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Nepenthes leaf curling? I don't think it's water...or is it?

Nanthawat

Nanthawat

This N. Thorelii x Aristolochioides just started giving me issues a week ago, the leaves are starting to curl and the lower leaves are turning orange (I'm assuming that's just old leaves dying off.) The leaves are still stiff except for the yellow/orange ones and I don't see any unusual spots anywhere.
I've had this plant for about two months now so it should have gotten over it's transitional stress (especially since it produced its pitchers here.)
What do you guys think?

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What is with all the moisture on the leaves?
 
Looks like you might have root rot going on there. Are your plants sitting in water ?
 
thats what i thought,either looks like too much or too little water,if the roots have rotted it will still look water starved,
 
This hybrid will not tolerate sitting in water (IE: with a dish under it) -- you will rot the roots off it.
 
How hot is the curled leaf getting? I don't do any growing under artificial lighting so I don't know how close is too close, but if it isn't root rot (I suspect this also) it could be heat scorch. The yellowing on the lower leaves seems like a sign that something is wrong--how fast did they turn yellow? If slow (1-2 weeks) it's probably hungry, if quick (3-5 days or less) then rot is likely.

We need to know more about your potting mix and watering regime to say more. You can physically inspect for root rot if you are careful in how you unpot the plant.

Here's a snippet of something I wrote on another forum about the way I diagnose potential rot problems, some of which may apply here:
So. When Nepenthes have "too much water," you are experiencing one of two things:
(1) Waterlogged media and lack of air space. You can detect this by unpotting the plant and smelling the soil. Without air, methane gas builds up in the soil from anaerbic processes. It smells bad. If it smells bad, you've solved your issue. The roots will also be mushy, brown, and there will be no color difference on the root tip. Healthy roots are hard to distinguish on Neps even in good conditions because there's very little color difference between the root and its tip. You need to repot into airy, fresh media. The plant is wilting because its roots have suffocated. They die without access to air. Without roots, you get the exact same wilting as if the plant was dying of dehydration. The degree of wilting corresponds to how much of the root system was suffocated to death.
(2) You have a pathogen. Typically symptom (1) leads to this because the plant is stressed, which makes it easier to get sick. Pythium, phytophthora, and a myriad of other fungi and watermolds infest soil that is overly wet. They consume your plant's roots and are nasty. They're hard to treat without chemicals and I usually advocate throwing out the entire plant. They spread easily from splashing of water and soil, or pruning tools. Sometimes you can see evidence (ex. phytophthora has a distinctive smell and you can see pythium on the soil surface). Since pathogens are eating your roots, you will also get wilting. The degree of wilting corresponds to the size of your infection and the percentage of the roots that are still healthy and transporting water normally.
 
Whimgrinder said:
This hybrid will not tolerate sitting in water (IE: with a dish under it) -- you will rot the roots off it.
Click to expand...

The dishes don't have water in them unless I overwater, but I pour water out of the dishes. They are sitting on a table so I don't want the water to pour spill out.
 
theplantman said:
How hot is the curled leaf getting? I don't do any growing under artificial lighting so I don't know how close is too close, but if it isn't root rot (I suspect this also) it could be heat scorch. The yellowing on the lower leaves seems like a sign that something is wrong--how fast did they turn yellow? If slow (1-2 weeks) it's probably hungry, if quick (3-5 days or less) then rot is likely.

We need to know more about your potting mix and watering regime to say more. You can physically inspect for root rot if you are careful in how you unpot the plant.
.
Click to expand...


It's in its original potting mix from the grower. The leaves are getting to 85 (according to the thermometer gun) I water them once every morning. They took about a week to turn yellow and brown like that, last time I noticed this with as with my plant that was acclimating to the new enviornment.

I sniffed around and poked around and it didn't smell like root rot
 
  • #10
The basal growth looks perfectly healthy though, forgot to mention
 
  • #12
I'm also thinking it may be getting too warm- the leaves are coated in fine hairs, kinda like some succulents are(Echeveria). Water gets trapped on these hairs and it causes the leaves to burn. Not saying this is your exact issue though... I have a few Neps but not a Nep expert.
 
  • #13
Gigantea said:
I'm also thinking it may be getting too warm- the leaves are coated in fine hairs, kinda like some succulents are(Echeveria). Water gets trapped on these hairs and it causes the leaves to burn. Not saying this is your exact issue though... I have a few Neps but not a Nep expert.
Click to expand...

I don't think that is it, I think the moisture itself all over the leaves over a prolonged period irritates certain species a lot.
 
  • #14
Water on leaves will cause spotting and rotting, not the wilting and curling we're seeing here.
 
  • #15
I thought it was fine to mist Nepenthes from time to time if you are growing them in a place that isn't very humid, like a windowsill.
 
  • #16
Mist is fine particles, not big water droplets. It makes a difference.
 
  • #17
Cthulhu138 said:
Water on leaves will cause spotting and rotting, not the wilting and curling we're seeing here.
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True, but over watering might. I can't imagine a plant would be fine for 2 months and then suddenly express damage from an insect pest.
 
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  • #18
If the water-on-the-foliage myth were true, my Nepenthes would all be dead by now, and yet somehow they persist in apparent good health. Perhaps three years isn't long enough for the problem to take effect..... :crazy:
 
  • #19
Water on the foliage of a plant does not in itself cause anything. All plant leaves have thick, waxy cuticles to protect them. Nepenthes, which evolved in rainforest conditions, are especially suited to shed frequent overhead watering. To get a better sense of different CP habitats and help me with growing, I monitor their weather. I set them as favorite places on weather.com. One location is Kuching, Malaysia (which is in Borneo) and I've been checking on it for almost a year. It rains at least every other day and most of the time, daily.

What water can do on foliage, especially in the stagnant/dark conditions of an indoor or terrarium environment, is provide great conditions for pathogens to spawn. Mildews, rusts, and a variety of other bacteria and fungi can inoculate and thrive on constantly wet spots. The most important part in avoiding foliar disease is how fast the leaf dries after being wet. Many rainforest natives like Philodendrons have "drip tips" on the leaves, which immediate shed any wetness. Plants from extremely wet areas, like Salvinia, Azolla, Nymphaea, Colocasia, Maidenhair fern, and Columbines have very tiny hairs on their leaves which render them hydrophobic. Pretty cool--it's called the Lotus Effect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHcd_4ftsNY
 
  • #20
theplantman said:
Water on the foliage of a plant does not in itself cause anything. All plant leaves have thick, waxy cuticles to protect them. Nepenthes, which evolved in rainforest conditions, are especially suited to shed frequent overhead watering. To get a better sense of different CP habitats and help me with growing, I monitor their weather. I set them as favorite places on weather.com. One location is Kuching, Malaysia (which is in Borneo) and I've been checking on it for almost a year. It rains at least every other day and most of the time, daily.

What water can do on foliage, especially in the stagnant/dark conditions of an indoor or terrarium environment, is provide great conditions for pathogens to spawn. Mildews, rusts, and a variety of other bacteria and fungi can inoculate and thrive on constantly wet spots. The most important part in avoiding foliar disease is how fast the leaf dries after being wet. Many rainforest natives like Philodendrons have "drip tips" on the leaves, which immediate shed any wetness. Plants from extremely wet areas, like Salvinia, Azolla, Nymphaea, Colocasia, Maidenhair fern, and Columbines have very tiny hairs on their leaves which render them hydrophobic. Pretty cool--it's called the Lotus Effect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHcd_4ftsNY
Click to expand...

Great video. Thx for sharing :)
 
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