Guest kiwicp Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 Hi this is my first time on the forum and I hope it will become an enjoyable and informative resource for me to learn from. My problem is that my lovely new S. purpurea that I purchased at the EEE at Reading last year is suffering terribly from a silvery hairy mould. My thoughts are to be bold and cut off all of the effected pitchers and rinse the plant in some water to remove the mould spores, the problem I see with this is that all of the pitchers are effected. Would someone please advise me on the best course of action to take. I have been making sure my glasshouse is opened most days to improve air flow and I put the plants outside on days that are frost free and to date the mould hasn't spread badly, just a little on the other Sarracenia, not onto the Darlingtonia (yet) and the Dionaea are still OK. Also, would it be safe for my S. purpurea to live outside over winter or is the cool glasshouse the best place? Also, while I am asking, can my other Sarracenia tolerate frost? or should they stay in the glasshouse too? Lots of questions all at once, but any advice would be much appreciated thanks Kiwicp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travman Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 Do you mean the "silver furry mould" is just on the dead ends of pitchers or covering healthy tissue ? If its just on already dead parts i would just cut out the dead. If it covering healthy tissue i would isolate the infected plant from others ASAP, spray with fungus treatment and cross your fingers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aidan Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 Welcome to the forum. Sarracenia purpurea is fully hardy in the UK and generally does best when kept outdoors all year. All other Sarracenia are frost hardy down to at least -10C but are best kept under glass. Dessicating winds can kill the plants. Darlingtonia is also fully hardy. The mould could be a number of different types. If it is Botrytis you have a serious problem. See this thread for a photograph: http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/viewtopic.p...hlight=botrytis If it appears to be Botrytis, cut well back into healthy tissue and treat with a fungicide. For any other mould also treat with fungicide. Very wet conditions encourage mould and your plants should be kept damp rather than soaking at this time of year. Remove any dead or dying tissue from plants as this is often where fungi first get a foothold. I would also isolate any affected plants to try and reduce the spread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kiwicp Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 thanks very much, I think it could be the worst case scenario, Botrytis! Is it OK to uproot the plant and check for any diseased root tissue at this time of the year? It is only that the plant is quite young and only has 3 pitchers on it, all diseased, there is no"healthy" material to cut back to, above ground anyway. I will certainly isolate it more fully, I have had it on the opposite side of the glasshouse from the other plants, but best to be safe. very many thanks for the advice, I will post how I get on. Kiwicp :? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travman Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Good Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Salter Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Welcome Kiwi. If the centre growing point is healthy the roots should be healthy and if any, the rhizome should appear well. But if the main growing point is brown and mushy it doesn't sound good. A bigger plant can re-sprout from a good piece of rhizome after dead parts are cut away (no good in your case though) And roots alone will not produce another plant. Hope it's good news though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sheila Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Hello Kiwi, welcome to the forum. It sounds like your purpurea may be a goner, but you say the botyritis has spread a little to other sarras. These will end up going the same way if they are not dealt with immediately. All affected parts must be removed completely. Any pitchers or dormant growing points that have fungus on them need to be cut back to good clean rhizome. Attempting to wash spores off is useless, it will return in a few days with a vengeance. Fungicide will not cure any parts of the plant that are affected, it only protects healthy parts of the plant from becoming affected by any left over spores. If any of the sarras that are affected have one or more unaffected growing points, I would take the whole plant out of the pot and split it into separate divisions, throw away any divisions that have any signs of fungus. Then pot up and spray with fungicide, any healthy ones. How wet have you been keeping your plants? If you don't want to suffer from the same problem in the future you may need to adjust the conditions that you are keeping them in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kiwicp Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 this has certainly given me plenty to think about and investigate, I am off outside with my torch to rescue the other plants from infection. is it important what type of fungicide I buy? and should I treat the glasshouse during the winter to prevent any reoccurrences in the spring? big thanks to you all Kiwi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aidan Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Certainly your greenhouse should be kept clean, but adequate ventilation and care not to over water should solve the problem. Botrytis infection is resistant to just about all fungicides available for domestic use. This is why it is important to cut well back into healthy tissue in order to remove all trace of the fungus from the plant. Treatment with a general fungicide may then prevent reinfection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sheila Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 I use chinosil if I get any fungus problems, but its not that easy to get other than mail order. This thread may give you a few ideas of different fungicides you could use. http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/viewtopic.p...light=fungicide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agustin franco Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 Hi Indymental: What happened to the trichoderma, did you use some on your Sarracenias before this disaster?. If you have, please let me know, so I start to lose faith on it. If you haven't, my only suggestion is to use it on the rest of the sarras. By the way, I never had sarras, but Sulfur based fungicides are the best for bothrytis. good luck and i am really sorry this happened to you. Gus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 Gus I innoculated all my sarras with Trichoderma last year and so far not one case of Botrytis! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kiwicp Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 well, I did go out and investigate last night and I unfortunately had to admit that the purpurea was a goner. I was pleased to note though that the other signs of mould in other plants were only surface level and only on dead foliage, which I have now removed. I will invest in some general purpose fungicide and make sure I have better ventilation. thanks for all your advice on this one, I think I can close it here. Wendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sheila Posted January 29, 2004 Report Share Posted January 29, 2004 Gus It is kiwi having a problem with sarras, mine are all doing very well. I have only ever had botyritis on a sarra once a few years ago, long before I had even heard of trichoderma. I have not treated any of my sarras with the trichoderma, because I don't consider sarras to be particularly susceptible to fungal attack, I have only really used it on cephalotus, which are my winter nightmare. For the first time ever my cephalotus are still looking well, especially the ones that are covered with polythene bags to keep the humidity up. The great advantage of being able to keep the bags over the pots is that the water doesn't evaporate out of the peat, I have only needed to water the covered cephs three times during the winter, whereas the ones I have left uncovered need watering once every week or so. I will definately be using trichoderma on all my plants next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agustin franco Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 Dear Sheila: Sorry for the mix up . As for Gardenofeden and yourself. WELL TRICHODERMA IS THE WAY TO GO! Gus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel H-C Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 As the old adage goes regarding an ounce of prevention, I would recommend a regular spray with a systemic fungicide throughout the winter months-especially in greenhouses which have no ventilation. My personal collection is squeezed in to a 12 x 8 foot greenhouse. I divide it in half with bubble insulation, heat the back half for the tender plants, and let the front go cold for the Sarracenias which haven't been banished to the nursery. It works well but obviously I can't have doors or windows open for fear of allowing the warmer half to get too cold. I also don't have the time to mess around opening and closing doors all day! A 3-4 weekly spray with fungicide keeps the Botrytis at bay. Another good tip is to install a circulation fan to keep the air moving. Of course if Sarracenias, Cobra's, vft's, and cold tolerant Drosera's are all you have in your greenhouse, throw caution to the wind and leave doors and windows open. I never close one of the polytunnels-it freezes solid every year (though not so much this year!), and the little protection it affords the plants is nore than sufficient. Be aware though of dessication as someone else mentioned-your plants will dry out more quickly. Be sure to keep a little moisture in the pots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 Nigel I used to spray regularly in my greenhouse, which is closed up over winter. I have not sprayed at all this winter since innoculating with Trichoderma & am very pleased, with no botrytis whatsoever on any of my CP's! in contrast, half a dozen 'normal' greenhouse plants have succumbed as expected- guess I should have treated those as well! systemic fungicides are pretty nasty, and as there is now only 1 brand left on the market that is effective against botrytis it is worth considering alternatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 S. purpurea is the hardest for me out of all my Sars. I've bought a fan which I plan on installing soon, which I think will help things. I guess I should also look into Trichoderma as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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