could not have gotten it from another plant.

Oh and I hope you find your nepenthes.
 
  • #15
disease isnt always a specific organism or catalyst. to me it looks like root rot. if the roots are dead. there is no hope for the plant. placing a bag over it would make it worse.

Alex
 
  • #16
How long have you had this plant since you recieved it from wherever you bought it? If you still feel that it's relatively new, you should contact the nursery and let them know about it. I'm sure they would be willing to give you a refund or replacement plant.
 
  • #17
I bought it from a grower, not a nursery.
I have had it for about 3 weeks but it started to decline as soon as I got it, may have started before it arrived as one leave was half black not like if you were to cut the leaf when rooting a cutting, but half black like if you were to fold the leave in half creasing the leave where the tendril is. The grower told me to water it 3 times or it would start to decline because they use a very free draining mix. I did for the first few days allowing the water to drain out the pot into the saucer, I then dumped the water in the saucer out. The plants leaves died 1 per day over a course of three days. I felt the soil when the apical meristem was the only green thing left and it was really wet I started watering it on Saturdays and Wednesdays instead of 3 times per day. That kept the soil moist instead of waterlogged but the apical meristem had died the fourth day. I haven't given up on it I still water it and treat it as if it were still alive. I am been yearning for it to "pull a phoenix". When I purchased it the grower showed me a photo and it arrived looking exactly like it did in the photo except the half dead leaf which was not brown but black. They told me they had one available so I believe I bought the last plant. I don't know if the grower has another plant to replace the one I lost, or if he/she did, would.
 
  • #18
It definately sounds like this was not your fault. It was probably just a mistake on the previous grower's hands or simply a bad and/or diseased plant.

I would really reccomend contacting the person you got it from ASAP.
 
  • #19
Remember the mummy plant? It lived for a little bit, but no phoenix occurred, sadly. I would take it up with the seller, sounds like you got hosed.
 
  • #20
Khasiana is difficult to root from cuttings. Even after it has a bunch of roots it can succomb to root rot if it is kept too wet. I grow these in a very free draining mix and water 3x a day, (although they may not get much water each time). Let me check to see if I have another one and I'll send it to you. I wouldn't recommend sphagnum for rooted khasiana cuttings.

Here's a pic of a typical rooted khasiana cutting:
DSCF0194.jpg


I stabilize these for at least a couple months in soil in my greenhouse before releasing them.
 
Back
Top