New nep looking real rough

[Casper]

Edit: Sorry, you have to scroll over to see the plant in question, I didn't re-size the photo before posting.

My plant is deteriating daily, as you can see its lookin pretty rough. Any suggestions?

Its planted in straight live sphagnum moss and I water it with distilled water. I really don't think its root rot, but any suggestions are welcome.


Casper

 

[Dave S.]

Is it a newly rooted cutting? I have lost plants to cold weather that looked similar to that.

 

[agustinfranco]

Pitchers dry up when the plant has just been acquired and it is adjusting to the new environment. However, I don't like the looks of those brown spots on the leaves. Too much light may hurt the plant and dry up the leaves. I think i am suggesting something that swords suggested to me as well. have you measured the humidity levels??


Agustin

 

[Casper]

Sorry for the lack of info. It is kept in a terrarium at about 78* in the day, and 68* at night. I just recieved it about 10 days ago from an online dealer.


Casper

Humidity stays above 50%.

 

[Cerius]

My bet is that it is the clay pot. For what I can see..there is no drainange...and it's standing in water..that's a big nono..it can't absorb water that well..and it rots the root..Put it in a...dunkin' donutscup..and poke a bunch of holes at the bottom!

If the clay pot DOES have drainage..I would wash it out alot...there could be residue of some sort mixing with the water...

 

[Beagle]

Ouch!

I would describe the plant on the right as electric-chair-shipping shock.

I had on bical come almost that bad. Other plants in the shipment were OK, so it's a sensitive little fanged devil. The new leaf looks great.

I'd trim a lot of the black death back and pray for the new growth. Mist and breathe a lot of CO2 on it. Read stories to it. Little Ship of Horrors is a great one.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

WOW that took forever to download lol.

Uh yeah looks pretty bad. Hard to say... Did that damage appear pretty much as we see it within a few days of arrival or was it just a little and has been progressing each day to this point?
Where the leaves all droopy and shriveled just before they started turning black or where they firm and looking on the healthy side shortly after arrival?
Did it have a good root system? Bareroot stripped clean or with potting mix around them?

My thoughts...

Damage from cold/heat takes a few days to show up sometimes. N. bicalcarata is particularly sensitive and dislikes shipping of any sort in my experience. So some blackened leaf edges are common although not to the extent you have.

If the plant was healthy looking and the leaves looked great and all of a sudden everything turned black then it was probably something in shipping. If the leaves shriveled up and flopped down to the pot then turned black it is probably a humidity/moisture issue with an unestablished plant.

Few things I would do..

Cut off all the dead parts. Put the plant in a ziplock to increase humidity. Keep it warmer. 78/68 is not really warm enough for N. bicalcarata. You could contact the nursery... maybe they will send another.
Tony

 

[Casper]

The clay pot does have a single drainage hole in the middle of the pot.

If I am to uproot it and re-pot, should I change the medium?

 

[Cerius]

I've heard that long-striped long sphagnum is not good for it..and I use it to drain the water at the bottom of the pot..I would use something else.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Highly doubt it's the pot or the potting mix. As long as it has been kept moist it wouldn't be an issue. In the long run clay pots can be a problem as salts will accumulate as water evaporates off it's surface. The distilled water will slow the process considerably however.

Tony

 

[Casper]

It arrived in good shape. About 5 days ago I noticed it taking a turn for the worse and it has gotten progresivly worse up till now. It was within a few days of arrival that it started to dive, as I have only had the plants for 8 days or so. It was shipped with a small amount of potting mix around the roots.

So basically, cut off all the leaves except the one that looks like might have a bit of hope?


Thanks a bunch

Casper

 

[Beagle]

Based on that photo, I think I'd cut all but the one new leaf either completely or almost completely off. There is one in the foreground and one to the right where I'd save just a bit of the leaf surface for a while.

Seriously, mist and talk to it. It needs your help.

 

[Stefano1]

dude you got that thing at 78 day and 68 night? theres your problem


it likes 85+ day with 75+ night, and the humidity SHOULD be above 80

 

[Stefano1]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Casper @ Oct. 04 2003,11:49)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">It arrived in good shape. About 5 days ago I noticed it taking a turn for the worse and it has gotten progresivly worse up till now.  It was within a few days of arrival that it started to dive, as I have only had the plants for 8 days or so. It was shipped with a small amount of potting mix around the roots.

So basically, cut off all the leaves except the one that looks like might have a bit of hope?


Thanks a bunch

Casper[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
dont cut off ALL the leaves, cut off all the BLACK and dead parts of the leaves, the green parts are still good

 

[Guest]

Wow, that's some bad damage. I just got a bical a couple of weeks ago, potted from Malaysia. The potted factor is probably why it's doing so well... But, I have it in conditions with 55-70% humidity, temps of 85F max (usualy 78-83F) during the day, and 65F minimum (usualy 66-70F) at night. At first, the older, but still green leaves began to blacken rather rapidly, but then the damage stoped, with the newest leaf in almost perfect condition still. Now, almost two weeks later, it is beginning to form new leaves. You might want to make sure the sphagnum is packed in enough and make sure it was moistened properly. Also, you should let the temps rise atleast a couple of degrees higher. That should help you atleast a little

.

 

[lithopsman]

Hi Casper,
That sounds a bit cold, here's my advice:
Warm things up a bit, like a minimum of 72*F. I accomplish this with an aquarium heater in a jar of water, with the heater set on high, running 24/7. Night is about 72-75*F, day is around 82*F. The little rafflesiana that I rescued (from a cold dark and dry windowsill) literally grew a new leaf bud a day for a while once it was in these conditions. Now it has some beautiful pitchers, and seems quite happy, which your bical will do once it gets warmer, although maybe not quite as fast... Also, maybe add some peat to the LFS, bicals are one of the swampiest neps that there are, and they can take a bi more water in the soil than most, but still with good drainage. Also, the clay pot may or may not be a bad thing, but I would definately put it in a plastic one just in case, with a potting mix of: 3 Sphagnum: 2 Peat: 1 perlite.
Then just tender loving care and you'll get a NICE PRETTY AWESOME PLANT!!

GOOD LUCK!!

 

[colinliew]

Looks like it went through a nuclear reactor...

I don't know about everyone else, but it looks like you may have a root problem in addition to all your other worries. Those floppy stems usually come with root damage.

 

[Beagle]

I think bicalcarata really don't like shipping.

I know that they are sensitive plants otherwise -- thanks to all the helpful posters in this forum, in fact. But, that looks exactly like what one of my bicalcarata looked like when it got here + a couple days. As I said, the damage was almost that bad. The newest leaf had no damage, but was tiny. That's almost a push.

I think it will live if you give it good conditions for a while. My whole attitude about carnivorous plants has changed over the last few months. Some ugly looking plants have turned out to be pretty tough: if you can get the conditions right, clean them up, and leave them alone to recover.

Mine get weather from about 85 - 70 F, so far. The humidity has been over 60% most of the time. We've had a lot of rain. Also, I make sure the bicalcarata sit right next to the hot tub -- "free" humidity. Both are coming back strong.

The smaller of the two actually did better in shipping, but still worse than the other plants in its shipment.

 

[Casper]

Well, a little update.

I re-potted it in a mix that will better retain moisture. I cut all the deadness away and put him a little closer to the light. I have got my temps into the high 70's but I just can't seem to push them any higher. I hate to buy anything else for this tank because I plan on moving everything into a 55gal. very soon.

So, I can just hope and pray.


Casper

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Sorry to be late to reply, but here we go.

That looks like cold damage to me. Not severe, but enough to make a lowlander flirting with death. I think it might make it if you treat it with mild temperatures. Don't jump it to 80 or higher, the cells are very stressed and need a chance to get water moving within them again to start to rebuild the structures and eventually grow. Worst thing you can do is increase temps and lower humidity. Keep humidity as high as you can get it and temps in the high 60's to mid 70s like 68F night and 77 day is a mild recuperating climate. Got an superthrive? If my plants seem to look bad I'll shoot them a few drops of it diluted in water to perk them back away from death. I have seen plants make it back from that state so god speed and good luck.