S. flava withering and deformed?

[Sashoke]

So I got 2 divisions of mature S. flava from a giveaway, and for a few weeks they were all making new good growth, lots of flower stalks (which I trimmed off) and lots of developing pitchers. However recently as the pitchers have just about to open, they turn brown and slope downwards, then wither away. THe 2 pitchers the plants HAVE managed to finish are deformed with crooked lips or lids.

Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong? They get direct sun nearly all day, are sitting in 3-4 inches of water (distilled) are planted in a mixture of 1:1 perlite and peatmoss, and are in good sized pots.

The temperatures have been like 70-80F at day and 50-60F at night but the weather has been generally sporatic recently and Im thinking that might be the cause.


So.. does anyone know what might be wrong? I really dont want these things to die Also, if they live, will they ever make pitchers again or are they done for this year?

 

[SerMuncherIV]

Cold damage, perhaps? Even if the night temperatures are above 50F, chilly winds can still damage tender new growth, which is what happened to me this year. The first few pitchers after a cold spell are also usually deformed...then again, most varieties of S. flava are pretty cold hardy, so it could be something else entirely. If anything else, I would guess your crazy temperature fluctuations or something funky in the perlite. I doubt the plants will die, but since flava is known for concentrating all efforts on a few pitchers at the beginning of the year, it's a very real possibility that you'll be dealing with phyllodia until next spring.

 

[Sashoke]

Cold damage, perhaps? Even if the night temperatures are above 50F, chilly winds can still damage tender new growth, which is what happened to me this year. The first few pitchers after a cold spell are also usually deformed...then again, most varieties of S. flava are pretty cold hardy, so it could be something else entirely. If anything else, I would guess your crazy temperature fluctuations or something funky in the perlite. I doubt the plants will die, but since flava is known for concentrating all efforts on a few pitchers at the beginning of the year, it's a very real possibility that you'll be dealing with phyllodia until next spring.

Thanks for the help. We did have a few random nights with 30F temperatures out of the blue, that might be what caused it. I sure hope it gets back to normal growth again though, Id hate to lose these.

 

[theplantman]

Definitely frost damage. Blankets or mulch help with that.