N. argentii,whats wrong now??

[mikefallen13]

hello,
well after having this plant for almost two years i can say honestly say is the MOST FRUSTRATING NEPENTHES IVE EVER OWNED!!! for about the first year i owned it it did absolutely nothing just sat there looking sad, then it finally started to grow and very slowly increase in leaf size but didnt form one pitcher. About a month ago it starded to elongate a tendril and i was thinking yes ill finally have a pitcher! then the tendril died, and the plant started going downhill now the newest leaf looks likes its rotting and most of the leaves except five died!! does anyone have any idea whats going on??

---------- Post added at 07:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 AM ----------

heres some pics.....

 

[ieatflys]

from the blackening growth point id say its root rot especially with pure lfs and you maw want to wipe your leaves clean of salt buildup..... it will appreciate a reppotting if you find no way of letting the soil dry out. also i have seen plants die looking like this because of a lack of light.....
duces
ieatflys

 

[amphirion]

argentii by nature is already a slow grower.

is your sphagnum actually holding any water? it seems dried AND compacted, two not very good factors---could you explain your potting media? i dont want to make the wrong conclusions....

wrinkles on the leaves suggest there's a desiccation factor going on as well. you can help increase the humidity by 1) watering the media to allow it to hold sufficient water (not slopping wet, but not barely dry either) 2) add live sphagnum on the top layer. live sphagnum is an excellent indicator of your conditions...if it dies, something about your conditions is wrong. and/or 3) bag it and slowly acclimate it to lower humidity conditions.

like what ieatflys said, there is salt build up on the leaves, you might want to wipe those off, but i'd also go one step further---the salt build up is an indicator that the ppm of your water is quite high...it might be time to invest in distilled or RO water.

 

[mikefallen13]

Sorry I didn't post growing conditions I was kinda in a hurry..
Temps-70/75 day 66/63 night
Humidity-50/80%
Soil-orchid bark, perlite, LFS, peat with LFS topdressing
Grown on a grow rack under fluorescent lights
And the water marks on the leaves are old I've been using spring water for the past six months and it was repotted not to long ago and the roots were in good condition.

 

[chibae]

Okay..I can only make recommendations based on your pics and my growing conditions in which i have 2 happy and pitchering argentii.
1. If you are using bottle spring water be very careful. many brands say purified, and for that they go through salt purifier. I use only distilled or rainwater. Plus distilled is cheaper than purified if you're buying it.

2. Get it out of the clay pot. There is a build up of salts visible on the pot rim. Either the mineral content of your water is still too high, you're overfertilizing or you used an older pot without cleaning it first. I use net orchid pots.

3. Skip the LFS in the soil mix. Unless watered too frequently for argentii it will dry out and create dead pockets around the roots. Argentii need a light mix without anything packed densly around the roots.

4. Live LFS as a top dressing is good, not live doesn't seem to have the same affect

5. I found, as had other peeps I've talked with that on an open rack, even with humidity on the high side, does not make tham as happy as being in an enclosed tank with good airflow. I don't know why this should be so. My racks also have high humidity (i have 12 sq feet of water trays) and get the same temp drops as the HL tank..but in the tank they shine.

6. the dying growth tip and desicated leaves may indicate dead or dying roots as "Dead roots absorb no water"

Hope this helps

 

[mikefallen13]

Well thanks for the comments everybody, I repotted it so hopefully it will pull through!

 

[chibae]

Well thanks for the comments everybody, I repotted it so hopefully it will pull through!

Good luck with it.

 

[Wire Man]

I've been doing some reading on argentii, and apparently you'll need a bigger pot. They won't produce pitchers until the tendrils can bury into the substrate and re-emerge elsewhere. It's a weird one.

 

[vraev]

Actualy...I have had that happen with my own argentii...

Bear in mind this is a sad story.

Every nep I have EVER owned THRIVED at one point...but after disturbance, change in condtions, they went down hill and never recovered. Argentii is a prime example...my first ever argentii, after all the horror stories i read about it, was actually very very easy for me. I ignored it..just grew it alongside my other neps...same standard media of mostly LFS, bark and a bit of charcoal.

Note...follow the pic progression. Look at the leaves.

And that is the end...it went downhilll from there. That is when I made my new tank setup and it just went downhill.

THe black leaf was just caused randomly....excess heat? Not really..it was caused in feb which is perfect weather in my apt for these plants.

And then...here is downhill progress...the biggest hit was dehydration...then me trying to repot, new water source....basically compounding factors.

That last pic was in 2010. After that I didn't bother keeping track with pics. (was hoping to take more when it gets better...but it never did). Last summer was the big blow. I removed some glass sheeting under the lights to decrease light loss and temps sky rocketed to over 95F in the tank. All highlanders did suffer (surprisingly, villosa didn't do too bad). But the argentii had enough and it died.

Basically the synopsis: argentii as with any other nep hates changing conditions. It has a very narrow range of comfort and once it settles in, don't budge it. Unfortunately, thats not a option for me as I am a student and i am nomadic in a matter of speaking.

ALways bear in mind as well... live sphagnum as a top dressing is a nice indicator. If it goes downhill, more often than not (ignore macrophylla...they don't care), the plant will follow suit.

 

[lance]

What is that big pitcher protruding out in the picture?
Is it a mirablis?

 

[RL7836]

They won't produce pitchers until the tendrils can bury into the substrate and re-emerge elsewhere.

While it apparently does this in it's natural habitat, it isn't necessary. Mine pitchers regularly and all pitchers have either rested on top of live LFS or inflated while hanging from tendril in mid-air.