N. distillatoria going black!

[fly-catchers]

Hi
I have been growing my N.distillatoria along with a few other lowland Nepenthes in a tank since last December. Most of the plants including the distillatoria have been growing well. But for some reason I am finding that often on this plant the tip followed by the top end of the leaf goes completely black and dead almost over night

The leaf that follows might or might not be okay. It has a main stem and three basal stems. All seem equally effected. Any ideas?
I have also noticed that since growing this plant in the tank that the growth is very "soft" in comparision to how it was when it was in my old unlit and unheated tank. Could this extra heat and humidity be spoiling the plant and making it more affected to diease? My ampullaria alongside it doing fine.

cheers

bill

 

[swords]

I feel sorry for you but I don't know what it could be because I had the exact same kind of "meltdown" with my N. mikei which was doing fine and is surrounded by 30 or so other highland/ultra highland plants which are doing great. The only thing I can think of is perhaps too wet of soil for that species or it had a chance to have water on it's growth tip for more than a day or so.

If the plant is not tiny (from your description I would say it sounds large) make it into cuttings or at the least cut off the black parts down to the next green and healthy looking node down. After doing that you might try misting the plant with a fungicide, perhaps somone here can reccomend one good for Neps? I've never used it on Neps so I don't know how much is too much.

I know it doesn't help much but that's my thoughts.

 

[fly-catchers]

Hi Swords
I might repot it to see if that makes a difference. The plant is not really large enough for cuttings yet

Once I cut off the black part of the leaf, the remaining leaf seems to remain okay for some while. Strange

cheers

bill

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Could be the 'softer' growth and higher moisture content making it more prone to infection. Maybe try increasing the light? Is there a fan for air circulation inside the terrarium?

Only other thing I can think of is salt/fertilizer burn. Do you use fertilizer at all?

Tony

 

[swords]

Yes, Tony's right about air circulation, I didn't think of it.

I have almost none in my lowland tank and I do not mist in there more than once a week because the water will pool on the leaves and in the opening new leaves. Possibly causing rot on the following leaf or simply destroying the embryonic pitcher, this has happened to me twice on the N. northiana in the past and was what taught me to almost never mist in a stagnant tank, or mist carefully, avoiding the growing tips on all plants.

In my lowland tank if I soak with the sprayer it'll be wet (in places) for a couple days unless I leave the lid open to hasten evaporation because there is already high humidity and no air movement. In my highland tank, I can soak everything with a garden sprayer and it will be evaporated within an hour or so because there are fans for fresh air and circulation in this chamber.

You can pick up small PC fans at electronics parts stores or surplus supply centers. They have them from around 2" up to 4" and different speed ratings.

 

[fly-catchers]

Hi
I don't fertilizer the plants. I never spray the plants as once I replace the lid the humidity from the water in the bottom of the tank that is heated increases. As I also have no fan this might be the problem

It always seem a bit of a catch 22 situration where you want high humidty and a good air circulation

Will post a photo of the plant, once the cat gets off the lid! She likes the warm surface

cheers

bill