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  • #21
Egads!

Really hard to pin down this sort of thing.. They look burned from something. To warm? Bad water? Too wet? Fertilizer/chemical?

Something must have changed in the past few weeks.
T
 
  • #22
That's just it! I have NEVER used fertilizer on any on my Carnivorous plants, and I NEVER will! There have been no recent changes, and the temps have been the same low-mid seventies in the day low-mid fifties at night. I am absolutely puzzled, not to mention panicking my head off! Perfect water, I have tested the moisture, it certainly isn't too wet... Any other guesses? THANKS!!
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  • #24
It seems to be perfect. I can maintain 80% humidity with the growchamber feeling "fresh" as opposed to "stale"... :/ I don't know what to say. So: < (Your words here)
 
  • #25
Hmm..this is odd, i've never really seen a Npeenthes just dieback spontaneously. Perhaps the roots are rotting???
 
  • #26
Well im running out of thoughts...
Maybe something long term? What kind of water? Maybe something long term that finally hit a problem point? IE even with very good water minerals will build up slowly in the mix if the plants are not flushed and allowed to drain...
Bottled water that maybe had a bad bottle?
Change in the seasons??? Sun now hits it during the day when it didn't during the Winter? Someone open a shade/curtain and the tank got fried one day?

Have you tried removing and treating one of the affected plants with a fungicide to see if it halts and prevents any more problems from appearing?

Tony
 
  • #27
One more suggestion..
If you haven't already.

Take one plant that is really showing the problem alot and unpot it. Have a look at the mix.. See if it is broken down and mushy/compacted/soggy muck or if it still looks fresh loose and airy. Have a look at the roots. Are they nice and thick and healthy with active growing root tips? Or soft mushy and dead?

T
 
  • #28
Tony,
 I have had a look at the first plant to develop it's roots and mix, they look just fine! I am absolutely puzzled!!  
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EDIT: I also forgot to mention that I don't have the supplies/setup to separate another plant... I doubt it's the water. Always distilled with 50 PPM maximum.
 
  • #29
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Nasty! Nasty!

Ideally you should get a sample of diseased tissue to a path lab to find out just what is causing the problem, otherwise you're fighting in the dark but I guess that probably isn't practical. Also it would take a lab some time to culture the beastie and from what I've seen time is short.

IMO you need to determine firstly whether the problem is environmental, chemical or a pathogen.

Environmental is unlikely from what I've read so far if you have controlled conditions. Yes, incorrect environmental conditions can cause problems something like that but unless there has been some dramatic change recently then it's not likely to have afected so many plants so badly. Chemical damage can be ruled out if you don't use chemicls and your water is OK and not too hot or cold.

Some pathogen seems most likely. However, the fact that it's spreading so fast is interesting. Are your plants standing in water? (Sorry if you've already told us that but I'm writing this off-line to upload later).

If it's a fungual infection I would say probably not a root rot. Phythium and Phytopthera spp. are more common than you might think and produce a variety of symptoms in Nepenthes. However, the usual symptom is a yelowing of the leaves and brownish discoloration of their undersides. Not what you are seeing here.

So, IMO some sort of crown rot perhaps, Most probably bacterial. But how is it spreading so fast? If you are watering from above is there a chance of water splashing from one plant to another? That would do it!

As to treatment, I know what I would do here but my conditions/situation is entirely different to yours so I won't even suggest it. The best advice has already been given to you - trim off all affected parts BUT (if it's not already too late!) make sure you disinfect your scissors or whatever you are using after each cut otherwise you'll definitley risk spreading the infection around. Also don't handle infected plants and then even touch a clean plant. Be bold! Cut a little below the infected area to make sure you get it all. Think of it as a gangrene, if you leave any behind it'll keep coming back.

Not knowing whether it's bacterial or fungal isn't necessarily a problem if you use some generic disinfecting agent that isn't too phytotoxic - such as Physan 20 if you can get it. You can treat the whole plant after trimming (if you dare) or just treat the area you have just trimmed.

BTW, I'm afraid you N. jacquelineae pitcher won't develop properly without an intact lid. They need to inflate with air to reach their proper size and shape.

Good luck!
 
  • #30
it looks like to me that the lights are to bright and they are burning the leaves
 
  • #31
Now this could be totally unrelated, but, I recently sprayed everything with orthenex. Next thing I knew, the leaves were burned, and the sphagnum turned white. I washed off the plants, and ran several gallons of fresh water through the pots. Now, 2 weeks later, the sphagnum is green, and the newer leaves look healthy and ready to eat their quota in insects. Did you spray with an insecticide/fungicide like orthenex by chance? Could be it wasn't cut properly like mine was, and caused the problem. If that isn't it, I have little left to say.
 
  • #32
Well, still nothing matches the criteria. No tray, watering is super-careful. I will just go with trimming since I can't find anything specifically wrong... I will just hope for the best!
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  • #33
Hi Lithopsman. this is a long shot, but check the roots and see if they are still there or you just have a stump.

Gus
 
  • #34
Thanks Gus, but I have indeed checked numerous times... I really am at a total loss for words!
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