Jean from singapore

[tayjean]

Hi
I'm Jean from Singapore and recently I brought a nepenthes from one the jurong pasar malam which cost me S$3 only.  Although it's very tiny and seem to be very unhealty as it's getting dark brown on the nepenthes but I'm still trying my best to save it.

Can anyone there help me to save it? I only get to know that it's need sunlight to grow from this website but I think it's too late as the most of the leaves are getting black now.

 please help fast!!!!

 

[colinliew]

I'm not as experienced as some of the other members on this board, but it does appear as if your situation is desperate enough to warrant immediate attention...

Nepenthes generally need 3-4 hours of sunlight, but overexposure to direct sunlight can make them wither. Don't allow the soil to dry out, it should be kept wet but not waterlogged; make sure your pot has drainage holes.

I don't know what soil recipe your plant is sitting in, but it could be that your soil isn't suitable for the nepenthes, or it is packed too tightly around the roots.

Lastly, it could also be a root problem, but I don't have experience with that, so I can't offer much help there.

 

[jalan kayu]

2--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (tayjean @ June 27 2003,2

2)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Hi
I'm Jean from Singapore and recently I brought a nepenthes from one the jurong pasar malam which cost me S$3 only.  Although it's very tiny and seem to be very unhealty as it's getting dark brown on the nepenthes but I'm still trying my best to save it.

Can anyone there help me to save it? I only get to know that it's need sunlight to grow from this website but I think it's too late as the most of the leaves are getting black now.

 please help fast!!!![/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Hi Jean,
Welcome to CP.
When Nep is under stress/shock (environmental change, too hot/cold, too wet/dry, root disturbances) their leaves turn black, hopefully not root rot.

Move your Nep to a shaded (can be under FL light, but not darkness) and cool location and keep the substrate moist and air humid but not too damp (some ventilation is required). Attached a photo to show how I set up a sick bay to rescue my Nep. For the time being do not repot yet, if you could show me a photo of your Nep it will help me to help you.

 

[Cindy]

Hi Jean,

Check the base of the stem (near to the soil). If the stem has turned black, then it's root rot and we cannot do anything about it (since the plant is small, otherwise we could have taken a stem cutting).

But if the stem seems green and healthy, don't give it up. I agree with jalan kayu about ventilation...it needs to be a bright (not direct sun), open area...otherwise, it will only rot faster.

Update us, OK?

 

[tayjean]

Hi

I have attach the picture of my poor tiny Nep and mark it with a square and circle.

The circle image show the darken on all the opening of the nep and the square image shown the nep that had no hope for it.  So what shld I do?

 

[Cindy]

Jean,

Your plant looks exactly like the ones I saw at a nursery. The soil contains slow-release fertiliser which is a no-no for nepenthes. It may be the fertiliser that is causing the pitcher to turn brown/black sooner than it should.

Check that the leaves remain green for another week and more. Water your nep from the top and pour away excess water so that you remove some of the fertiliser. Once the plant grows steadily (with or without pitchers), you can repot it into sphagnum peat moss or sphagnum moss.

Check the centre where the new leaf is growing from, is it black too?

Older pitchers turn brown/black before the leaves turn brown/black. This happens just like in every plant as the leaves grow old.

 

[tayjean]

Cindy

Sadly to say that yes the centre of the leave are turing black slowly too and from what I see is that IT DO NOT GROW NEW LEAVES OUT!!!

  .  Do you think I shld remove all the white litle things which seem to be the fertiliser and start to repot it inorder to save it now?

Btw, which is the best CP's that a new starter shld get for a start?  Lastly shld I cut off the leaves that are dead?  

 

[neilsingapore]

Hi Jean, I'm sorry to hear about your plant. I suspect that your poor nepenthes has root rot as Cindy suggested earlier. If there are no new leaves and the leaves and stem are going black then sadly I don't think repotting it will help. Once the stem base is affected there isn't much you can do.If however it is only the parts of the leaves nearest the pitcher, and the stem is not black then there may be a chance. Whether repotting will cause more stress and damage is very difficult to say. Maybe as Cindy suggests, try flushing out the fertiliser each time you water.
Good luck, Neil.

 

[Cindy]

Jean,

The white stuff is not fertiliser, more likely to be perlite (an organic rock-like material, quite harmless to CPs). The fertiliser is in the little yellow balls.

Keep your fingers crossed. Root rot is one thing all nep keepers fear...look carefully where the black starts from. Is it the tip of the leaf and slowly moving towards the centre? Or it started from the centre and moving out to the tip of the leaf?

If it's the latter, then it's root rot.

Otherwise, keep it drier than before. Sometimes, too much water staying around the growing tip causes it to rot. Especially with our high humidity and warm weather.

 

[tayjean]

Hi Cindy,

Thanks for all the advise and I had a closer look at my Nep now.  If I'm not wrong, the rot is going to rot as the darken colour start from the inter part of the leaves.

If there's no hope for this I will be trying to buy another pot of VFT to try out and I will not give up hope on trying!

I maybe just unlucky to buy an unhealty one cos I'm lack of experience... Right? (Hee  

)

Any tips for me of how to choose a good VFT when I'm at FEF?

 

[jalan kayu]

Jean,

Your plant looks like a tissue cultured N. ampullaria, prefers light shading, warm lowland temperatures, and consistently moist (though not wet) medium.

Cindy's has provided good advice. If your plant suffers root rot, it will die. You are not alone, all of us (I believed) experience dead plants once awhile.

The best CP's for a new starter in Singapore should be matured tropical CP such as:
Nep alata, ventrata, gracilis & rafflesiana
Tropical Drosera such as capensis & intermedia
Mexican Pinguicula

Don’t give up

 

[colinliew]

Oh dear. I'm sorry about your nep troubles Jean, particularly because I've started two neps myself, especially because one's not doing so well.

It had awful brown markings on some of the leaves...I don't think it's sunburn, but some sort of disease, so I cut the leaves off.

Most of the pitchers were dead when I bought it, and the only surviving pitcher is rather limpid. Worrying.

Jean, I hope your nep recovers, and while VFTs are hard to grow in our clime, best of luck with one. The trouble with FEF is that their CPs are not particularly healthy, so choose the healthiest-looking ones with the least amount of dead leaves.

Jalan Kayu, where does one find a Drosera Intermedia in Singapore?

 

[jalan kayu]

Hi colinliew

Where does one find a Drosera Intermedia in Singapore? In some CPer's home

Ha ha ha
I obtained all my sundews, Ceph, Ping (one Ping from seed) and most younger Neps by mail order

My Intermedia and capillaris are flowering now, may be I will able trade later.

 

[eBeyonder]

I'm actually looking for a Ping, which I understand can't be bought anywhere in Singapore. Jln kayu, mind if u say where do u do ur mail order from? Any1 interested in doing a mail order together? Colin, I've put some leaf cuttings of my D.intermedia on soil 2 weeks ago, now they seem to be gowing new little plants... if it works out, maybe we can do an exchange or somethg

 

[colinliew]

Mail order's quite inconvenient, as I don't have a credit card and all.

eBeyonder, I wouldn't mind a joint mail order, but I'm not sure how that could be arranged. As for trading, that would be great, but as I've only just started my collection, I'm not sure I have anything that would interest you.

Also, I'm not very experienced in propagating CPs from cuttings, and have been loth to attempt any invasive surgery on my neps

 

[tayjean]

I was wondering if any of you are willing to sell me one of your mature Nep and at the same time teach me how to grow them?!

 

[Cindy]

ebeyonder:
So far I could only see mail order for Ping as the way to get them, until FEF brings them in. I've ordered from USA before, no good...too far away and the pings were a sticky mess when they arrived. Rotted. Australia is nearer and only Triffid has them so far at AUS$4. But it has a minimum order of AUS$125.

colin:
Most of the nurseries accept bank cheques. In fact, i don't use credit card for online purchases.

 

[jalan kayu]

Hi all,

I am trying not to mention the other CP suppliers on PFT. Mail order suppliers are found in these listings
http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq6280.html
http://hubben.crosswinds.net/cps/CarnivorousPlantLinks.html
http://redtail.unm.edu/ckf_website/cp/othercps.htm#nurseries
http://www-cp.stech.co.jp/cp/link_e.html

I have try 1 Asean ( for Neps only, very good source) & 2 continental European mail order cp supplier, and seeds from USA and Canada. From sending to receiving, it takes 2 to 3 days From the Asean source and up to 5 to 7 days from European sources. Seed order takes up to 2 weeks in transit. One of the European sources sends multiple smaller CPs as a portion. Cindy’s experience with US mail order has just stop me in time from ordering from US… thank.

Attempt to create some sort of competition to FEF, I spoke to a sales executive at Island Landscape at Joan Road (around Thomson Rd), to bring in other CPs. For comparison, at FEF the N. Alata is selling at S$59, while at Island the same plant (fresh and better) is listed at S$38 which I finally bough at 15% discount + GST. Will post a pics on my Webshot soon

Hi Jean,
I do not have duplicated mature Nep plant to spare. But I may have hardened cutting in a few weeks time.
One suggestion; I know SPA (next door to FEF Thomson) has a large matured N. rafflesiana, which I think they are willing to let go at S$16.00 (hard bargain if need be), they also have a smaller rafflesiana, for S$15.00. The larger plant looks better than the smaller one. With proper care it will be a huge pitching plant.

 

[colinliew]

Oh ye gads, you managed to get Island's N. Alata at a 15% discount? Groan...I saw it, but the $38 price tag put me off. Gorgeous things, all the leaves are laden with deep maroon pitchers, aren't they?

I bought a nep from SPA for $15, I couldn't identify it, but I suppose it was a n. rafflesiana... I'm really not sure if I'm growing it properly. All the pitchers were dead when I bought it bar one, but that pitcher is very soft and flimsy.

I'll try and post pictures...

 

[jalan kayu]

Hi Colin

Your nep from SPA should be a n. rafflesiana (because it was the only nep type that remains in the nursery), it is in typical plant soil (not the so call CP soil, the typical soil is ok for the plant as in the natural habitat ), remove fertilizer (orange or yellow balls) if you find them. Easy growing; light 50% shade, water every day to keep soil moist, appreciate humidity. Happy growing.


Island's N. Alata pics posted