Few problems

[durham]

Hello again,

After the last problem with my seedgrown hamata, (which thanks to everyone's good advice has now made a quick recovery) my Jamban has started to go down hill.

It's been sprayed for mites, which seemed to be the problem with the hamata, but has been stunted for a few weeks now.

The other problem is with my mac (BE) which I bought over a year ago, it put out one leaf and then stopped growing and has literally not moved in a whole year!

Current growing conditions;

Jamban - 18-25c day 12-15c night - humdity 50-70%

Macrophylla - 18-25 day 6-8c night - humdity 50-70% (I do have other macs in these conditions which are fine)

Anyway here's the pics, if any of you nep experts can point out what I'm doing wrong with either of these it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[marcello catalano]

Hi,

just my two cents. Humidity and temperature sound fine. In the jamban the problem was and remain about spider mites, that can be even seen in the pictures. Not sure about the macrophylla, but the fact that other plants of the same species are doing fine makes me think about something wrong with that particular plant, which wouldn't be so bad after all. If you already had mites on two plants, there must be something wrong in your conditions, but usually mites come for temperature and humidity problems, and if we don't have a problem with those, the only other two conditions that can call those beasts are low light levels and low air movement. Can you post a picture of your set up with plants, just to understand how the other plants are doing and where they grow?

Mites usually are kept under control by chemicals, but if the wrong conditions remain, they will come back in a matter of weeks, you can't just spray and forget the problem. Do you know what caused the latest leaves in the jampban to be so big when compared to the first basal ones?

[durham]

Hi Marcello,

I haven't got any pics of the set up at the moment, they're currently grown in the greenhouse with a 400w high pressure sodium lamp to extend hours in the evening. The greenhouse has a large circulation fan which hasn't been on that much recently due to the cooler temps.

I know generally the Jamban prefers humidity to be 70+% which currently is difficult to maintain. Should I re-spray it again and perhaps bag it up to keep the humidity higher?

As for the leaf size that was due to a coffee treatment it received.

The mac I really don't want to give up on, it's lasted a whole year like that and I'm sure one day it will grow, I just need something to give it a little nudge!

Thanks for the advice.

[flycatchers]

Hi

I still think the mac is also suffering from mites. I had a N. jacquelinae which went like that because of mites and eventually the growing tip died. But after spraying and many months the tip of the plant resprouted and started growing again. It might be worth giving that plant the coffee treatment (if you have not already done so) Good luck!

cheers

bill

[marcello catalano]

ok, then, let's do a general try with both plants, spray them with anti-mites, wait a few hours so that the poison goes away from the leaves, and bag up both of them. With the right light, temperature and great humidity, they should both move in one way or the other. Ah, before bagging up the macrophylla, I would check the roots, to see if by any chance they are "knocking" at the bottom of the pot: many species, even when still very small, send down a root that almost go to the depth it will have when the plant is adult, and even if it's just one root, it's the main one, and once it hurts again the bottom of the pot, the plant just stops growing and "waits". You will only see 1-2 deformed leaves and then stop, and of course the plant is more subject to parasites in that period. Doesn't matter if you repotted 1-2 months ago, just that root going vertical is the problem. Just for the safety sake, I would stop the coffee treatment for some time, until the two plants move again.

[Phil Green]

For the mac., as your others are doing fine it must be something with this particular plant, rather than the conditions. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps the medium has become too compacted. I personally can't get on with just sphagnum as the potting mix (I know many people do) - I fine it remains cold and 'claggy' and I do mean cold.

When I've had plants that just do nothing for over a year, it's always been the soil too compact, so little air and holding too much water. You could try a repot and perhaps add some perlite into the sphagnum.

[durham]

Well, they have both been sprayed down with the same insecticide recommended by Bill for the hamata.

Once they dry off I'll bag em up! As for the mac, I decided to check the root system, it seems healthy but was kind of lodged between two pieces of orchid bark which might be the problem...

I know what you mean about the pure sphag Phil, works a dream for some species while others hate it!

Anyway its now in a very airy plsm that's much greener and healthy than that old moss, oh but I did notice several woodlouse buried in the pot which also might have been a problem? Anyone else had this before?

Thanks again guys

[marcello catalano]

Woodlouses eat dead stuff and favour dark and humid places during the day. But if we put together the fact that you call it "old moss", the pieces of bark, Phil's experience of the soil need for macrophylla, the presence of animals that eat old/dead stuff and the possibility of some root bounding, it's clear that the problem was at the root level, and that explains why all your other plants of the same species were doing fine. Having changed pot and compost should have now solved the problem.

[Tim Caldwell]

I did notice several woodlouse buried in the pot which also might have been a problem? Anyone else had this before?

Many years ago I noticed some very small slaters on a nep hybrid I had in a terrarium. They worried me a little bit since they were crawling all over the plant. But it didn't have any pitchers at the time, and within just a few days of one opening the slaters magically disappeared... until I looked inside the pitcher :-)

Cheers,

Tim

[vraev]

My BE mac did the exact same thing and its growth point now died. Does anyone have experience with this macro and what kind of media/condition it appreciates?

thanks,

V

[Gareth Davies]

I can't pretend I'm an expert, but I've had a tiny BE macro for about 6 months now and it's growing steadily for me. Mine's in 80% perlite, 20% sphagnum moss peat. Nights have been 11-16 degrees, days have been 20-28 degrees C. It gets direct sun for a couple of hours in the morning, a couple of hours in the late afternoon- but spends the rest of the day in the shade cast by nearby trees.

When I got it, it didn't have much of a root system... ever time I watered it from the top, it floated away, but once it had got over its shipping shock it grew 2 new leaves happily enough- then stalled. At that point, I gave it a coffee treatment and put it back in a baggie (like I do with all new arrivals).

A week or two later, it was growing happily again and has resumed it previous course- slow steady growth (and it's pitchering fine for me.)

So- it's doing well under my conditions. Or it might just be beginner's luck.

On a comparable note regarding dead growing points, I got a hamata from Wistuba, which in hindsight, clearly had a dead/ deformed growing point when it arrived in Spring. It's taken 4 months- but it's pushing out a whole new growing point from a leaf axil now. Never give up hope with these things... stick 'em in a baggie and give 'em some coffee.

[loligo1964]

What have you been doing in terms of fertilizing your plants? I know that my Nepenthes certainly benefit from it, especially my highlanders. Also, I would suggest that the N. jamban be given lower nighttime temperatures; mine thrive in that even cooler environment . . .

Hello again,

After the last problem with my seedgrown hamata, (which thanks to everyone's good advice has now made a quick recovery) my Jamban has started to go down hill.

It's been sprayed for mites, which seemed to be the problem with the hamata, but has been stunted for a few weeks now.

The other problem is with my mac (BE) which I bought over a year ago, it put out one leaf and then stopped growing and has literally not moved in a whole year!

Current growing conditions;

Jamban - 18-25c day 12-15c night - humdity 50-70%

Macrophylla - 18-25 day 6-8c night - humdity 50-70% (I do have other macs in these conditions which are fine)

Anyway here's the pics, if any of you nep experts can point out what I'm doing wrong with either of these it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Edited August 31, 2010 by loligo1964

[vraev]

Thanks guys. I will repot it in a looser media and bag it up and hope for the best.

[durham]

Not sure if its just because I'm checking them every few hours but the mac looks like its trying to push that forming leaf out at last!

Cheers again for the advice guys, I'll post some pics once they've improved.