Aphids? Or somesuch other beast?

[MH1]

Hi all,

My dad's in France at the moment, so he sent me some pics of how the 'experiment' plants were doing (wasn't sure if they could survive there with only occasional attention, so I picked up a few from a garden centre just to try) and the 2 Sarracenias are fine, but the VFT looks a bit suspect, and a second opinion would be great...

<img src="http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/8949/img0784iw.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/><br/>By <a target="_new" href="http://profile.imageshack.us/user/morganpics">morganpics</a> at 2011-01-29

It may just be dormant, or has overused its traps, but I think it looks a bit too severe for that... Strangely, other plants seem fine:

<img src="http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8333/img0781z.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/><br/>By <a target="_new" href="http://profile.imageshack.us/user/morganpics">morganpics</a> at 2011-01-29

But I dunno... if it is aphids, are there any French growers here that can tell me what brands I should use? That would be great, but if not, I'm sure I can do some research!

For the lols, my other experiment fared even worse:

<img src="http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/5836/img0783ci.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/><br/>By <a target="_new" href="http://profile.imageshack.us/user/morganpics">morganpics</a> at 2011-01-29

I didn't expect frost to be that severe! I thought the sun might warm up the pots and stop frost etc... but maybe not!

(I hope the photos are okay, I find putting photos up really confusing!)

 

[Exo]

............I don't even know what the thing in the last pic is......or was.

 

[Taliesin-DS]

think its a ping

 

[Exo]

think its a ping

..........you sure?

 

[kulamauiman]

last one is a pinguicula. probably mexican. I have had that happen to me all dry back.

Dunno the others seem to be behaving like the should as temperate CPs going dormant

even in my mild conditions sarracenia go dormant and slowly leaves die back....

 

[Taliesin-DS]

One psittacina that i bought at a flowershop looked like that sarr a few weeks after i brought it home.
After a month or 2-3 the whole plant looked like that, i thought it was dead but left it outside.
Next year some very small shoots came out of the roots.
So if its the same thing, theres still hope.

 

[MH1]

Yep, Mexican ping!

I thought they were a bit more hardy, but it was an experiment... so the VFT is Okay? The growth just looked a bit funny... here growth just stops, but doesn't go all deformed... maybe it's just different in a slightly warmer environment? :s
-------edit----

I think the sar is fine - just bright sun + dormancy ... it is a venosa, so I thought it was normal? Ha, maybe I have more problems than I thought?

 

[Taliesin-DS]

How long has he had the vft in its current environment?
It could be just shock ?

 

[MH1]

It's been there since summer... it was healthy when I left, but haven't visited since... it should have settled in though...

 

[Taliesin-DS]

Could be just the cold then ?
Over here in the netherlands all my vft's turned to brown mush, prolly wont make it.
But my sarrs look fine, some diying back on older pitchers but nothing like that purp on your pic.

 

[MH1]

It doesn't get very cold there... It has been lowest of about -3C and highs of 13C... maybe they dried out? I have a water butt to stop that from happening, but it's possible... I just assumed the pitchers dying like that was normal? My flava over here just dies back completely in winter...

 

[Taliesin-DS]

im not sure how it is in the states but my sar pitchers dont die back like that, the browning usually starts with spots and around the edges, and much darker, not that even light brown.

 

[MH1]

Nah, from England! Hmmmm, here my flava starts at the lid, then down, until the whole pitcher is like a brown skeleton... or at least I think... shame it isn't a picture of the crown, then we might have a better idea! I've only had plants for a year and a bit though, and I've only really ever had a flava, not a purpurea... hmm...

 

[Rball]

almost looks like frost damage