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Ephippiata Looking Sad

DrWurm

Californian in DC
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7396/20090617p6173982.jpg

As you can see, my N. ephippiata's new leaves are much smaller than the ones it used to make. I repotted it around a month ago, is it just transplant shock? If you look closely, you'll see the new pitchers are somewhat cracked open, but clearly not very developed. This was my first nep, so I'd rather not lose it.

Jason
 
Let me first start by stating I am not an expert. Now that we got that out of the way....

Sorry to hear that DrWurm. Ephippiata is one of my favorites. I don't know why. I have had one for about 6 months and have had no trouble with mine. It pitchers abundantly and it has actually been one of my easiest growers so far, but I do baby it.

What kind of soil is it in? It looks a litle water logged and/or rotted.

I grow mine with typical highland conditions in a very airy mix of orchid bark and perlite with just a pinch or two of peat. I then have a top coat of LFS. I have had to trim the LFS a few times. I have found that mine likes alot of light. I have it growing under 2 4ft tubes about 10 inches above the plant. I mist the LFS to insure it is moist so it doesn't dry out and give the pot a good watering about once a week.

Here is a pic or two of mine... (haven't figured out embedding yet on this site. Maybe it doesn't allow embedding from my source below?)

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/uploads/gallery_4230_179_47906.jpg

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/uploads/gallery_4230_179_13665.jpg
 
Has anything else in your environment changed dramatically recently? Did you put it in a similar potting mixture? Although smaller, the new leaves still look healthy. I've had several Nepenthes that have done the same thing (with dramatically smaller leaves) and they have kept chugging.

N. ephippiata is a great plant; and I hope it pulls through. I'm sure it will.

xvart.
 
Smaller leaves than usual can be a sign that the plant isn't getting a great enough night temperature drop.
Do you think that could be your problem?
 
Here is a pic or two of mine... (haven't figured out embedding yet on this site. Maybe it doesn't allow embedding from my source below?)

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/uploads/gallery_4230_179_47906.jpg

http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/uploads/gallery_4230_179_13665.jpg

Those links didn't work for me.

Has anything else in your environment changed dramatically recently? Did you put it in a similar potting mixture?

I repotted it out of what was mainly a peat/ perlite mixture, which is what it came in, to a peat/perlite/sand/LFS mixture. It stays pretty moist, but it's rather airy. Recently, I did upgrade to a T8 fixture with much more light output. That's about it.

Jason
 
Smaller leaves than usual can be a sign that the plant isn't getting a great enough night temperature drop.
Do you think that could be your problem?

I don't really think so. The lights put out enough heat to raise the ambient temperature during the day, and at night I leave the windows open, so the temps fall to the mid-60s. So far, every single other nep I have is thriving.

Jason
 
Hope this works...

 
Recently, I did upgrade to a T8 fixture with much more light output. That's about it.

That might be it. With more light, the plant doesn't need as much surface area for photosynthesis. If there is a lot more light, which you suggest, that could be why the leaves are dramatically smaller.

xvart.
 
Go up to the address bar of the new browser and press enter they will load.

Ah, I see them now. You can see mine here about a year ago. (the only nep besides sanguinea) http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3977/1010984ir9.jpg

As you can see, it pitchered very well for me.

That might be it. With more light, the plant doesn't need as much surface area for photosynthesis. If there is a lot more light, which you suggest, that could be why the leaves are dramatically smaller.

xvart.

I can understand that, but that wouldn't explain why the pitchers are suffering too, would it?

Jason
 
  • #10
im not sure its the light xvart my plant did this exact same thing, and i mean exact, after arrival when i got it. infact i could have sworn that was my plant photographed, it looked 98% identical. and still kinda does.
i would definitely go with some form of transplant shock because mine was sent bareroot and dropped from 3 inches down to about an inch and a half. now has two nodes activated on the side + the main growth though.
 
  • #11
You can see mine here about a year ago. (the only nep besides sanguinea) http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3977/1010984ir9.jpg

Nice.

Perhaps it is the extra light causing the leaves to shrink as xvart suggested and with the extra heat there is less humidity causing the pitchers to shrivel? Just a guess.

I have read that increasingly smaller leaves can be caused by root rot as well which is why I suggested the media being water logged and/or rotted. It was hard to tell from your pic, but it did look rather dark. But the peat perlite mix explains that.
 
  • #12
I can understand that, but that wouldn't explain why the pitchers are suffering too, would it?

Yeah, I forgot you mentioned that in the original post. I'd go back to transplant shock; regardless, as long as the new leaves look good I wouldn't be too worried.

xvart.
 
  • #13
Mine never really had transplant shock, but I think my conditions are slightly different so I will have to defer to the experts.
 
  • #14
Yeah, I forgot you mentioned that in the original post. I'd go back to transplant shock; regardless, as long as the new leaves look good I wouldn't be too worried.

xvart.

I guess so. It's so disheartening though. In a year, the plant's diameter barely increased, and now it's shrunk down smaller than when I got it! :censor:

Jason
 
  • #15
My personal opinion is that it is in stress. It is not normal for every newer leaf to become smaller and smaller. That generally relates to heat stress...but in this case, i don't know if maybe media may be invovled as well. Personally I don't use peat for a nepenthes media...especially highlanders, but perhaps others might have a different opinion.
 
  • #16
My personal opinion is that it is in stress. It is not normal for every newer leaf to become smaller and smaller. That generally relates to heat stress...but in this case, i don't know if maybe media may be invovled as well. Personally I don't use peat for a nepenthes media...especially highlanders, but perhaps others might have a different opinion.

Most of the time I go for a perlite/sand/orchid bark/peat mix. That has worked rather well for most of my plants. The mix for the ephippiata was a bit different with the LFS and all. If it is the media, would you recommend trying to repot again into media I have more success with?

Jason
 
  • #17
I doubt it is the increased light causing the odd growth. Most likely it is either a temperature problem (perhaps from the new light fixture), pest problem, or unhealthy root system problem.

The plant is clearly struggling badly and on it's way out unless something changes. Careful unpotting and repotting will not worsen the situation much. If it is indeed a root/mix problem then a change to fresh mix of a different type can help immensely.

Personally I would do away with sand and peat in your Nepenthes mix and lean towards the fir bark, perlite, lfs in roughly equal proportions.

You should be able to rule out root system issue pretty quickly by doing a repot. There will either be happy healthy roots there or there won't!
As for the potential pest issue.. Really hard to say for sure. Mites and thrips are biggest culprits when you get tiny, kinda deformed new leaves.. both are hard to see as well. The old leaves look a bit odd in color, which leads me towards perhaps a case of mites. Are the undersides of the leaves kinda golden brownish? Mites will eventually damage the undersides so they turn brown. The youngest leaves will be green underside and get progressively more brown as you move to the oldest leaves.
 
  • #18
I examined the leaves, and the older ones do have browner undersides, while the younger ones are more green.

I decided to attack from every possible angle. I moved the plant several more inches from the lights, repotted into a much airier mix, and applied a liberal coating of bayer 3-in-1 insecticide. With any luck, one of those things will do the trick.

Jason
 
  • #20
I decided to attack from every possible angle. I moved the plant several more inches from the lights, repotted into a much airier mix, and applied a liberal coating of bayer 3-in-1 insecticide. With any luck, one of those things will do the trick.
Possibly not every angle .... what is the active in the Bayer pesticide? It may not have activity against mites since mites are not insects .... Probably a bit late but you might want to check out the Ortho products - I believe they are effective against both insects and mites ...
 
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