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Good morning Terra Forums,

I revamped my terrarium this summer, and I don't think I did it correctly, which is something I am coming to terms with gradually. I'm still figuring out how to help my plants transition successfully, if they can at all. My N. ventricosa and N. alata have bounced back beautifully, but they're pretty bomb proof, so that doesn't mean much at all.

The one I am focusing on next is my N. singalana. It pitchered well for me before (of course, when I didn't even have a thermometer in my tank and didn't give it any special treatment) but since the transition, it has not pitchered. And now- the past few leaves it has put out have a yellow leaf margin. I believe this is a sign of nutrient deficiency, so should I try foliar feeding on the leaves? Coffee through the soil? It has no pitchers, so, feeding the "normal" way is impossible.

Conditions:
Temps: Mid to high 70's during the day, trying to keep it more mid, but it can be tricky. It absolutely never even reaches 80. Lower sixties at night.
Humidity: 50-60% during the day, 90-100% at night
Light: A mess, haha. It is in the back of my grow chamber, and from the back to the front the bulbs are in this order- 1 T5HO, 1 T8 17 watt 5,500K, 1 T8 17 watt 10,000K, 2 T12 20 watt 6,500K, all 24" tube fluorescents.
The plant in question is roughly 5-6" from light source.


I greatly appreciate any advice anyone can give. This is a beautiful species, and I want to do all I can to give it the best conditions I can until I build a grow shelf- whenever that is.


Thank you again,
CJ
 
Is perhaps the soil staying too wet?
 
I agree with exo that i might be overwatering.

Do you have anything circulating the air in the tank? or drawing in new air?

maybe post some pics of the leaveS?
 
Thank you for the consideration! I don't believe its over-watering, I don't water until I can see the soil looks a bit dry (or if I have lifted it up for inspection and I feel its on the light side). So, if anything, I keep the poor thing TOO dry.

I do have fans.

One is probably too small- only 1.5" across which provides just a little air circulation during the day.
At night, I have a Fog Box, (A Tupperware container with an ultrasonic fogger in it, with input and output tubes, the input tube has a fan which draws air from outside of into the tank) the fan of which runs for a few hours each night after the lights go off.

Maybe the soil is too compact? It is peat based after all- something like 2:2:1:1 peat: perlite: orchid bark:LFS. Perhaps a media change is in order, something more like 1:1:1 LFS: perlite: Orchid bark?

As for pictures:

DSCN3078.jpg


DSCN3079.jpg


DSCN3080.jpg


DSCN3082.jpg


Thank you again everyone!
 
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Yeah, there might be too much peat in the mix.....it's better to have a loose mix and need to water constantly than to have dense mix that stays wet too long, especially for HL neps.
 
The soil change sounds good, the mix you mention is the same I'm using now and the plants seem to like it more than just pure LFS.

Maybe you have a pest in your terrarium like thrips or something. Try and take a close look and see if you can see anything moving on the plant, in the soil or on the brim of the pots. Maybe use a magnifying glass, however I find I can see them with my naked eye if I look really close and not blink for a bit lol. If you have pests you can fight them with solutions or use other insects to kill them. Let us know if you see anything.
 
Hey! Sorry for the delay, (tis the season for end-of-semester Finals, you know how it is!) but I have my N. singalana here and Im not seeing any mites or anything. Just to be safe, I will probably treat it with a low-concentration of Neem oil while repotting it when next week, when I get home.

So, the yellowing leaves may be a factor of root compression, and inefficient uptake of the trace elements found therein, and maybe even water, and not of, say, too much or too little light? The leaf looks fairly well formed otherwise.

See for yourself (Im trying to get out of the way of my computer's camera, hahaha)

Photo3.jpg
 
Just a quick update.

I'm still trying to get it to pitcher, and right now it is growing at a snail's pace. I have repotted it into a 1:1:1 orchid bark : perlite : LFS, and into a bigger pot (back in January). I also have a layer of living LFS on top, which seems pretty healthy and really enjoying its home, as you can see here:

How far is it from the light (which is the same as described above):
DSCN3444.jpg


The whole view (the leaf coming nearly straight at the camera is the one that had yellow margins in the photos above. It greened up, certainly, but the growing tip is taking its sweet time!)
DSCN3443.jpg


Close up of the growing tip
DSCN3445.jpg


So while the moss is happy, the plant, obviously, is a little bit less than so. it hasn't pitchered in a while, and the growing conditions are the same as I have them written above, except perhaps closer to the lights. I have been thinking of injecting some coffee into the soil, or dilute fertilizer (since I heard that coffee doesn't have as much of an effect on N. singalana as it does with others).

What do you guys think?


Thanks for looking,
CJ
 
I think you should be patient. Moving it into a lighter mix was the right move - peat-based mixes can work for some people's conditions, but in a terrarium with controlled high humidity there's no need for something that dense. From your picture, it appears to be on the upswing to me. Nepenthes are finicky plants and they do things slowly - after almost a year of prolonged stress, you can't be surprised that it hasn't pitchered just a couple months after repotting.
If you won't be satisfied until it pitchers, then by all means, don't fertilize! Pitchering is what these plants do in response to nutrient deficiencies - a well-fertilized plant has no reason to expend energy growing pitchers. If, in six months, you're still seeing yellowing and not getting pitchers, then something like coffee or a micronutrient fertilizer might be called for. Your new growth looks healthy, and those two newest tendrils both appear to me as though they could inflate. Burnt leaf margins happen - one of my healthiest plants, chainiana x vietchii, gets big orange and black discolorations on the leaves whenever they grow too close to the lights. Those spots will gradually brown and die and spread to cover everything except the midrib, but the burnt leaves still pitcher and hold on to their pitchers in spite of the browning.
It isn't directly relevant, but I suggest reading the following:
http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20050407082837/http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq6010e.html
This is from an old version of Barry's CP FAQ. Among other things, one of the most important lessons I learned from this guide is that you can't be too patient with Neps, especially when starting out.
Have some confidence - you're doing things right!
~Joe
 
  • #10
Thank you Joe!

I do believe you are right, all I need now is time. I appreciate the kind words saying that I'm doing things right. Many thanks!


Cj
 
  • #11
Update

I think it may be time for a little update on this one. I trimmed the moss and it didn't look good anymore, so I removed it. I was also worried about over-watering the plant accidently (since the moss would dry out and turn white way before the growing media needed more water). I did superthrive it back around mid-june, and it seemed to make it grow faster, but as you can see, its not exactly looking much healthier.

Let me know what you guys think, because I honestly can't decide if its getting better or worse.

P7311185.jpg


P7311186.jpg


P7311187.jpg


P7311188.jpg


As you can see, the leaves are still really sickly-yellow, and I wouldn't be surprised if this symptom makes for an obvious diagnosis that I dont know.

Thank you so much,
CJ
 
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