Repotting Truncata

[Leo]

Hello Folks,

I've recently repotted a N. Truncata (lowland type) which has been in my care for 3 years and growing nicely until a couple of weeks ago. It had been regular as a clock, producing one active trap at a time until it missed a beat (new leaf but no pitcher) and then produced a very badly misshapen pitcher on a relatively small leaf. I pulled it out and found that the soil was compacted. I added too much vermiculite and peat to the mix. I found most of the roots had rotted ( no white tips, soggy mush ). The main stem had two large firm healthy roots attached with a bunch of finer black ones at the bottom which seemed fine. I repotted into an open mix with pine bark and Sphagnum. How large is the root system likely to be in plant of this type? Should I have bothered repotting at all after I found root rot? I wonder just how susceptible to repotting these plants are..

Leo

[swords]

I have had a few highland neps loose their root systems because of a combination of cool temps and overly wet pure sphagnum substrate (I never use peat for these same reasons, it's a plant rotter in my conditions). This happened to N. mikei, inermis and one of my N. lowiis.

The N. mikei was a very tiny plantlet (1.5-2 cm) and died before I really noticed it. One day it's growth tip had simply blackened beyond saving.

For the N. inermis and N. lowii I was luckier. I cut off the few roots there were and "skinned" the stem to expose clean white inner flesh basically turned the base of the plant into a cutting spike and replanted it. Both plants has been growing extremely slowly but they were still producing pitchers up until I uprooted them, noticed there was no roots. Now about a year or so later both are fine. My N. lowii is opening a 6 cm pitcher on a 20 cm diameter plant and the N. inermis has become a nice full diameter climbing vine with 9 cm pitchers.

I want to warn you, if you do what I did, repot into a smaller container (or a pot punched full of holes on all sides and the bottom) for the time being as this will allow the soil to dry out faster as the tiny root system that develops at first will not be able to cope with a 25 cm pot full of wet spahgnum and bark.

For instances like this I do the repotting into a "net" style orchid container (this is a plastic pot you can buy that is punched full of slots-not always available so a hot nail will do the same thing to any old pot). I use a high porportion of fine grade orchid bark in the sphagnum to lighten and "air" it up a little. Plant and water well once at first but then mist every day or two but water only about 1/2 as often (or when the pot is noticeably drier) this allows the roots the oxygen they need to reestablish as well as the extra "incentive" to grow by needng to seek water further out in the soil mix. Your overall plant won't be water starved if it's misted every day or two and kept in a high humidity environment.

Hope that give you some ideas! Good luck!

[Leo]

Hi Swords,

Good to hear from you and thanks for the reply! I potted into a basket made for water lillies and have been spraying daily. It is reassuring to hear that you followed the same reasoning with regard to root oxygenation. I hope I get to see those wonderful pitchers again if not I guess I'll know what not to do with the next one...

Leo

[swords]

Yes, the "orchid net pots" are also sold (in larger sizes) for aquatic plants and are basically the same thing - usually cheaper than when sold labeled as "orchid pot"! ;)

I hope it'll reroot for you! There is hope because there are instances of botanists finding Neps like N. lowii living detached from their roots and climbing "freely" through the forest canopy! Almost like a nepenthes/snake unrestrained by an attachment to the ground and not rooted to any tree! Obviously they were rooted somewhere at one time as seedlings but as they grew somehow became detached and continued to grow. My thought on this is that since their leaves are so incredibly climate sensitive they are able to absorb proper moisture (as cuttings do) when the dew forms every morning and when when fog and rains roll in and the pitchers supply them with the necessary nutrients. This really shows the sturdiness of these plants but of course, we should try to keep roots on ours in cultivation!

[Leo]

Yes! I had read something to that effect a while ago although I cannot remember where...I guess that is when pitchers come in handy eh? :) As long as I keep it under high humidity I guess it stands a fair chance. Keeping fingers crossed.

Leo

[swords]

How big is your N. truncata? You said you've had it about 3 years, that's aproximately how long I've had mine. It was either Jan. 2000 or Jan. 2001, I didn't keep records of purchases back then. It really sucks to loose a nice big plant after repotting. I lost my six foot diameter N. bical when I repotted it last August... it was a black mush pile by Sept!

Hopefully all will go well for you!

[agustin franco]

Hi all:

What i don't understand yet, is why your truncata rotted after three years of being in the same potting media?. Did you change watering conditions at one point. Root rot will attack 2-3 months after the overwatering starts. I know people who use pure sphagnum moss to grow neps. although this media is highly water absorbent, if you control the watering very much, there should be no problems. I have some neps in pure sphagnum and i water them every two weeks in summer and every three weeks in winter. I have had them for a year and a half already and no rotting occurs nor i am waiting for one to happen. I must admit though, i am using a combination of moss and coconut fiber for better drainage in most of my nep collection

Gus

[Leo]

Swords,

the plant is about 40 cm (15in) across. Each leaf is roughly 15 cm (6in) at the widest point. I keep it under fluorescent lights inside an indoor tank. I'm hoping I'll be able to post some pics in the not too distant future...barring random acts of God. :) . Your Bical was 6ft? that is about as wide as I am tall! Spectacular! ....also one of the reasons I did not try growing it (my greenhouse is 6'x'6 ) ...What exactly happened to it?

Gus,

I did not change any watering conditions for the last three years. I water roughly at a similar frequency to yourself. The most reasonable explanation is that there was too much peat and vermiculite. The medium is quite porous at first but gradually the peat and vermiculite get pushed lower and lower into the pot (and compact (the grade of vermiculite may have beeen too fine? not sure) . The upper 'layer' consisted of mostly pine bark. Without sufficient bark to stop compression of air pockets over time the roots suffocate and die. Every successive watering helps make the medium more compact. Coconut fibre would have provided better drainage and resistance to compaction. Unfortunately at the time I potted the plant I could not get a hold of decent quality coconut fibre. How often do you find you need to change potting medium?

Leo

[D. Truesdell]

Hi all, one doesn't really need to "change" his potting media unless it is required by fungus infestation,root bound, unstable plants, etc. I also would like to point out that finer consistancy soil compents do compact quickly and suffocate Nepenthes roots unless another heavy and coarser material is used in the same mix. So if you're using peat,vermiculite and sand, you are going to need repotting in as soon as 2 years! If you have a more open mix like sphagnum, orchidbark, peat and perlite, then you may not have torepot until the plant requires it. Basically you want a potting mix that will not break down too quickly, compact too quickly and yet it retains water, lets the excess flow away freely and lets air penetrate whilst still allowing O2 to get to the roots. I like to think "I'm potting an orchid" when I transplant. Generally I use a mix of coconut chips, peat, perlite, sphagnum and orchid bark. You just need to find your own special mix that best suites your watering needs in your setup.

[swords]

Yup I agree coarse and freedraining is ideal! I do not use peat in soil mixes for anything but houseplants lik Alocasias and Palms. If I wanna add a bit of organic matter to the soil for Neps from forest floors and swamps like N. ampullaria, Trichocarpa, mirabilis... which might like a more rapidly deteriorating/acidifying element to the soil then I add a bit of Oak leaf mold. Not too much though, as it may compact if used a lot. I use about 4 dry handfulls to a full 3 gallon pail of 50/50% orchid bark with a few handfulls of charcoal added to keep the soil from becoming noxious over time.

As to my big old bical I repotted it myself which was a mistake cos a 6 foot plant with a heavy rootball is too unwieldy for one person. I probably should have had two helpers for such a task. Also I had left it in it's old pot way too long which resulted in a mat of roots growing out through the bottom of the pot and filling the tray the pot was on. I had to cut the pot off (I couldn't slide it out due to the carpet of roots on the outside of the pot) and inveitably roots got damaged in the arduous process. I've kicked myself for not just making it into cuttings but it hadn't begun to climb yet so I was gonna repot it to a 7 gallon pot and let it officially begin to vine before I made cuttings...

At least N. bicals are fast growers and my baby bicals are already over a foot across.