FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi some of my smaller pitchers are going brown from the top but there are new healthy ones coming through. I have not had the plant that long so i think this is just the plant acclimatising to its new home.

Do you snip the brown off like you would with most plants or just let it go back into the soil?

Just the helis seams to be more brittle and dont want ti harm it.

Any tips would be great.

Thanks Fiona.

I'll leave it myself, but I didn't grow heliamhhoras since 2005:) so let's wait for other forum members.

I'd recommend just leaving it alone. As you say, the pitchers are brittle and the more you poke around near them, the higher the chance you'll break one off. I'd recommend just waiting for the entire pitcher to turn brown and then try to remove it.

This is a big problem that I have had with my immature Heliamphora. The browning pitchers are unsightly and common for a plant that is acclimating. The problem with removing the dead pitchers is they do not come off clean until they are brown all the way to the base. As Matt said, let the entire pitcher brown and then gently peel it off, at attempting to remove it now is risking disturbing a plant while it is still fragile.

On the other hand, I don't see how it would hurt the plant to trim the brown part of the pitcher as long as you don't touch the green parts.

If you cut too close to the living tissue you an expose it to fungus and bacteria

Hi woowoo
Well I cut them off when there are fully browned off or dead ,so far no troubles, Hellis are surprising tough plants as they grow at high altitude up to 1500m or 4950 feet ,in the Guiana highlands on top of the mountains with vertical sides,that form a plateau on top, these mountains are surrounded by , Venezuela ,Colombia, Brazil ,the only mountain so far to be climbed is Mt.Roraima, dew to a rock fall ,that formed a path up to the top, all other are impossible to climb,helicopter is the only way to get access to the other plateaus,Mt Roraima is the most famous of the mountains as its the most accessible ,others are Kuken'an Tepui, Auyan Tepui, Wei Tepui, Yuruani tepui to name a few ,there are 17 in total in the Guiana high lands .
Hellis grow in direct sun light all day, but dew to the hight they are at are in very cool surrounding, with high humidity ,rain fall is in the meters per year too.
The only down fall these plants have is the brittle pitchers they have, which snap, brake and split with any degree of non attentive handling , best to put them in there spot and just leave them be unless they dont like it that is, not enough sun or not cool enough or both !!.one other is fungal attack, which can happen with out warning and can kill your plants in a week , usually caused by sudden change in conditions ,that cause them to stress !! among other things.
they are buss pollinated by a wasp that lives there ,and by other insects too I would suppose ,and produce heavily seeded pods for there size . this may help with your growing of your helli, here is some pic's of hellis of mine & my friends here in Adelaide

WOW!

here is some pic's of hellis of mine & my friends here in Adelaide[/quote]

Wow thank for sharing the great pics, i like the fact you back up your info with pics.
My plant looks really ill now i think its done Iam so angry with myself i cant look after it.

OH MY DAMN WOW
These are the biggest helis I've seen! You've got a beautiful collection

woowoo
My plant looks really ill now i think its done Iam so angry with myself i cant look after it.
dont be cross its not easy , I have had a lot experience and help with hell's , what is most important is what most people miss with carnivorous plants , that is its specific conditions .when buying a plant do some research fine out what's its growing habits are ,what it needs, where it come from,and if high land low land,likes sun best in shade ect , what most people do is buy a plant and then find out its very difficult to grow,because they can not supply the correct conditions !! that is need for the plant to thrive , , so other that make a comprise to its grow habits , you need to supply it with what is needs to grow.which usually mean spend a heap of cash , my suggestion to you is get that plant out side in the sun, water from the top with cool water ,keep the pitchers at least half full all times ,give them some fertilizer at 10% strength once a week to a fortnight , I use Mantec foliate !! keep the pot in tray or dish with clean fresh water , and cool it off at night , if it gets over 30c day time temp shade them about 50% , it should come back to life, ok it just needs sun and cool conditions , that's why they are called sun pitchers ! if you need more info just let me know will help as much as you need
J

Thanks for your help. I did do some reserch on this plant and it looked like it could have survived on my window sill, Iam going to wait till we move and get bigger garden and set up something that will suite its needs more, before i get another.
I think its been when i cut off the brown bits I should have just left it. It was then it started to crumble.

Fiona.