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nep help

MidnightSkies

animal lover, aquarium and CP enthusiast
I'm not real great with Neps and was wondering what is wrong with mine. I've looked through tons of posts here but haven't found anything to give me a good answer. I'm not sure whether it's just getting too much sun (east window), too cold, mites, a fungus, needing fertilizer (hasn't had pitchers in a long time), or something else entirely. It's been like this for a while, but I noticed it worse a short while after I wasn't home for a week and it was sitting on the window sill all night (usually gets moved because of cold temperatures). I just want to figure out what it is I need to do since I'll be leaving again in a week and a half. If you need more pictures or information I'd be happy to supply it.

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These are actually two plants (Ventrata) in the same pot, and one is sending up a basal.
 
It's either cold or mites. The rash at the top seems to be cold, but your later pictures show the sharp red spots that mites cause.

Here's a good photo for comparison of cold rashing.
http://icps.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=nepenthes&action=display&thread=2610

I'm sure someone's gonna say, look for them crawling around, or shake them onto paper. But the mites I've battled are barely visible under a 20x lens.

If you think it's mites, you can borrow a can of orthenex for treatment if you'd like.
 
The top two pictures are from one plant, and the bottom two are from the other. The spots on top of the leaves just recently showed up, and that made me worry alittle more.

Most of it does seem like it's just from the cold, and stays under the leaves. I have been watching for mites all winter, and still no sign as far as I can tell.

I did find some neem oil from last summer. Would that work it help with mites? And would it need to be sprayed on the leaves or just used on the soil? Full strength or dilluted? I'm new to this and have been lucky enough to only have to deal with fungus gnats.
 
I've heard that they sell predatory mites that eat pest mites - I think I'm going to get some of them and just dust my whole collection to be safe. I found some aphids among my Neps today, so I feel your pain.
For what it's worth, most of my Neps seem to get that spotty appearance after a few seasons, too. I've wondered if it was some sort of disease or pest for a while now but it never seems to cause problems. I think it's just the natural weathering of the foliage - hopefully that's true in your case as well.
~Joe
 
hmm mites? aphids? no worry!! summer is coming go outside and find 1 or 2 mantis, they will do the job for u!!
 
if its too cold then is it bad
 
Mantises are good for aphid/mites? I had no idea, I knew lady bugs were good, but they seem more on the scale of an aphid.

Or do praying mantises just slurp em up with their large mandibles? :p
 
Don't you mean mantidbles? :-))

That's horrible.

I've been using neem oil on my sundews for mites and aphids, and it seems to be working fine. My understanding (someone correct me if I'm wrong) is that neem doesn't hurt CPs and can be sprayed on soil and plants. It does come off though, so you have to continue every few days until pests are gone.
 
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