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Problem with N. gymnamphora


Guest TomQc

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Guest TomQc

Hi there,

I'm not a Nepenthes expert: my recently acquired Nepenthes gymnamphora is freaking out these days... Stranges symptoms appeared, as yellowing leaves then browning, rust like spot (but the cells under these spots seems to collapse) and a few blacks dots on leaves. None others plants I have show these things. The tissues are still firm at the touch, so it dont look like a type of soft rot... It grow in a terrarium under 2 compact fluo (Fluorex type, 65W each). For the moment I putted it in a shadier spot of the terrarium thinking it could be a light induced stress... Any thoughts on this?

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The plant I have which is really Pectinata rather than Gymnamphora really doesn't like strong light. Maybe strong light combined with too much humidity is burning the leaves and allowing infections to take hold. Therefore, I would take it out of the terrarium, give it a drier atmosphere and a bit less light.

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Hi there.

I grow my plant under 125w growlights. Coupled with 80-95% humidity, it seems to be racing away. The temps are 12-14C at night and 22-24C day. The only thing I notice is your potting media seems to be very wet. How often do you water as I've had similar problems to you when using poor draining potting media.

p.s. are they whiskers I can see in the top image? :twisted:

Anyways, good luck with the little gym.

regards.

Stu.

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Guest TomQc

The potting mix is about 40% bark, 40% sphagnum, 10% perlite, 10% vermicullite, covered by a layer of living sphagnum moss, creating the impression that it is too wet. I water about once a week.

You're right about the whiskers! I didn't notice them when i post the picture, but i had to struggle with the cat to keep it out of the picture... Partly succesful afterall apparently! ;)

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You could try what Manders has said. the only thing I'd be a bit concerned about would be the sudden drop in humidity which may stress it.

The plant I had problems with I repotted then sprayed with an anti fungal spray and very carefully watched the watering. Making sure not to water the leaves and keeping the plant JUST damp. It took about month to turn around.

I hope you manage to sort it. Let us all know what you do and how it turns out. as its good info for us all for the future.

Good luck, fingers crossed for you.

regards Stu.

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TomQc,

As stu said above, dont drop the humidity too quickly, i didnt see that you are in Canada were i suspect humidity is much lower than the UK.

Another thing though is what kind of terrarium is it? Gymnamphora is a highlander and likes cooler temperatures at night, if your keeping it at 25+ for example all the time that could be another problem.

Also in the photo your plant doesnt just look like its had high humidity, it looks soaked in water. If its wet all the time, this just isn't how they are in nature.

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Guest TomQc

the plant is in a terrarium, standing on egg crates, with 3 inches of water under it. Dual aquarium air pump outputs are placed into the water creating a little air movement and humidifying the air. A plexiglass sheet is used as a lid, with a corner been chipped off as an aeration hole.

We just got a hotspell here last week, so temp were arounf 25-28 Celsius for a few days. None others highland seem to suffer though. These temps are only temporary though, we dont have difficulty to have cool (COLD) temps most of the year here :lol:

The plant is watered once a week, and the water you see on the plant is because I watered in just before I took the picture. I dont usually let the water like this, I remove it from the nodes after watering.

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Sounds like your humidity would be up around 100% all the time, which in my view would be too high. The cameron highlands for example have minimum humidities as low as 42% in the daytime, further reduced by any wind thats present. Its definately one of my 'hobby horses' but my view is that they dont need high humidity all, or even most of the time.

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TomQc

that sounds like it should be ok...

I grow mine in a windowsill at much less humidity and sometimes in the greenhouse. The only real problem i had so far was due to sun damage which bleached a leaf or two. Its definately more sensitive than most of my other neps to bright light. (my xiphioides however which can also be called Gymnamphora, loves sunlight)

Problem with fungal infections is they can be hard to get rid of,

If it was mine i'd still try to lower the humidity and keep the light on the shady side and see if it perks up...

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