Yossu

I have a Nepenthes Ventrata that I bought in Oct '15, which was hanging in a skylight in my kitchen. It's grown significantly since I bought it. The two branches that it had have grown as you can see from the picture. It also has five new branches that are around 12" long. When I moved it to another room, I noticed that the lower leaves on the two main branches were turning yellow and dying. The right-hand branch on the picture has lost quite a few leaves, and the left-hand branch has quite a few going. The upper leaves are all healthy, and there are new leaves growing from the ends of the branches. Anyone any suggestions as to why the leaves are turning yellow and dying? More to the point, what can I do to stop this? I thought about snipping off the two long branches, as that would still leave me with five healthy branches, but it seems a shame where the upper leaves on those two branches are so healthy. Thanks for any suggestions.

As my late grandfather used to say, cut off both my legs and call me Shorty! I never would have thought that would work, I thought you had to be careful not to have them sitting in water as the roots would rot. I have a couple of orchids that were flowering beautifully last summer, but the person who looked after our plants while we were away only watered them very sparingly (we had a real scorcher of a summer), and when we came home, they were dry and withered, having lost all of the flowers. The leaves are looking fine, but I ahven't seen any stalk growth (and so no flowers) since then. I might try full water culture with one of them to see if it helps it. Thanks very much

Wow, you really give good value for money with your answers! Thanks again for the excellent information.

We have a sort of duster on an extendable stick that is designed for removing cobwebs from the awkward corners of the house. I use that, but like you say, it's a losing battle. I'll persevere, but given the low intelligence levels of the flies around here, I don't hold out much hope for the spiders getting the message! Thanks

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to wait a few months for the conkers, but it's worth trying. What do you do when they start to go mouldy? Do you remove them, or do mouldy ones do the job as well?

Not sure I'd like to. They'd wriggle as you swallowed them!

They eat spiders? Cool! Can't see how I'd contain them though. Shame, I could fancy some tree frogs

Thanks for the replies. Do I presume that when you say "full water culture" you mean dipping the pot into water? Sounds like the easiest way to do it. Thanks again.

Wow, what a great answer! Thanks very much. Given that all my orchids sit next to each other on the same windowsill, is the virus issue relevant? I would have thought that if there are any viruses around, they would spread from pot to pot anyway, so dipping in the same water wouldn't necessarily make things any worse. Or am I way out on this? Thanks again.

I knew I could count on you

Forgot to ask, how often do you water? Hard to tell with orchids, as the bark looks dry almost as soon as you've finished watering it! I'd like to try your tip, but have no idea how often "don't water for a while" would be. Thanks again

Given how little it costs to run a web site, he only has to make one sale and he's covered for decades. Assuming he even makes one sale of course. I can't imagine how anyone would be stupid enough to pay that much for a plant without seeing it in person, and verifying that it was indeed the ultra-rare specimen that he claims. Even then, I can't imagine anyone paying that much for a VFT, but you never know...

Don't get me wrong, I accept that I'll always have some, but it's getting to the point where I can't walk in there without getting a face-full of cobwebs. They also build webs between the CPs, which results in loads of dead flies on the cobwebs that should have gone in the pitchers! Any advice?

Thanks for the tip. As it happens, I tried dipping them on Friday. Seems like a sensible way to do it. The local community hall opposite us had their annual flower sale last week (always pick up something good for a good price), and they had some beautiful orchids. All identical, with four or five flowering stalks on each one. Being weak and unable to resist temptation, I bough three! Given that they are (as far as I can see) identical, it might be interesting to try different watering/feeding techniques on each one and see if it makes any difference. I know you can't prove anything from such a small sample size, but it might be worth a try. That's assuming a) I remember what I did to each one so I can be consistent, and b) that I remember to water/feed them at all! Thanks for the reply.

As orchids are generally (in my limited experience) potted in very loose mixtures, such as bark, any water that is added runs straight through and out the bottom. I water mine by sitting them in the sink and running loads of water through. I let them drain (take about 10 seconds usually) before putting them back in the ceramic pots. That's fine for plain water. I live in Manchester, so water is never in short supply, but if I want to feed them, how would I do it. If I mix up some plant food and pour it in, it will run straight out the bottom, and the plant will hardly see it. Any tips? Thanks.

Ooh, don't get Fred started on blackbirds!

I remember those innocent days. I just had a couple, sitting on my office window. I wasn't getting any more, no siree, this hobby wasn't getting out of hand. I'm trying to work out where I could out a second greenhouse, and if we can afford an extension, as that will give me more windowsills! (evil manic laughter) we've got you now, like a fly in the jaws of a VFT, there's just no escape!

I had exactly the same thing, ants running up and down the inside of some sarras. Took me some water and drowned little varmints! That'll larn 'em!

What? Only one :)

Thanks to both of you. I'll give it a go and see how I get on. I think it's aphids on my plants, and will probably need to drench them to make sure they all get got, but as long as it's not going to damage the plants, it's worth a go.

Doesn't the site work with TapaTalk? That's for mobile devices. I tried it on my iPad, and it seemed OK. I don't use the iPad much, and don't have a mobile, so can't say for sure, but I think that mobile access isn't the problem.

Thanks for the link. It looks like that comes with its own spray, which saves clogging up another one. How much of this do you spray on?

Thanks to all of you for the advice. Gaz, you say you used a 0.5% strength, was that just the neem oil, or did you add the same amount of shampoo. If not, how much shampoo did you use? Thanks again. I'm waiting for the Neem oil to arrive and will give it a go.

Hello, I have some bugs on some Sarra seedlings, and have seen many posts around where people recommend using Neem oil. I would like to try this, but have a few questions... I've seen some people (ie mainly the people selling Neem oil, looking to make an extra sale!) say that you need an emulsifier to get it to mix with water, whereas I've seen others say you can just shake it up to get it to mix. Anyone any comments on this? How much do I need to spray on the plants? I saw it said that it works by suffocating the bugs, in which case you'd need to spray it quite liberally, which could be a problem near the crown of some plants, as it would be hard to make sure you covered all surfaces Do I need to do anything afterwards to wash it off, or do I just leave it? Is it suitable for use with dewy plants like Drosera? I'm worried that the oil would dry out the dew drops. Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I'd never heard of the stuff until yesterday, and I'd like to know what I'm doing before I use it. I don't want to lose any plants. Thanks for any help you can give.

In my limited experience, they are one of the easier Droseras to grow. Lovely plants!