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my Nepenthes "Miranda" x maxima doesn't look good

Hi,

I bought this Nepenthes plant last year and it was doing fine when all of the sudden all pitchers dried and despite new vines were showing no pitchers developed again.

Today is worse, the leaves are very thin and soft like bat wings, I'm afraid it might die soon.

I can't post a picture of it, however I can add that I live in Romania where it's still winter and I don't support the plant with any lights. I am trying to keep it warm all the time and water it every day but not in excess.

Is it normal over the winter to behave like this? What should I do?
 
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ITs almost impossible to tell without pictures. From the sounds of it, either humidity problems or root rot.
 
That definitely sounds like root rot. Without enough light, it is very easy for pathogens to take over the weakened plant.
 
Sounds like it could be root-rot. Usually watering every day is not necessary. Some pics would help.
 
Looks like it's the root rot, same answer across even without pictures. Anything I can do to stop it? Or is it too late?
 
When the IRS (Insidious Rot Syndrome) comes for your plants, there is not much you can do.

HOWEVER there are a couple methods that are not guaranteed to work, but its an attempt at best.

Option 1 You will have to unpot the plant and CAREFULLY remove the soil media away from the infected root tissues.
Once the root area is exposed, you should be able to assess how much damage is being done down there. If there is a small ammount
of rot/root kill, you can trim off the infected tissues, give the plant and its roots a good rinse, then repot and hope for the best.

Option 2 This is when all else has failed. After removing the plant from the soil and checking roots if the entire root area/most of it
is infected or salvageable, youre going to need to learn how to make Nepenthes cuttings. I would say cut the plant off on the stem beginning at the healthiest
part, make sure the root rot isnt traveling up the stem. There will be a brownish color in the middle of the plant's stem. When you have a healthy cutting,
stick it in water, give it high humidity and alot of light. Hope it roots and wait.
 
I'll give it a try with option 1 first. Hope is not that bad though.

Thank you all, will come with pictures next time
 
Keep us updated. and make sure the rot isnt affecting the inner stem core. If leaves are wilting, theres a good chance you might have to operate with option 2
 
Before checking the roots I wanted to post some pictures to make sure the root rot is the issue, however I am not allowed to post attachments. Is this because I'm newbie?
 
  • #10
Yes, but not by much! You need 5 posts.
 
  • #11
This one counts as the fifth one? ;)

Still, doesn't work. Ufff..really wanted to share those pics.
 
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  • #12
I suggest using imgur/tinypic then uploading from there
 
  • #14
I hope I got it right and you can see below url's. The leaves are green but really thin, the basals ones used to be wooden.

2irt1yt.jpg

tinypic.com

2dsmfif.jpg

kf2nts.jpg
 
  • #15
What is the quality of the water you are using? What is the TDS (total dissolved solids) content? Is the water purified in any way? Distilled, deionized, or reverse osmosis?
 
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  • #16
The thin, extremely green floppy leaves are due to lack of direct light. This is found when plants grow up past the lights or are grown in really dim conditions, and isn't indicative of much other than low light conditions.
 
  • #17
What is the quality of the water you are using? What is the TDS (total dissolved solids) content? Is the water purified in any way? Distilled, deionized, or reverse osmosis?

I use only distilled water, cannot say what is the TDS because is not mentioned on the label. I spray the water almost daily just to keep to soil moist, sometimes I simply pour it but I take care not to soak it.
 
  • #18
The thin, extremely green floppy leaves are due to lack of direct light. This is found when plants grow up past the lights or are grown in really dim conditions, and isn't indicative of much other than low light conditions.

So you see the lack of light as main problem not the root rot. I was waiting for the darn spring to come, but aparently I have to accomodate some T5 28W lights for the sake of it.

Thank you all!
 
  • #19
If the plant has root rot that is a much larger issue, but the floppy green leaves at the top of the stem are not direct indicators of that in this case. If the lower leaves have all gone floppy, then you worry about root rot, but from the pictures I don't see a whole lot different from my N. "Miranda" plants, which grow soaking in water all the time and never have issue.
 
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  • #20
Hi guys,

Just an update, after some sunny days (spring is still lingering to come) the plant is looking better-meaning that the leaves are not that thin anymore, are thicker and rigid just like they used to be.
Moreover, today I installed also a CFL of 45W, 2700 lumen, 6000K color temperature. Unfortunatelly there is not enough space in my balcony to place the bulb on top of the plant as many suggest, light is coming slightly from top-right side when I face the wall plant is sitting against. The closest leave is at 20cm away from the bulb, those on the other side are at 50cm maybe. Is this enough until sunny days are back?
 
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