Dormant or dead?

[eBeyonder]

I got a S.Stevensii from a local nursery. When it came it had many pitchers, some very tall. It stayed that way for about 1 mth plus. Then in a matter of days (within one week at most) at the middle of Aug, most of the pitchers started browning and dying. Upon closer inspection, I found white cottony stuff on it. I sprayed pesticide on these and they are now gone. I've also removed many dead pitchers. Now, I see some new growth, very few, and the remaining pitchers are dying off too. There's some kind of mould on the base of the plant. I've applied Captan to this regularly and it's disappearing.

In Aug tho there was heavy rain and overcast skies here. Question is, did the rain cause the pest/mould and kill the plant, or is it simply dormant becos of the sudden change in photoperiod? If it's dormant, what should I do?

Thanks for reading.

 

[Alvin Meister]

Sounds like a fungus problem to me. I would dig it out and submerge it in fungicide for a couple of days.

 

[eBeyonder]

argghh... ok before I had checked this post, I put the plant (+ pot and medium) into a ziploc bag and left it in a cooler part of my house. Now there's mould on dead pitchers and on the rhizome, which is partly exposed. There's also some some sooty stuff. Shessh... if it isn't dead it ought to be now