Hey everyone!
I'm putting this thread in the General Discussion section because I'm not so much looking for advice/help with my problem, but an explanation. Im finishing up my undergrad degree and have been taking several plant development classes (my focus) and I would like to have a scientific discussion about this from any of you out there who are educated on the subject.
Here's the scoop. My poor little N. aristolochiodies was chugging along nicely, growing under a sandwich bag that was so cut up it wasn't holding much humidity in it anymore- so I removed it. Big mistake, apparently.
Now I WISH I had good enough camera to capture what has taken place. The leaves that it has been forming are smaller, and smaller, and smaller. Looking closely now you can see only leaf primordial, and what looks like an apical dome (though its obviously not, it just looks like it, to give you a picture of it).
(for reference, see this ESM picture http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/92/2/199/F2.small.gif )
It appears to be growing a new apical meristem off the side out of one of the auxiliary meristems, so I'm not too worried that the plant will die on me. But even still, what could have caused this craziness? Has anyone ever studied, or read a study, that described such a phenomenon? I'd love to get into as deep of detail about this as I can...
One more piece of information- using a 10x jeweler's loop on the first meristem, I was able to see small orange dots covering the "apical dome" and leaf primoridia, so perhaps it is some pest. (But if it IS a pest, how could a pest have such an effect?!)
Science is a cold mistress, making those whom she has smitten toss and turn in the night thinking of all the strange observations in the world....
Thank you,
CJ
I'm putting this thread in the General Discussion section because I'm not so much looking for advice/help with my problem, but an explanation. Im finishing up my undergrad degree and have been taking several plant development classes (my focus) and I would like to have a scientific discussion about this from any of you out there who are educated on the subject.
Here's the scoop. My poor little N. aristolochiodies was chugging along nicely, growing under a sandwich bag that was so cut up it wasn't holding much humidity in it anymore- so I removed it. Big mistake, apparently.
Now I WISH I had good enough camera to capture what has taken place. The leaves that it has been forming are smaller, and smaller, and smaller. Looking closely now you can see only leaf primordial, and what looks like an apical dome (though its obviously not, it just looks like it, to give you a picture of it).
(for reference, see this ESM picture http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/92/2/199/F2.small.gif )
It appears to be growing a new apical meristem off the side out of one of the auxiliary meristems, so I'm not too worried that the plant will die on me. But even still, what could have caused this craziness? Has anyone ever studied, or read a study, that described such a phenomenon? I'd love to get into as deep of detail about this as I can...
One more piece of information- using a 10x jeweler's loop on the first meristem, I was able to see small orange dots covering the "apical dome" and leaf primoridia, so perhaps it is some pest. (But if it IS a pest, how could a pest have such an effect?!)
Science is a cold mistress, making those whom she has smitten toss and turn in the night thinking of all the strange observations in the world....
Thank you,
CJ