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Urgent Help_Dying Nepenthes Plants

I purchased an N. Ampullaria x Bicalcarata and an N. Veitchii x Platychilla last week. I potted both plants and their conditions have quickly declined.

Here are the photos of my N. Ampullaria x Bicalcarata now:

IMG_3687.jpg


IMG_3689.jpg


IMG_3690.jpg


And here are the photos of my N. Veitchii x Platychilla now:

IMG_3686.jpg


IMG_3694.jpg


IMG_3692.jpg


IMG_3691.jpg



I placed them the other day in plastic bags and are currently receiving indirect sunlight. I take them out for 10 minutes every night and early morning to receive fresh air so no fungi will grow on the medium or on the leaves.

Is there a way to revive these plants? I'm really worried about their conditions and I don't want to lose them.
 
What media are you using for them? It doesnt look right. Also what temperatures are they being grown in approximately? What are your growing conditions in general?
 
I am a noob but looks like the soil is too wet, needs a more 'airy' soil mix, I think but what do I know.
 
Medium for the ampullaria x bicalcarata: osmunda (the type you use for orchids) and peat so it's quite airy.

Medium for veitchii x platychilla: mixture of coco cubes, charcoal and coco peat. The top layer is coco peat but inside the pot it's also quite airy.

Humidity: I'd say over 70 cause they're inside plastic bags now.

Temperature: 77-90 degrees Fahrenheit. I live in the Philippines, where Nepenthes plants are naturally found.
 
in plastic bags and are currently receiving indirect sunlight.
...
Temperature: 77-90 degrees Fahrenheit. I live in the Philippines, where Nepenthes plants are naturally found.

Temperature inside the plastic bags or outside?

In closed plastic bags and even indirect sunlight in the tropics your plants will probably be cooked a little each day.

Perhaps you can place a small thermometer inside a bag, place it in what you call "indirect sunlight" and after two hours or so, what temperature can you verify inside the plastic bag?
 
Neither of those soil mixes are the correct growing media for Nepenthes. They should be planted in long fiber sphagnum moss you can add some Osmunda fiber, orchid bark, perlite or pumice to the moss to lighten it up but I would repot them very soon. Peat based soil recipes are generally a terrible media for Nepenthes.

Also a bag is a very constricted environment with no airflow, this is not good because as Jesse mentioned the bags could be getting to dangerous temperatures.
 
Plants definitely need a much more open airy soil. As Swords said. Also, who knows what kind of shock they sustained from shipping. They look like their little Nepenthes souls are already in the beyond, but who knows. I know there are growers who had luck with neps that were very much dead on arrival. The leaves are wilted, so I'm going with heat or soil.
 
If your in the phillipines get rid of the plastics bags and get them potted in coir chunks but really they look beyond help at ths stage
 
Neither of those soil mixes are the correct growing media for Nepenthes. They should be planted in long fiber sphagnum moss you can add some Osmunda fiber, orchid bark, perlite or pumice to the moss to lighten it up but I would repot them very soon. Peat based soil recipes are generally a terrible media for Nepenthes.

Also a bag is a very constricted environment with no airflow, this is not good because as Jesse mentioned the bags could be getting to dangerous temperatures.

Not always..I grow my N.ampullaria in a peat/perlite mix.
 
  • #10
I use peat with all my neps since I grow them in low humidity it helps them stay moist and I've tried very airy mixes but for me they'd dry out every other day so rather than being beneficial it just stressed the plants out, but in this case I would definently add orchid bark and LFS to make it more airy.
 
  • #11
some of the pics theres like sticks in there???? when they decompose they release nutrients wich is a no no for cp soil
 
  • #12
Firstly gino, is the media you're using for these neps been used on your other neps? Do your neps like this media?

Also, you need not close the plastic bag. Use a tall plastic bag and leave the top open. In the tropical weather, the heat will rise to the extreme especially in a very humid environment(I stay in Malaysia).

Also, I usually use LFS plus perlite and a bit of charcoal for recovery of plants that are extremely sick. LFS holds water longer in our tropical environment and will provide more humidity. If your neps are small, you can plant them in a pot that is wider in diameter than the plant. That way, the humidity from the surface of the media is more and this will benefit the plant (I've personally used this technique on the humid loving neps eg northiana and it works like a charm).

All in all, your neps look like they are still possible to recover, they look exactly like my clipeata 2 weeks ago. Now the clipeata has stop browning its leaves @.@, I used the exact method I mentioned previously in my post. Don't bury your veitchii x platychila growth point though. Good luck and I hope your plants survive!

P.S: When growing neps in tropics, the media dries out really fast. Sometimes, even with pure LFS, you need to water every 2 days during the dry season!
 
  • #13
Almost all my Neps have the same medium mixture in their pots. These plants are the only ones that are struggling..

What's the percentage of your LFS, perlite and charcoal? Do you think it's okay to repot again when I just potted them?
 
  • #14
Rball that looks like treefern fiber. Takes years to decompose. It works great on orchids too., but some do look like pure peat. Transplant shock maybe?
 
  • #15
Yes, that's osmunda fiber mixed with peat. It could be transplant shock, but I don't know how to make it survive the shock..
 
  • #16
Updates:

I put the pots in a terrarium that has a lot of moist sphagnum moss. I then put the terrarium on a place where it receives indirect sunlight. After a while, these are the results:

IMG_3687-1.jpg


NVeitchiixPlatychilla.jpg
 
  • #17
It looks like it still has some fight left in it!
 
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