What do I do?

[cchang]

2 of the pitchers on my Purp. are turning brown; not at the base where the root is, but nearby where the pitcher touches the ground. The rest of it above the brown area is normal. Is this mold? fungus? When I bought the plant, there were 2 pitchers which were decayed and rested nearby. But I cleared them out and wiped away any decay matter that I could see.

Other info... it's planted in sphagnum moss and it sits in RO treated water (1 inch).

How do I and should I cut these pitchers off before it spreads because they are growing?

 

[Vic Brown]

It is quite normal for Sarracenia pitchers to brown and die with age. With most species, this mainly occurs when the plants enter dormancy (in Fall). The pitchers of S. purpurea are longer lived than on the other species, lasting over the winter into the next year. It is still normal for older pitchers to go brown and die though. Many growers cut off brown tissue as it appears, as this can be a breeding ground for Grey Mould (the dreaded Botrytis). As long as it's only older pitchers, don't worry and cut them off as they go brown. However, if it's young pitchers you may have a disease and need to treat with fungicide. You don't have the same fungicides available in the US as in the UK where I live, so I can't offer much advice as to which product would be best, though hopefully you don't need to use one.

Cheers
Vic

 

[cchang]

Thank you Vic Brown.

It is two of my older pitchers that are affected so it's probably age. What a relief.

Should I cut at the base closer to the root or as far away from the root as possible?

Just for the record, I live in Canada (Toronto, Ontario). Not that it makes that much of a difference.

 

[cchang]

AHHHHH!

I was trimming the decaying pitchers off my plant when a little white worm appeared!!! I cut close to the base and there it was... very thin and white. It wriggled back into the root before I could catch it with my tweezers. Now that I look at the base of my plant, some parts are browning.

Currently, it's soaking in some water. Hopefully, it'll come out. Anybody know what it is and what other things I can do?

?

And just when I thought everything was going great...

 

[Alvin Meister]

Was the worm kind of transparent with a black head?

 

[cchang]

Alvin Meister,

It was just plain white and thin. At first, I thought it was part of the root showing. Then it started to move... I started freaking out and tried to grab it but it got away.

Since, I soaked my plant, many small bugs have emerged from the Sphagnum moss it's planted in. Probably small flies and mosquito larvae. All the wonderful extras I didn't anticipate when buying my plant.

 

[Darcie]

icky. It's probubly part of the fly larvea stuff but let the plant soak a day or tow anyways. I have to do the same with a VFT, but it's er still fineshing a few meals first hee hee.

 

[cchang]

It's confirmed

I believe that there are worms living in the core/root of my plant. It is now turning brown with white specks from the core up. Of the remaining 6 pitchers (2 of them new), 1 of them is unaffected.

I don't know if this guy can survive much longer. I had soaked it for 2 days/3 nights and the worms seem to be sheltered in the core of the plant. They're so thin that you can barely see them (about half the thickness of a strand of hair).

Unless there's a way to save my plant, I'm probably going to dissect the core, pull out each worm and squish them one by one.... arghh! Maybe I'll get some pics of them too... presquished that is...