Ian_P Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Hi everyone, One of my 18 month old Ceph seedlings opened it's first adult pitcher about a week ago, but over the last few days it started to develop a green ring around the top, just below the 'teeth' and this has now become a wide band. It reminds me of the pitchers on my Nepenthes when they start to die off, but this one is a new pitcher, so I really don't know what to make of it. Here are a couple of pics I've just taken. It was turning a nice deep red and then this happened, has anyone got any ideas? Best regards, Ian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 I haven't seen this before Ian, did you feed it anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petesredtraps Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Mysterious, what is it planted in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_P Posted June 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Hi Gaz, Yes, I had it out in the sun yesterday and caught a couple of small beetles and a few ants for it, but this started about 3 days ago as a narrow ring then gradually widened into the band you can see now. It seems to have stopped spreading for now so I don't know what to think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_P Posted June 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Mysterious, what is it planted in? It's planted in a mix of coco peat/sphagnum/perlite, the top dressing is crushed granite, which I added last night after removing a layer of carpet moss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Hi Ian, Is that another tiny patch just above the white chip. I thought maybe indigestion from too big a meal but if it started before yesterdays feed then I don't know. I'm sure someone will have an idea. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_P Posted June 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Hi Ian, Is that another tiny patch just above the white chip. I thought maybe indigestion from too big a meal but if it started before yesterdays feed then I don't know. I'm sure someone will have an idea. Good luck. It's got those spots in roughly the same place on both sides, it seems strange that the band has a perfectly defined straight line around the pitcher. Very odd. I'll keep an eye on it and see how it develops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattynatureboy44 Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Seen something similar on or 2 of mine that was before I learned it was always after I had fed the pitcher too much or something too big. So I don't really feed them now or if I do its something very very small and is hasn't happened since. Usually the pitcher slowly dies or wont last that long but the plant is usually fine in my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jozef Havrilcak Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 It is something similar? : http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=47623 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_P Posted June 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Seen something similar on or 2 of mine that was before I learned it was always after I had fed the pitcher too much or something too big. So I don't really feed them now or if I do its something very very small and is hasn't happened since. Usually the pitcher slowly dies or wont last that long but the plant is usually fine in my experience. Maybe something crawled in during the night that I didn't notice and made it sick. It is something similar? : http://www.cpukforum...showtopic=47623 This looks different to yours WeXi. Your plants seem to have a dark patch, whereas this seems to be a perfect ring around the pitcher. Many thanks for the replies. Ian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jozef Havrilcak Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 It also started out as your pics. but later all pitcher and this color. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoLongFairWell Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Investigate inside the pitcher. I found a snail in one of my Dionaea traps a couple of days ago and had to prise it open and get rid of it before it rotted the leaf. Also, take a little swab of the area with a q-tip to see if it comes off. I saw a post on here the other day with a ceph with pitchers going a weird green, and I think it turned out to be a fungus, although not of the fuzzy kind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_P Posted June 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Hi Richard, I just tried wiped the pitcher and nothing came off, I did think of mildew but the rest of the pitchers are all ok. As for looking inside, this morning it has actually closed it's lid, so there's only a small gap around the rim now. I don't want to start poking around, in case I just make matters worse. Gaz, those spots on the sides have got a little larger this morning. I'll take some pics and post them later, haven't got time now, got a meeting to go to. Regards, Ian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_P Posted June 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Here's a pic I took with my phone this morning. You can see the lid has closed down quite a lot, I'm going to assume this means it's full! Regards, Ian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoLongFairWell Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 (edited) I'm baffled but I'm also no authority here on Ceph's. If it were me, if it started to spread I'd remove the pitcher to save the plant if it could be a virus or something. I'm very surprised nobody else who's experienced with the species has joined in this thread. Edited June 4, 2013 by Richard Bunn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantrid Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 (edited) Did you move the affected pitcher (not the pot) after you noticed the ring and prior to taking the photo? Edited June 4, 2013 by mantrid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 It reminds me of when a VFT trap takes on something too big like a caterpillar or such like and then rots, my guess is something too big got in as Matty said. Are the other smaller pitchers till OK? If the whole pitcher rots, which is looking quite likely, I think I'd be inclined to amputate it before the rot travels back up the stem. Maybe some of the more experienced Ceph growers can pitch in with some advice as I've only had mine a couple of years. Anyway I hope you'll keep updating with progress either way so it's here for the record. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus B Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Lids normally only close due to a lack of water, or if the pitcher is dying. Check the dampness of the peat. If that is fine then you may have a more serious problem. The easiest way to check if it is a lack of water or too much of something in the pitcher is to use a dropper to squirt water into the pitcher. That will hydrate it and possibly bring whatever is in it floating up to where you can see it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petesredtraps Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 That pitcher is on its' way out, so you might aswell cut it off now,then you can pull off the lid and examine it thoroughly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_P Posted June 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Did you move the affected pitcher (not the pot) after you noticed the ring and prior to taking the photo? Not sure what you mean by move the pitcher? When I removed the carpet moss it did droop a little because the level of the soil dropped. But it didn't lose any fluid and I topped it back up to the original level with the crushed granite. It reminds me of when a VFT trap takes on something too big like a caterpillar or such like and then rots, my guess is something too big got in as Matty said. Are the other smaller pitchers till OK? If the whole pitcher rots, which is looking quite likely, I think I'd be inclined to amputate it before the rot travels back up the stem. That's what I thought originally, it reminded me of the way my Nepenthes pitchers die off. Lids normally only close due to a lack of water, or if the pitcher is dying. Check the dampness of the peat. If that is fine then you may have a more serious problem. The easiest way to check if it is a lack of water or too much of something in the pitcher is to use a dropper to squirt water into the pitcher. That will hydrate it and possibly bring whatever is in it floating up to where you can see it. I did empty the water tray thinking it may be too wet, I normally wait for the tray to dry out before adding more water. That pitcher is on its' way out, so you might aswell cut it off now,then you can pull off the lid and examine it thoroughly. I think I'll give it a while before I take drastic action. For now it seems to have stopped spreading and today the lid has actually started to open up again. It is probably just overfed as has been mentioned, but I'll keep an eye on it and update the thread with any new info. Thanks for all the replies guys. Best regards, Ian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantrid Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 The reason i asked is that if the pitcher and hence the line was originally in a horizontal position its sharp definition looks like it could have been matching up to the water line in the pitcher. A theory why the colour would be different above and below the waterline might be due to temperature affecting the distribution of different pigments. Below the water line the tissue would be cooler and above it especially in the sun it may be significantly warmer. Just a theory no evidence to support it probably a load of c**p :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_P Posted June 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Ah, I get it. The way pitcher is lying means the ring isn't corresponding to the waterline. That's another reason it seems so odd. Even when I removed the moss layer, it didn't go vertical. So the fluid level would still have been at an angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_P Posted June 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 Just a quick update. The pitcher continued to go black and shrivel up, so I removed it from the plant. Looking inside there was a dark mushy substance which filled about a third of the pitcher, but I couldn't see anything that looked like a snail shell, if anything it looked a little dry. On a good note, the rest of the plant is looking healthy and has another new pitcher forming. Regards, Ian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted June 11, 2013 Report Share Posted June 11, 2013 Sounds like we all thought, too big a meal and a serious case of indigestion. Hopefully things will be alright from now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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