Whats wrong with this amp?

[kentosaurs]

Hey guys, my ampullaria isn't doing that well....It produces new leaves and pitchers but they have this scorch marks quite soon after...Its not excessive sun cause its shaded enough...Any ideas?

 

[swords]

Ugh, its some kind of problem I call simply "rust" and I didn't know what to do about it so I cut down my N. ampullaria Brunei Red x Harlequin cos of it. I left the roots and stump in place in it's vivarium (my big crab tank) in hopes the new growth would be rust free but the plant was buried by ferns so I haven't seen it in quite a while....

OK, I've just dug down and found the plant under the ferns (only one non-colorful pitcher on it now due to the ferns) but no rusty leaves anymore, not a trace of rust on the new nodal growth. Nice and rich green. Gonna chop back the ferns now that it's worth looking at again!

 

[Shimi]

This happened to my N. Ampullaria as well (see http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121608).
I checked the roots and found out a large percentage was rotting, so I replaced the media from peat to a more airy one (mix of peat/perlite/coco fiber). I also made sure the leaves are kept dry. Worked so far...

 

[Zhilin]

It's normal for many lowlanders. The reason probably is some kind of virus or fungus, which widely exists in lowlanders. When the night temperature is high, they won't cause the "rust" sign. But when night temperature is low and humidity is high (especially water on the leaves), they will cause the "rust" sign. Note that, for different lowlanders, the low night temperatures are different. According to my experience, for N. x dyeriana, when night temperature is lower than 65F and humidity is high, the "rust" sign will appear. For N.amp or its hybrid, when night temperature is lower than 55F and humidity is high, the "rust" sign will appear.

To prevent such rust sign on the leaves, you only need to increase the night temperature and do not allow water on the leaves.

 

[swords]

I have 3 N. ampullarias in the crab tank and only that specific hybrid showed it. It arrived displaying the rust and never "grew out of it" even though it did grow and pitcher. The other two amps on either side of it have never displayed signs of the rust.

Night temps are always warm70+ my apartment is very Lowland except for my HL tank which has cool air piped into it from the window AC. In my case no water on the leaves did not allow mine to outgrow the rust but cutting the bad top away and waiting 6+ months for new node to get growing well apparently did... Others may not be so patient I suppose! LOL

 

[Zhilin]

Hi, swords, your case exactly tells me that the "rust" sign is due to some kind of fungus or virus. That one is infected, and with high humidity (I think your lowland tank has high humidity, no?) the "rust" sign will frequently appear. And cutting the top vine is one way to completely remove the fungus/virus. The other two N.amp are not infected, so they are not affected by the temperature and humidity.

I just wonder if anyone has gotten success in the use of fungicide or something like that to completely remove such "rust" sign?

 

[jesse]

Hey guys, my ampullaria isn't doing that well....It produces new leaves and pitchers but they have this scorch marks quite soon after...Its not excessive sun cause its shaded enough...Any ideas?

Do you know "broad mites" and did you already check your plant for an possible infection with broad mites?

Adult broad mites are almost microscopic (less than 0.2 millimeter long), eggs and young ones are much smaller. They reside on the lower side of the leaves and you will need a very good magnifying glass or a microscope to detect them visible.

Or you can make a kind a "swipe sample" probing to detect them: Use your finger to rub gently on the lower side of the leaf. If you see wet streaks on the leaf afterwards, then those were some broad mites. Typically you can't detect the mites themselves with your eyes as they are so small, but you can see the wet streaks after you have smashed and smeared them.

"Rust" may be the secondary infection after broad mites have initially damaged the leaves.

 

[swords]

Hi, swords, your case exactly tells me that the "rust" sign is due to some kind of fungus or virus. That one is infected, and with high humidity (I think your lowland tank has high humidity, no?) the "rust" sign will frequently appear. And cutting the top vine is one way to completely remove the fungus/virus. The other two N.amp are not infected, so they are not affected by the temperature and humidity.

I just wonder if anyone has gotten success in the use of fungicide or something like that to completely remove such "rust" sign?

Could be some kinda fungus or virus or mites but thankfully if it was any of those things they haven't migrated to the other plants in the year + it's been setup. I'm just glad it restarted and so far looks rust free. Yes, 80-90% humidity and gets misted every day with two crab ponds which also evaporate in a few days so are always getting refilled.

I don't use any chemical "cides" on my plants due to having pet insects in the house (tarantulas, mantids, etc) and the crab colonies. So if I notice any insects in my plant only tanks then I'll use rubbing alcohol to kill the pests. Having isopods in the planted critter vivariums seems to keep the mites and other pests down. Not sure if they attack smaller insects or what but "never" have problems with pests in the tanks with the isopods in them. Take note that isopods are not good for "plant only" tanks because they have to eat. In animal & plant tanks they eat waste, leftover food, dead leaves, fungus, mold, etc. in a plant only tank there's no "leftovers" but there are your plants...