DragonsEye
carnivorous plants of the world -- unite!
So a couple weeks ago I discovered some white fluffy mold (I assume it was likely a type of "powdery mildew") on two immature/young pitchers. On the larger of the two pitchers it appeared to be confined to the operculum. On the smaller/younger pitcher it was more widespread. I administered a light spritzing of isopropyl alcohol which appears to have knocked the fungus out. The smaller pitcher yellowed and died which didn't surprise me as it had already started to discolor before treatment. The older youngster appears fine except discoloration/damage done to the operculum by the fungus. Whether the pitcher will eventually open remains to be seen. None of the older pitchers or phyllodia were infected or affected.
So hoping avoid a repeat of this issue, if possible, I figured I'd inquire as to what I may be doing wrong with regards to culture. I do not grow it in a terrarium. Currently, it is residing on my bedroom windowsill. Last winter I kept in my plant room. On account of the fact that I try to block off the A/C from that room (the other plants and critters I keep in there can take the heat and some prefer it), I was afraid temps would get too high with too little cooling at night for the Ceph over the summer. Since I can't sleep when temps are in the 80s F to higher, I use the A/C, when necessary, to bring temps in my bedroom down into the low/mid 70s F. Due to quite a mild summer, I have been able to forego use of the A/C most of the time and, instead, have simply left the window open a few inches at night with a fan running in the room. The window of my 3rd floor apt has a SW exposure with some obstruction from a pine tree. I water with RO water or, occasionally, rain water. There have been a couple times over the summer when I have let the media get a little drier than desirable such that the lids on the mature pitchers had closed part way, but normally a have the pot sitting in a couple centimeters of water. The top of the media is about 2.5cm below the rim of the pot. I occasionally fertilize by dropping a betta food pellet in a pitcher.
Any glaring issues with my culture?
So hoping avoid a repeat of this issue, if possible, I figured I'd inquire as to what I may be doing wrong with regards to culture. I do not grow it in a terrarium. Currently, it is residing on my bedroom windowsill. Last winter I kept in my plant room. On account of the fact that I try to block off the A/C from that room (the other plants and critters I keep in there can take the heat and some prefer it), I was afraid temps would get too high with too little cooling at night for the Ceph over the summer. Since I can't sleep when temps are in the 80s F to higher, I use the A/C, when necessary, to bring temps in my bedroom down into the low/mid 70s F. Due to quite a mild summer, I have been able to forego use of the A/C most of the time and, instead, have simply left the window open a few inches at night with a fan running in the room. The window of my 3rd floor apt has a SW exposure with some obstruction from a pine tree. I water with RO water or, occasionally, rain water. There have been a couple times over the summer when I have let the media get a little drier than desirable such that the lids on the mature pitchers had closed part way, but normally a have the pot sitting in a couple centimeters of water. The top of the media is about 2.5cm below the rim of the pot. I occasionally fertilize by dropping a betta food pellet in a pitcher.
Any glaring issues with my culture?