FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey all,

You might've seen my last post: malformed-nepenthes-crown-t52241.html

Since then, things have gotten even weirder.

It was suggested in the original post that I likely had some form of pests that were causing the odd growth patterns, but after a thorough look around the stem and leaves and a peak at the soil, I could not see any visible critters on the plant or in the soil. I did not go as far as completely removing the soil from the roots so as to avoid shocking the plant, so admittedly, there is still some potential of pests there - but after inspecting the surface of the soil and pulling the plant completely out of the pot and lightly ruffling through the loose soil, I found no evidence of pests.


Now for the new weirdness:
I went to water my nepenthes today and to my surprise I saw 4 small leaves erupting from the soil. I'm hoping this is a new clue that could help narrow in on what's going on and how to correct course. Fortunately, the overall health of my plant seems to be holding steady, though the crown continues to produce oddly small leaves and pitchers.

Potentially related: I've also noticed my DC XL VFT exhibiting some weird trap formations in the form of semi-fused traps and "snaggletooth" notches near the middle of the trap. Not sure if this is related or a coincidence, but I wanted to put it out there in hopes that this, too, is a clue.

Thanks again for any ideas you may have for my nep or VFT.

While I have no idea about your potential pest situation or the small growth on your neps crown and the fused traps, the small leaves emerging from the media of your nepenthes appear to just be basal shoots.

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Thanks for the info! (And sorry for such a basic question in retrospect.) Given the other oddities, I assumed it must be something bad, so this seems like good news.