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I'm stumped. Please help!

I'm sorry if this question has been asked before, but I've looked through about 20 pages of the forum and haven't found an answer yet.

It is spring and my pitcher plan container bogs are coming out of dormancy quite nicely, with one disturbing exception - my s. leucophylla. For some reason, the plant sends up pitchers, but the tips never develop. The first one to come up has just become a stunted, twisted thing, the second seems to have dried up and burnt at the tip, and the third is just black at the tip. A similar thing happened last year with some of the picthers on this particular plant but not all of them.

The plants are kept outside on a mid-rise patio. They get around 7 to 8 hours of sun a day, and are watered by the tray method wherein their container is in a cat litter box that allows them to dry out completely before rewatering. I'm in Atlanta, so the water is fine for these type of plants. It's windy out there, but this hasn't harmed them before.

I thought the first could have been deformed by aphids (which were on its bud but have since been killed with Orthene treatment), but I'm stumped about the second and the third. It's been very dry here, so perhaps the one that looks burnt is burnt.

Any ideas? Fungus? Residual aphid damage?

Thanks in advance for your help.

img1106jr6.jpg

The first, potentially aphid-damaged one, is on the left. The second "burnt" one is on the right.

img1114du3.jpg

This is the second one, which I took inside to photograph because it was so windy out today and the thing wouldn't be still.
 
It could be left over aphid damage. It could be burn from the insecticide. Or wind/sunburn if the plant was weakened by the aphids. It could be not enough water. Once my Sarracenia start pushing out pitchers I keep my trays filled from top watering the plants. If your watering pattern has worked in the past there's probably no need to change it. Give it time and see what the next leaves do.
 
Sarracenia don't need to dry between waterings, particularly when they're getting plenty of sun. Keeping the plant wetter like Not A Number suggests may help. Also, you said that this plant gets 7-8 hours of light a day - that's direct light, I presume? I'm doubtful that light is the problem, since you describe success with other plants, but those pitchers do look kind of etoliated. Based on the way that the tips curl over, I think that insect damage might be a part of the problem as well. That's exactly what my plants looked like when I had an aphid infestation. It could take a while for that to go away - damage to immature leaves will prevent them from developing properly, and if your insecticide contained petroleum distillates then that could cause some abberant growth as well. How long has it been since you applied the Orthene? In my experience, it takes at least a month from the last time I saw aphids before the afflicted plants return to normal growth. As long as your plant is still putting out leaves, I think it'll pull through.
~Joe
 
I was going to suggest not letting the tray (cat litter box) go dry either. Keep 'em wet!

xvart.
 
Indeed. Mine are in full direct 100% sunlight from sunrise to sunset which is about or a little more than 14 hours. There is no ambient light! All direct. And the soil is quite wet and apparently even though I am a beginner at this, the plants are flourishing and growing very rapidly.
 
S. leucophylla is one of the Sarracenia that makes these little dinky pitcher early in the season. come the end of summer and fall it sends out those AMAZING red and white pitchers.
Alex
 
S. leucophylla is one of the Sarracenia that makes these little dinky pitcher early in the season. come the end of summer and fall it sends out those AMAZING red and white pitchers.
Alex

I hope this is normal. Last year it was pretty weak in the spring, but by mid-summer it was doing quite well. In either case, I'm going to keep these unopened leaves for the photosynthesis they provide.
 
Woah! Do you see any bugs? Yeah u should just keep the plants saturated.
Good luck
 
S. leucophylla is one of the Sarracenia that makes these little dinky pitcher early in the season. come the end of summer and fall it sends out those AMAZING red and white pitchers.
Alex


What you are seeing has nothing to do with the bi-phasic growth of leucos. While it is true that leucos put out a "smaller" set of pitchers in spring these pitchers are still fully formed, fully functional and can be quite large (one of my first pithers is at 30cm already and still has not opened.)

What you are seeing most likely has to do with the great weather we had a while back. The heat wave followed by the freeze snap. Looks to me that the tips of the pitchers got frosted and then died. Would not worry about it too much as the plant itself shoudl be fine, thoug it may be ugly for a little while.

And I will also chime in on the watering, definitly need to do more. Keep the tray with a minimum of 5cm water in it at all times, your plant wil be happier that way.
 
  • #10
Thanks, everyone. I'll increase watering, and pray it doesn't cause a fungal infection. Previously I kept them wetter than I do now and developed a major fungus issue.
 
  • #11
Fungus is a problem here. All us Atl growers seem to get it especially during the dog days. I recommend a monthly spray with Orthene ot Clereys.
 
  • #12
Fungus is a problem here. All us Atl growers seem to get it especially during the dog days. I recommend a monthly spray with Orthene ot Clereys.

Will that help with root fungus,though? That's what I've had several times before. It finally stopped recurring when I started letting the tray go dry between waterings.
 
  • #13
Sarracenia should not be getting fungus during the growing season, outdoors with plenty of air movement, even if kept very wet.

I'd try looking at the media. If you're using pure peat, try a different brand. Or try more of a sandy mix, or even try live moss.
 
  • #14
I know what you mean Terminus. I've done away with the tray method because of root rot. I water overhead only now. They dry out significantly more this way...but it reduces rot/fungus. I've lost some good stuff to rot. Keeping them a little drier is worth it and won't hurt them. I avoid sand altogether. Keep the soil light. I use a mixture of peat and perlite or pumice. The peat will retain moisture while the perlite/pumice will aerate the roots.
 
  • #15
Sarracenia should not be getting fungus during the growing season, outdoors with plenty of air movement, even if kept very wet.

I'd try looking at the media. If you're using pure peat, try a different brand. Or try more of a sandy mix, or even try live moss.

I use about 2/3 sand, 1/3 peat. It's helped keep the problem under control and reflects what I've seen them growing in around the state in the wild.
 
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