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Heliamphora Trouble

I remember reading somewhere that you shouldn't worry when Heli pitchers go brown as long as the brownness doesn't start at the base. Well that has happened on a pitcher that is just weeks old..
Should I be worried? Can anyone tell me a possible cause?
It's also just stopped growing after a nice growth spurt incase that means anything.
Thanks for any advice!

Here's some pictures

IMG_2877.jpg


IMG_2876.jpg
 
Can't help you on this one, but out of interest, where did you get it from?
 
Unpot and inspect.... remove any rotten material, treat with a good soak in a Trichoderma brew, repot in open mix and keep on the cool side.

Very possibly "Sudden Heli Death" disease

A common heli fungal attack when helis are kept in too warm of temps.
If so, it's game over if you wait too long to treat.

HTH's,
Av
 
Thats not good! Thanks so much for the quick response though, I didn't realise 26C would be too hot!
Im assuming rotten material involves the browning pitcher? Also would I have to dilute the trichoderma first? Finally are there any other fungicides that I could use if I cannot find trichoderma? Thanks again for your advice
 
Tom,

26C should be fine... there is no fine line that you cant cross. Its just more likely the hotter they get. Additional stresses may have came into play... cant really say

Sorry, but Im not familiar with the Trichodema/fungicides on your side of the pond.... I think Canna brand trich (T22 strain) is what you will have available and omg is it expensive there

Maybe someone in your neck of the woods will chime in

Av
 
Hi,
Beyond what AV mentions to get your plant to recover, I can only offer some general plant information, a guideline we used to follow years ago...
When a plant gets leaves that dry/brown at tips, then it is too dry (or the lights too close burning the tips)...
When it browns at the leaf base, it may be too wet, rotting from the base.

Sometimes there are other reasons, like a change in conditions, too warm or too cool a draft, etc.

In this case to determine the cause & not have it occur again, I would check to see that the media is draining well, and not sitting in water too much. Do you have decent ventilation? Also, if you filled the pitchers, did you put anything in them (bugs/fertilizers/etc.) ?
That could cause pitcher browning if it is, as the ferts/bugs are sometimes too big a meal for the plant. On Sarrs & some of my Neps, this occurs when feeding is done... especially when my Sarr pitchers fill with bugs or I over-did the "juice" to one of my Neps.
(Did you "feed" the plant???? Over-doing bugs & chemicals is more common than under-doing!)

Keep a close eye on other leaves... if it continues then you ought to consider changing its conditions (watering, light, air circulation, temps, etc.), but if it is only this one leaf, then perhaps you have nothing to worry about.

Well, that's my opinion on things in short. Indeed, AV has nailed things on the head. He has more knowledge & experience with these particular plants than I do & is advice is as accurate as you can get.

Good luck! :water:
Paul
 
I'v only had this happen from my plants catching prey that was too large...are the plants being overfed?
 
Wow thanks for all the responses. I've never fed it, it only very catches small flies that are around within my terrarium however I think it could be due to high temperature and high humidity with little air flow. As the pots are surrounded with LFS it does often get underneath the pots in the dishes, keeping them fairly damp. I'm also yet to install a fan, although I did try today using ones from a broken xbox however they seemed to be bust. I've now moved it into my bathroom as it seems to be the coolest place in the house as we're having a fairly random 25C week. After prying around the effected pitcher, I saw that two next to it have also gone brown at the base so I'll definately look into buying some fungicide. Thanks for all the advice guys, I really hope I dont lose my first and only Heli!
 
  • #10
fungicides dont have a good track record with this disease.... get trich if you can find it
 
  • #11
Oh, I assumed that trich was the active ingredient in some fungicides.. Correction - "so I'll definately look into buying some trichoderma."
 
  • #12
no, it wont be in fungicides
 
  • #13
I have also seen this occur when rainwater has been used on Heliamphora. It has long been supposed that the phtyopathogenic fungal spores that affect them are common in standing rainwater. I recently discovered that the sub-idiot who had been looking after my plants while I was away, had been watering with whatever had been standing around in my yard.

I lost a number of plants that way, Trichoderma or not . . .
 
  • #14
Oh man, good luck. My biggest fear when it comes to heli's is them getting this dreaded sudden death pathogen.
 
  • #15
What media are you using?
 
  • #16
I do use rainwater and I'm afraid that I don't think that will be changing anytime soon as I simply don't have the money to be buying gallons of RO'd water or a machine.. not entirely sure what the media is as the guy I bought it off had recently repotted it, but he certainly knows his stuff so I'm sure it's up to scratch
 
  • #17
What is trichoderma
sounds like an STD to me
 
  • #19
suite

Bonjour

for me it is rotten ,it certainly phytophtora or pythium.

the Trichoderma will not help.

it must be extracted as soon as possible of your cultivation ,to avoid contagion, and discard.

you can quarantine it to see the evolution also

what is your substrate ?

Now what is your substrate is contaminated? cast as a precaution.

your Heliamphora juvenile stage was in hydroponics (perlite / peat moss alive or dead)?

jeff
 
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  • #20
I have removed it from near any of my plants, it is now in my bathroom as that is the coolest place. I don't quite know my susbstrate but it hasn't been used for any of my other plants as it was recently repotted before buying. I think i'm going to buy some trichoderma anywa, can't hurt surely, plus after this event I think I'll be giving my Ceph a nice little trichobath every coupla months! I'm now keeping my terrarium open topped until I install a fan which should happen within the week to reduce the chance of it affecting any of my other plants, thanks for all the advice.
 
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