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serious bicalcarata help!!!

Just got this plant about a week ago. It was in a grow tank with four 20W daylight bulbs. It started yellowing so now it has two bulbs 14 hours a day. A small piece of the pitcher turned black and I assumeed that this was because of a drop in humidity at some point, but when I looked at it today. The developing pitcher and a leaf are partially black.

Anyone have suggestions??







I see this premature vine?, leaf? growing from the leaf on the right of this picture below still looks pretty good.


do I have enough light with only two 20W bulbs 14hr/day?
 
From my experience this plant does not ship and transplant well. Leave it alone and give it some time is the best that I can recommend. As far as lighting goes, perhaps someone more experienced can answer that.

Crystal
 
What are your day and night temperatures?
 
Hmm. I'm still pretty new to N.bicalcarata I agree it sometimes don't take too well to shipping if you keep in in good conditions I'm sure it'll start to grow well is it in the same pot it shiped in or did you have to pot it also what it's growing condition temps and humidity does it get sunlight or just bulbs?

I've been growing mine for two months where it grew before it came into my hands got cold damage so it's slowly recovering so far it's made two new leaves so most likely yours will bounce back once it gets the right amount of light and humidity as long as it has a healthy looking growing tip it should be ok.
 
These guys are finicky but vigorous when they get going. The yellowing suggests overlighting to me. As far as I understand, until they start their explosive adult growth N. bicalcurata enjoy shady conditions, similar to N. ampullaria. Tony can tell you lots more than I can though.
~Joe
 
yes! Mine just kicked it up a notch and is starting to race ahead. yup! that die back is typical from a newly recieved plant. One has to be very very careful and provide very similar conditions to the vendor if you expect it to retain most of its leaves and older pitchers. But don't worry..... the growth tip looks good. yeah btw...I am using one 27 watt CFL as a light for this plant and it is thriving with pitchers that get bigger every time and the current pitcher is the size of a regular coffee cup.
 
thanks everyone for the answers!
I didn't realize the light had to be that low!- before this I've been growing dews and they cant get enough light.
looking forward to those big pitchers!!
 
You didn't answer my question! It looks temperature related not light related to me.

As noted by others. N. bicalcarata hates change. Hates being repotted. Hates cold weather. I see you are in Michigan? Perhaps it got too cold during shipping. The usual response to something it isn't happy about is turn yellow and black ... fast. If conditions are proper after that it should recover.

As for low light, they can take full sun in Florida and Hawaii. I doubt you are over exposing it with a couple compact fluorescent bulbs.
 
It may not be the amount of light. I think it looks temperature related. Also drastic humidity drops will cause bicals to turn black very fast. It only takes a short time for this to happen.
Be patient and see what the next leaf looks like after acclimation as you have only had for 2 weeks and is still acclimating to your conditions ie humidity levels, temps etc.... But if your conditions are to drastic for bical to acclimate to you are beating your head against a wall. Bical needs steady hot and humid conditions to thrive.
 
  • #10
yes! Mine just kicked it up a notch and is starting to race ahead. yup! that die back is typical from a newly recieved plant. One has to be very very careful and provide very similar conditions to the vendor if you expect it to retain most of its leaves and older pitchers. But don't worry..... the growth tip looks good. yeah btw...I am using one 27 watt CFL as a light for this plant and it is thriving with pitchers that get bigger every time and the current pitcher is the size of a regular coffee cup.

I don't know why but mine didn't have a die back, it just paused its growth for a wee bit. And wow, only a 27 watt light? how close is your bical?
 
  • #11
You didn't answer my question! It looks temperature related not light related to me.

As noted by others. N. bicalcarata hates change. Hates being repotted. Hates cold weather. I see you are in Michigan? Perhaps it got too cold during shipping. The usual response to something it isn't happy about is turn yellow and black ... fast. If conditions are proper after that it should recover.

As for low light, they can take full sun in Florida and Hawaii. I doubt you are over exposing it with a couple compact fluorescent bulbs.

I highly agree with Tony. It does look more like a low light situation. I live in hawaii and they do tolerate fun sun, they are very touchy to transplanting and changes in their environment (temperature/humidity mainly). I lost my first two or three that I first bought, due to the local niche weather here, rains stop when I can't water them for two weeks, chilled one too much when I lived in a cooler zone of the island got root rot/very low light. The one I still have went through something similar (turning yellow to black) as for too much light it won't blacken instead it would yellow then brown out to a very dry almost tan brown, aka sunburn. I'd say if the temps. drop below 80 degrees F and low humidity/ possibly over watering, does it sit in a tray or does it allow for draining out. For lighting the compact flouresent bulbs work fairly well 20 -25 watts. Check these and hopefully there is still time to fix it.

Rob
 
  • #12
I highly agree with Tony. It does look more like a low light situation. I live in hawaii and they do tolerate fun sun, they are very touchy to transplanting and changes in their environment (temperature/humidity mainly). I lost my first two or three that I first bought, due to the local niche weather here, rains stop when I can't water them for two weeks, chilled one too much when I lived in a cooler zone of the island got root rot/very low light. The one I still have went through something similar (turning yellow to black) as for too much light it won't blacken instead it would yellow then brown out to a very dry almost tan brown, aka sunburn. I'd say if the temps. drop below 80 degrees F and low humidity/ possibly over watering, does it sit in a tray or does it allow for draining out. For lighting the compact flouresent bulbs work fairly well 20 -25 watts. Check these and hopefully there is still time to fix it.

Rob


I gota agree with Tony as well to.. The Bical GP_Princess got came in and didnt go under any stress at all only lost the one pitcher it had as it was already browning befour she got it, never had any probs from day one and its under strong lights, high himudidty and high temps and its growing like gangbusters and putting out lots pitchers.

alec where in michigan are you located? If your close enough i can come and help you out or even GP_Princess can come and check whats going on. Also im curious as well like stated by nepenthes369 is it sitting in a tray of water or able to drain once waterd? Are you using city water? Fertalizer of any type? What type potting media did you use? Alot of things can give us a better idea of whats going on once all the info is answerd..
 
  • #13
I'm not sure but my Bical never show any problem, and I give it a hell of welcome, new pot as soon it get here, full sun on the green house and a looooottt of water (all my nepenthes get the same welcome treatment)...

I will say the water is maybe the problem...
 
  • #14
Mine looked like hell when I didn't give it enough water. They don't like it cold, but it does get down to 50 and my bicals just sulk a little. I am down to one right now because of a repot incident, but once I repotted into a wetter mix and have the sitting in about an inch of water the one larger one has taken off and opened up a nice pitcher for me! Colored up nicely too. It has almost doubled in size since giving it the less light and standing in water. I am using the mix out of Savage Garden. I cannot remember it right off hand.
 
  • #15
sorry Tony- to be honest, I cant find my thermometer, so I don't know. But I am shooting for 80, I have an aquarium heater in a large container full of water right next to the plant set as high as it will go (88)- soit should be between 70 and 80.


its not sitting in water. The soil is close to Savage Gardern I think 1:1 of vermiculite, perlite, lava rock, LFS etc...(little of everything) ,but I was a little low on aggregates (rock, bark, perlite) and I was thinking of redoing it. Could it be a pathogen? some of the rock (largish gravel ,pebbles?) I used was from a friend's greenhouse and it came out of a huge pile that he uses- could they have brought something with them from outside?

The growth point is still okay- maybe larger?, and some of the leaves still have green on them. The lid of the pitcher closed down as far as it could go- humidity?- I don't see how because it is in a humid terrarium.
 
  • #16
barracuda, I'm in Dimondale (lansing area). I've been watering with rain water, but when I run out, I will use dehumidifyer water- is this going to be okay?
 
  • #17
hmm ok.. no thermometer. How about this! When you put your hand in there does it feel noticeably warmer than the surrounding room temperature?

Not sure about your potting mix but I seriously doubt a pathogen would do what you are seeing. N. bicalcarata isn't fussy on potting mix as long as it holds a good amount of water and remains on the moist side all the time.

N. bicalcarata hates just about everything that messes with it's current life when going to a new one. It's normal response is to just up and turn yellow and black all over. The key though is to make sure its new home is to its liking and hopefully if the stress in relocating to its new home wasn't so severe that it outright up and croaks, it will establish and be happy once again. At which point you will need a small grow room in short order because N. bicalcarata will get huge fast.

So the question is.. are your current conditions suitable to make N. bicalcarata happy?

Get yourself a thermometer and find out what your day and night temperatures are. They are the single most important growth factor for N. bicalcarata. Ideally you want to shoot for 85-90 during the day and 80 at night.


oh yeah as far as the pitcher lid.. don't worry about it. Probably just a response to the plant roots not fully reestablished yet after being shipped repotted etc. The plant is just showing a little water stress. Now if the leaves begin to roll.. you have a problem.
 
  • #18
I got 80 -90 during day but its 70-75 at night.- I think I'll use another heater and keep it at 80.
one more question: I was planning on repotting in it pure LFS. since you said that it probably doesn't mind the current one, should I avoid more disturbance and wait until it recovers?
Thanks for all the help :)
 
  • #19
N. bicalcarata hates just about everything that messes with it's current life when going to a new one. It's normal response is to just up and turn yellow and black all over. The key though is to make sure its new home is to its liking and hopefully if the stress in relocating to its new home wasn't so severe that it outright up and croaks, it will establish and be happy once again. At which point you will need a small grow room in short order because N. bicalcarata will get huge fast.

So the question is.. are your current conditions suitable to make N. bicalcarata happy?

Well said Tony!! I totally agree. I generally move around twice a year due to my school. I just moved to a new apartment and thankfully to God....I have never in my 6 moves since I got the bical ever had it go yellow on me. I still have pitcher and leaves from last year on my plant. The key is consistency. My night temps reach around 65F now....still it does ok. Just maintain the conditions properly....I ensure that the media is always moist and thats it....the plant does the rest. :)
 
  • #20
Your temperatures sound ok Alec as long as your 80-90 range is more in the upper end rather than the lower end. Night temperature 70-75 are reasonable as long as the days are nice and warm 85+. As far as switching the media, if you are careful then you can probably repot to pure LFS without disturbiing it much further.

Tony
 
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