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vraev

Carnivorous plant enthusiast
Admin
Hi everyone...especially Jens,

If you guys are seeing this...please tell me if I can do something...or if its all over. I woke up this morning to see the humidifier water empty and the duct tube that brings in outside air just blowing air into the tank. Normally this hasn't been a problem before, but temps have suddenly gone down in canada and I looked into the tank and found all my rarest and most precious plants in this state. In some pots the media was still frozen.

Please tell me if i can somehow save them. I spent years of effort raising those seedlings (3-4 years), they together are nearly 800$ worth of plants and some priceless plants (IMO) that I saved inspite of being a student and after so much care, just bought them new lighting too (380$ for 8 tube T5).

Please someone...tell me that they can be saved somehow. What can I do? Anything.. :'( :'(

burbidgeae x edwardsiana .. grew this for 4y

6703011249_e30c852e59_b.jpg


6703016741_dd83555434_b.jpg


macrophylla ... I can't believe that my most dearest possession....it survived an accident with water drought 3y ago.

6703023293_ca326cff2b_b.jpg


jacquelineae ....had this for 5y...came to me 1cm sized

6703029679_7072921739_b.jpg


tenuis... one of the most expensive plants I have.... just got it last year

6703036099_09367e2a96_b.jpg


jamban BE

6703041607_29d37d794d_b.jpg


most heartful...4y old seedlings N. jamban... the pride of my collection...I grew these from seed. :( :'( :'(

6703046925_4657ebf8c9_b.jpg


Please help...can anything be done?

thanks.

Varun
 
Oh my god thats terrible! I cant tell you whether they will make it but I really hope they do!
 
I think they are gone.
 
I've seen worse.. If you're lucky they'll continue to grow. Not sure what the growth points look like, but hopefully they are protected inside the upcoming leaf. Don't give up on them by any means.
 
After thawing, go thru the plants & feel them.
Indeed the coloring shows major freeze burn...
but feel the stems to see if they are mushy inside.
Healthy tissue will be somewhat firm, but freezing bursts the cells inside the plant,
leaving a mushy goo with a "skin"!
Stems & leaves may look intact, but the insides is where it really matters.
Any dead tissue won't return, so if you need to, un-pot them & feel the stems & roots.

IF you can feel anything that seems firm & normal, it may still be alive in that portion. However you will need to remove all the mushy parts, even if that means only having a small portion of root & stem left.

If there is anything left, pot it up! I would use a rooting hormone to encourage further rooting if possible, and then give the "plants" their normal environment again.
It is a long shot anyway, but I have been able to salvage a few things this way, so if anything does still seem intact, give it a try.
Leaving dead/mushy tissue on healthy tissue will make the whole thing rot. :ohno:

Well, good luck. From the look of it, you are going to need it.
Hard lesson to learn, but having a set-up of any kind has its drawbacks, and it isn't always easy to have a "back-up" to cover every possible bad scenario.

VERY sorry to see the loss. They looked like nice plants.

Paul
:water:

After a second look, I can only say "That is just plain sad"!
In time the areas that are slightly discolored will get worse looking. The pictures don't do justice to showing the actual damage, but in time it will indeed become more obvious. Try to not wait too long, for like gangrene in a human, dead tissue will spread rot into good/healthy tissue... so once you determine the actual damage, bet on to a bit of surgery to salvage what is left alive.
I wish you luck on this process. But it can indeed be done, and may be your only viable option.
Plants can be very hardy & can survive a lot. But sometimes they need our help. Again, good luck.
 
Last edited:
So sorry about the plants!! Your jamban seedlings look like they might pull it through for being close to the ground but I don't know what to say about the others. Don't loose hope if they have dead growth points...ive had basals pop up when stuff like this happens. If they're are some losses I'm sure some TF'ers will help you regain the lost plants. Wish you the best of luck.

Lance
 
:cry:

GrowinOld's advice is probably the best and most uplifting that you'll get. . . It looks like one of those seed-grown jamban is still kind of green? Perhaps that one will survive.

I am sincerely sorry for your loss, as the prospects for their survival look grim. If I had any of these plants in any quantity to replace yours, I totally would. This is truly tragic.

Best of luck, and best of wishes.
 
This is painful to look at. I do have some good news, from looking at the photos. One of the N. jamban seedlings looks like it suffered no damage. The rest of them should recover if they're pampered. N. macrophylla and tenuis should have a living growing point still. I hope they all recover for you!
 
this is very sad,i am sure everyone knows how gutted you must be,i hope you can save some,
 
  • #10
This is very saddening, I really hope they bounce back.
 
  • #11
Very sorry to see such damage Varun :( I know how much you treasure your plants. From your photos I would hope a few may well pull though with luck. The burbidgeae x edwardsiana & at least one of the jambans look as if they could survive. One of my mini maxima went like this a few years ago where the whole plant went brown/black after a colder spell. I brought it indoors and took a few cuttings from of the damaged stems. They failed to take but the mother plant did resprout in the spring. So keep all your plants and give them the same treatment they had before the accident. Is the tank normally heated or does it just get its warmth from the room temperature its in?

I always hate winters and the unexpected nasty surprises they can throw up. The very best of luck and fingers crossed.

bill
 
  • #12
Thanks for all the comments guys. I appreciate the advice. I guess there isn't much I can do but hope.

I felt the plants. The macrophylla had thick thick leaves…but now they have become flexible to bend..which means they are mushy inside. The jamban BE clone is fully soft. The same fate is of the burbidgeae x edwardsiana, mira, villosa and most of the jamban seedlings. One of the seedlings still has a hint of green on the stem in some places.

I just don't feel like looking into the tank again. On closer inspection I find that even my two robcantleyi seedlings may be dead. The leaves look dark green, but the tissue is very mushy inside. I remember they used to be tough and firm.

I also found more plants that weren't directly visible to have problems. :(

6703161117_cd4b1b8805_b.jpg


Both my robcontleyi seedlings. Both of their stems and leaves are now mushy inside. :(

6703810783_deed38bc5a_b.jpg


my villosa

6703795393_ddf79f21f8_b.jpg
 
  • #13
N. villosa looks okay. Damn, I didn't know you had such an impressive collection. Once my SPhagnum spreads some more I'm definitely going to try to send you some to help consolidate the losses.
 
  • #14
OMG that's horrible! If I lived in Canada I'd send you some plants :( My heart goes out to you..

You know I've heard people having their plants sprout back from the roots when the top dies so don't toss them quite yet - give them 6 months if you've got the room to see if basals pop up on the ones that didn't have frozen solid pots. Good luck.
 
  • #15
After thawing, go thru the plants & feel them.
Indeed the coloring shows major freeze burn...
but feel the stems to see if they are mushy inside.
Healthy tissue will be somewhat firm, but freezing bursts the cells inside the plant,
leaving a mushy goo with a "skin"!
Stems & leaves may look intact, but the insides is where it really matters.
Any dead tissue won't return, so if you need to, un-pot them & feel the stems & roots.

IF you can feel anything that seems firm & normal, it may still be alive in that portion. However you will need to remove all the mushy parts, even if that means only having a small portion of root & stem left.

If there is anything left, pot it up! I would use a rooting hormone to encourage further rooting if possible, and then give the "plants" their normal environment again.
It is a long shot anyway, but I have been able to salvage a few things this way, so if anything does still seem intact, give it a try.
Leaving dead/mushy tissue on healthy tissue will make the whole thing rot. :ohno:

Well, good luck. From the look of it, you are going to need it.
Hard lesson to learn, but having a set-up of any kind has its drawbacks, and it isn't always easy to have a "back-up" to cover every possible bad scenario.

VERY sorry to see the loss. They looked like nice plants.

Paul
:water:

After a second look, I can only say "That is just plain sad"!
In time the areas that are slightly discolored will get worse looking. The pictures don't do justice to showing the actual damage, but in time it will indeed become more obvious. Try to not wait too long, for like gangrene in a human, dead tissue will spread rot into good/healthy tissue... so once you determine the actual damage, bet on to a bit of surgery to salvage what is left alive.
I wish you luck on this process. But it can indeed be done, and may be your only viable option.
Plants can be very hardy & can survive a lot. But sometimes they need our help. Again, good luck.

Thanks Paul for the detailed advice. SO do u think I should uncover the sheathed growth points in plants and cut away all the surround dead leaves and leave the stumps? Is repotting in this time a good idea?

---------- Post added at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 PM ----------

Very sorry to see such damage Varun :( I know how much you treasure your plants. From your photos I would hope a few may well pull though with luck. The burbidgeae x edwardsiana & at least one of the jambans look as if they could survive. One of my mini maxima went like this a few years ago where the whole plant went brown/black after a colder spell. I brought it indoors and took a few cuttings from of the damaged stems. They failed to take but the mother plant did resprout in the spring. So keep all your plants and give them the same treatment they had before the accident. Is the tank normally heated or does it just get its warmth from the room temperature its in?

I always hate winters and the unexpected nasty surprises they can throw up. The very best of luck and fingers crossed.

bill

The heating in the apartment is baseboard heating. I have no control over it. So generally in summer there is too much heating (25 floor apartment). Thats why for the past 4y I have lived here, I have vented in cool air from outside using a pipe and blew it through a humidifier output into the tank. It was never an issue. During day time they are fine because of the 8 T5 lights that put out their own amount of heat.

OMG that's horrible! If I lived in Canada I'd send you some plants :( My heart goes out to you..

You know I've heard people having their plants sprout back from the roots when the top dies so don't toss them quite yet - give them 6 months if you've got the room to see if basals pop up on the ones that didn't have frozen solid pots. Good luck.

N. villosa looks okay. Damn, I didn't know you had such an impressive collection. Once my SPhagnum spreads some more I'm definitely going to try to send you some to help consolidate the losses.

Thanks guys. I will not give up on them. I'll wait till the whole thing goes black or starts growing again.

Well WireMan...doesn't matter anymore.... These were my most precious plants...especially the seedlings, the macrophylla, the burbidgeae x edwardsiana, tenuis and the robcantleyii. If they don't recover, I don't think I can get these plants again anytime soon. Thanks for the offer on the moss. But don't worry about it for now. Whats the point if I don't even have good plants to use the moss as a top dressing.

Thanks everyone for the kind remarks. I just don't feel like looking at the tank again. Everytime I look in, I spot something else messed up. I know a couple of my lepanthes aren't looking great either.
 
  • #16
What a nightmare. Not only to have possibly lost so many plants, but all that time also. I really hope they pull through for you.
 
  • #17
Oh Varun,

I'm very sorry to hear about this! I don't really know what to say, it seems to me that the last ones you posted will make it, especially N. villosa, which demonstrated it's cold hardiness. I know you've worked really hard to build this collection up, but I'm sure many will make it through..

All the best to your plants and you ...
 
  • #18
Really horrible... Felt sick to my stomach looking at this, and I can't imagine how you feel.

I wish I could send you some stuff, but I just don't have the collection.

At least it looks like some will make it.
 
  • #19
My royal truncata errr whatever we call it now needs a good home, i dont have room...

its yours
 
  • #20
Wow Butch.... thats very kind but how are you gonna get it over the Canadian border to him?
 
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