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Help! Nepenthes leaves look dry


Dennis

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Hi, I ordered some Nepenthes from Exotica Plants in Australia through a large order and then it was shipped to me by that person. 

And unfortunately it did not arrive while I was home, but a day after I left for vacation. And my sister was home along with my mother and so I told them to plant them in sphagnum moss and to water regularly which they did. 

 

Knowing them, they complained about having to do my plating for them, so I didn't want to make a hassle further by asking them to mix in perlite with the moss. 

 

And roughly 8 days on, the N. (Spathulata x Aristo) x Lowii leaves are looking very dry but my sister informed me the moss is moist. I only have these photos she sent me and I'm trying to see if she can send me more clear shots and the correct angles to see for new growth.

 

Is this a result of humidity drop, shipping, or something else? 

 

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If this helps, I live in Bangkok, Thailand. Humidity is high, and temperatures during the day is roughly 29oc and at night about 23c

 

I'm raising N. Lowii, N. Adrianii x Truncata, N. Boschiana (black), N. Robcantleyi, N. Miranda, N. Veitchii, N. Burbidgeae, N. Aristo x Maxima, N. Lady Pauline without any problems. So I think conditions should be ok for the one that's having trouble. 

Edited by Dennis
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Oh dear, that looks like one severley dehydrated plant !

I've had two plants arrive like this in one of my latest orders (from a EU supplier) and once potted up i've found that they will sit looking like that for weeks and not do a thing. They really struggle to rehydrate.

So what i did was cut all existing leaves in half. This helped my new plants rehydrate much faster and the growing tip started uncurling a few days after my cuts.

Example :

tumblr_nhdi3rr8J21qg3eq5o1_1280_zps4098a

 

Below are photos i've just taken of my two small 5cm plants in question, and how they responded with new growth after cutting which took place at the end of November.....

 

DSC_0890_zps4d24bfd6.jpg

 

DSC_0891_zps8fbee627.jpg

 

Hope this helps you make a decision, and good luck !

Edited by Welshy
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Thanks guys! 

 

No, the plant arrived fine according to my knowledge. My mother and sister aren't reliable when it comes to looking after my stuff (i.e they sucked out one of my goldfish's eyes while cleaning my tank once - i couldn't do it myself due to surgery), and as they say, if you want things done right you do it yourself. 

 

Seeing as I'll be home in 4 days I'll likely do it myself. And yes, Nepenthes takes a long time to accommodate to new conditions 

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Thats a sad looking plant! Did you family say they looked like that when they arrived? If so i would hazard a guess that they got overheated somewhere during the trip from oz, i can't believe exotica would send out such a bad plant.

I ordered 3 plants from them and all arrived perfectly healthy. Just something went wrong to the lowii hybrid. 

 

Below are the 3 plants i ordered on the day it arrived from photos sent to me

 

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And this was 2 days later

 tumblr_nhenljhAIZ1qg3eq5o1_1280.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Personally, I always keep plants I receive in a sealed plastic bag for at least 2 weeks, in order to have stable, 100% humidity. Then I open the bag (or make holes) gradually over 2 more weeks at least. That might help in your case.

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Hmmm, that plant seems to be getting more dehydrated even after cutting the leaves. Usually, i get just a brown sealed edge and the leaf steadily plumps up again once sealed (see my photos above). But yours still seems to be dieing back from the cuts. Personally, i'd cut the leaves back a bit more, just past the dry brown parts and then bag it up now as Vincent says, and keep that sphagnum wet and mist the leaves once a day. I wouldn't have thought you would need to bag it up living in Thailand with the humidity you get there ?

That growing tip is looking nice and healthy though from what i can see, so lets hope it starts unfurling soon, mine took about 4 weeks to get going again after cutting but are coming along in leaps and bounds now.

Edited by Welshy
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Hmmm, that plant seems to be getting more dehydrated even after cutting the leaves. Usually, i get just a brown sealed edge and the leaf steadily plumps up again once sealed (see my photos above). But yours still seems to be dieing back from the cuts. Personally, i'd cut the leaves back a bit more, just past the dry brown parts and then bag it up now as Vincent says, and keep that sphagnum wet and mist the leaves once a day. I wouldn't have thought you would need to bag it up living in Thailand with the humidity you get there ?

That growing tip is looking nice and healthy though from what i can see, so lets hope it starts unfurling soon, mine took about 4 weeks to get going again after cutting but are coming along in leaps and bounds now.

 

I have 14 plants in total and all are thriving except for this particular plant. It could be the affects of the Spathulata in it? Because I have a Lowii and that's thriving too. And an Aristo hybrid as well. But no Spathulata in my collection. 

 

I'll do what you're suggesting and cut it back slightly, and bag it up. Will update the post in a week or 2. 

 

Thank you!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Final Update:

 

The leaf with which the growing tip was growing in, turned black from the tip and down to the growing tip itself. So the plant is dying from the centre. A black death.  :coffee:

 

Kind of bummed out about it. But oh well. At least I got a free plant from Exotica Plants (by accident. So it replaces the lost one. It came attached to the Veitchii x Burbidgeae so I assume it must also be the same. A Veitchii x Burbidgeae

 

Thank you for your help guys!

Edited by Dennis
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