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!

New plant: WTF?

I just got this plant today and I was curious what is wrong with it, it seems to have made 3 variegated leaves but otherwise looks healthy. I've got it bagged and not with my other plants for now. I know there are variegated varieties of Nepenthes but usually they are advertised and priced as being variegated.

As you can see, the old growth from when the cutting was made and the newest growth don't show any striping, only the 3 leaves in the middle. Is this due to environment, pesticide chemicals, virus... ???

belliixnorthiana1.jpg


Leaf top (notice no striping on stem)

belliixnorthiana2.jpg


Leaf bottom, at first I didn't think I saw any striping below
belliixnorthiana5.jpg



new growth seems clean

belliixnorthiana3.jpg


A couple people in the chat box said they have had Nepenthes make variegated leaves before for no reason. I've been growing since 2000 and never seen such a thing on any of my plants. Any input or photos you care to share on this phenomenon would be much appreciated. Ease my fears, I really want to keep & enjoy this plant but I don't wanna risk my entire collection for it.
 
I do see a few streaks on that new leaf...faint, but they are there.....

It looks alot like virus does in certain orchids...or some weird form of varigation...I never got a definitive answer if neps get viruses or not, so it's hard to say.
 
Last edited:
Well Here's what the guy had to say:

-------------------------------------------------

Hi; the striped leaves are an oddity that developed early on every one of the cuttings I took except one. It appears that it may grow out of it, but only time will tell. Otherwise, it is only a color effect and doesn't appear to have anything to do with the plant's health.

Patrick

--------------------------------------------------

If it's just a leaf color I guess I can live with it. I wonder if he cut up one of those variegated philodendrons then chopped on his Nepenthes at the same time and crossed their plant juices?
 
Maybe the cutting instrument he used for all but one had virus on it?


Either way..nep virus knowledge is all based on heresay and speculation..nobody has actually tested for them, so there is no real way of telling what exactly is happening there....I guess just wait and see what happens.
 
I guess I do have 90 days to make a nuisance of myself should things go downhill! :lol:
 
Variegation comes and goes in some plants; cuttings taken from variegated Pothos will often lose their spots after rooting and resuming growth. I would keep an eye on it, but I doubt there's anything to worry about. If it is a virus, you can probably make a nice little chunk of change if you can develop a variegated Nepenthes innoculant.
~Joe
 
He he sure $10 each for a syringe. Come one come all for Swords' "Magic Variegation Elixir" - I'll make up some ads that make Superthrive's claims seem modest! :D

I was always under the impression (perhaps an incorrect one) that true variegation was always consistent like always on one half of the leaf or in a particular pattern on the leaf and occurring with regularity on most or all of the leaves. But perhaps that isn't really true, I don't own any variegated houseplants.
 
My rooting Sang cutting made surprise variation. It was my understanding it can be stress induced :)
 
Some variegation is the result of genetics and morphology - other times it is caused by disease or trauma. Wikipedia does a good job of outlining the various types:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variegation
~Joe
 
  • #10
Well I am quite on the "virus" boat now here's how I saw the plant on Saturday (my DSL was dead so I couldn't update til today):

belliixnorthiana6.jpg


belliixnorthiana7.jpg


belliixnorthiana8.jpg
 
  • #11
Yep.....looks like virus to me.
 
  • #12
Plant source
it is only a color effect and doesn't appear to have anything to do with the plant's health.


Yeah, totally healthy and normal... :lol:
 
  • #13
Sorry for the loss..it was an amazing hybrid. :-(
 
  • #14
Yeah, it would have been, since it's not on the CPPF I was really looking forward to growing it and getting it out to folks through trades. I hope he gives me a refund or I'll be paying $85 for the opportunity to give him his first bad review.


FYI: For the rest of you probably should not bid on the Nepenthes maxima x veichtii H/L Striped that is on ebay now despite how awesome it looks in the ad. Just incase all this guys plants are infected with whatever this is since that plant is also a cutting.
 
  • #15
Today's episode:
Hi Josh. Thanks for the detailed photos. It helps much more than just text. All of the yellowish parts of the leaves that have little remaining green around them are due to dehydration. I've been growing Nepenthes since 1989. I've seen a plant do exactly what's in your photos once in a while, especially if the plant had little or no root system, or if I broke some roots while getting them potted up. You'll notice that those discolored sections of the leaves are relatively flat, while the little remaining green has the leaves' normal thickness. It's a dessication.

While I agree with your frustration, I have experienced the same thing more than once before. The striped leaves have nothing to do with it. It's suffering environmental stress from a change in growing conditions. It looks like you've potted it up in a great but open mix, after looking at photo #1. Compared to what the plant was growing in, your open mix on the very delicate root system could have caused this. The root system was full but fine and threadlike. It was growing in 100% long fibered sphagnum.

While I am not stating that the above is the cause of the plant's demise, my favorable track record and experience leans toward that theory. Your website has a nice design and concept, but its content is mostly current without older material. The rules for the Ebay auction are what they were. I won't change them for someone, just as I have never expected someone to change them for me when I had a bad experience. I am not a business, and have never issued a guarantee on anything. After years of reading carnivorous plant forums on the Internet, one thing I've seen many times is two people growing the same plant while trying to follow a specific instruction(s) for that plant, according to whoever wrote it. One person will have success, while the other person's plant will get sick and/or die. I'm not making excuses here, but am stating that bad luck happens to everyone once in a while, including me.

Patrick O'brien
 
  • #16
"It's not me, it's you!"
 
  • #17
Uh, when my plants get dehydrated. They wilt. Not turn colors and texture.
 
  • #18
Yeah, that creeping death on those leaves gave me the heebie jeebies.
It didn't seem like dessication.
 
  • #19
I have bought from this seller before and the plants were much larger than expected and were in great condition, but they required a lot of humidity acclimation to be fine with my conditions. They initially wilted quite severely but after bagging them up, they eventually acclimated. I'm not sure what is happening with the stippling on the leaf but some of the lower leaves do look to me like the plant had trouble with water uptake (I've seen the same thing on plants of mine that dried out or the roots croaked out).

I have this cross as well and it is super super picky to the point that I would almost recommend not getting it (at least the clone I have)! It took about two years to acclimate and I have had it for about three years and have only gotten two pitchers from it.

That said, the stippling scares the heck out of me too! If you haven't destroyed it yet, I would recommend isolating it, spraying it with fungicide/pesticide, and bagging it as if you were rooting a cutting. Generally it takes a while for plants to die from new conditions. Consider how quickly it started showing problems, I think most of the responsibility is on the seller to do something. I'm sorry your in the situation you are in and hope you get things worked out.
 
  • #20
That just looks crazy. I have thrown delicate plants into low humidity conditions and seen them wilt down some but they certainly have never looked like that. The back of that one leaf looks like someone through acid on it and it is melting away. The seller should be taking more responsibility since it seems highly unlikely anything you could have done would cause that in the short time you have had it.
 
Back
Top