FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

a couple months ago, I purchased my first nepenthes, (viking x rafflesiana) x viking. it had some moderate rust spots when I received it, but I treated it with neem and the new leaves looked clean for a while. recently the rust (or what I think is rust) has come back with a vengeance, and although the plant is still growing quickly and looking good otherwise, the leaves are a pretty scary color. I'm not sure what to do about this...I didn't think rust was supposed to be so difficult to conquer. is it possible that this is something else entirely? I have the plant under grow lights, so at first I ruled out sunburn, but I guess I can't be sure. what do you guys think? spring brings so many hardships! things were easier when my plants were asleep. haha

ok you have a few things you need to know , you have a tropical plant there that is a low land plant so temps needs to be 30 to 35 Celsius or 90f plus !! all day long and about 26 c at night , your light needs to be intense , as these grow in full sun in the wild tropical sun ok !! , then your humidity needs to be above 60% all the time , then you will need a good fan in there to prevent black mould and fungal growing ok, I would think the rust you speak of is in-fact a symptom of being too cold and not enough light intensity , you mite be better off growing highland plants that do not require that amount of heat & light not quite as strong as well . they are 2 very different plant climate that they grow in ,
J

thank you for your quick response! I don't think humidity is the issue; I have it inside a terrarium that is very humid. the terrarium is vented but I don't have a fan. could that be the issue?
I have the plant under a T5 full spectrum/ (I think 6500k) grow light, which I use for all my plants. is that inadequate for this plant?
also, do you have any suggestions on how I can raise the temperature in the terrarium? it sounds like that might be the problem.
thanks again!

If compared to leaf texture of other Nepenthes, viking tends to have wide spread reddish tint/spots resembling rusts on old leaves.
At least that happens on my plant. Shouldn't be pathogens. I see the same on plants of others. Do you have a photo?

Place the light bulb or fluorescent or whatever closer to or inside the terrarium and you can experiment the optimal distance while watching the temperature. Or if it is already inside, try getting another one, or if you can afford, purchase a terrarium heater with a regulating unit.

I've never seen that on a viking, but that is somewhat encouraging to hear. here is a photo of one of the leaves:



this leaf is only a few weeks old; the ones underneath it are from before I got the plant, so I'm not sure how old they are. should this concern me? it's still growing quickly and developing new pitchers.

Xterms wrote: if you can afford, purchase a terrarium heater with a regulating unit.

do you have any recommendations on brands/types? I've considered something like this, but I don't really know much about them.

also, an unrelated question: when the pitchers are developing, should they be resting on the ground or suspended above it? does it matter?

Well, with an image it's far better. I had similar stains on the leaves of my Neps, look through the topic I opened for it and see if it can help.

homeobox wrote:do you have any recommendations on brands/types?

Osram Fluora is usually recommended, but theoretically any bulb/fluorescent does the task with a colour temperature of 6500K. Perhaps you can find a lot of more info in the nearest aquarium shop.

The leaf edge seems burnt. Not sure too hot or too cold.
Do you measure temperature and humidity?

Photo below is a normal viking leaf of a few months olds. And this is leaf of rafflesiana.

To me the leafs look burnt not rust

it's good to know that the problem is me and not a pest if it's being burned, does that mean I should move it further from the light? it is in pretty direct light now, and I have noticed that most of the burning is at the base of the leaves (where the light hits most). I will check the temperature later today, but if I had to guess, I would say it's probably too cold as opposed to too hot, since the only thing really heating it is the light.

its not the top of the leaf I need to see but the underneath of the leaf , this is where you can tell if you have any bugs or pests as its the easy part of the leaf for the bug to attack the leaf and get shelter as well , the spots on the leaf can be normal , but its not sun burn but cold spots I would think, still think you will need to increase your temps ok , This is the weather that they like to live in ( 2 URL below ) , note the temps day and night and humidity levels not so much the rain you can control that !!by watering !! and the amount of light time of natural sun !! I all so get this on some of my intermediates plant from winter time, when the weather is to cold for them , they stop growing and produce very small pitchers and get the red or brown spots on the leafs !!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/153
http://www.yr.no/place/Malaysia/Sarawak/Kuching/

The picture added is a Raff in the wild, out from Kuching Sarawak Borneo , so I do have a lot of first hand knowledge !! been there many times !! this is potential if you get the condition right but very much dough you mite grow a pitcher any where near this size !!half that and you have done well !
J

those pitchers are amazing! hopefully someday I can go see them

I am attaching some photos of the undersides of the leaves. the second is the leaf in the other picture I posted, and the first is a newer leaf.
are those spots caused by mites? if so, is there something in particular I should use on them?

I think my temperature is on the lower side of the range you linked, so I will try to raise it a little.

thank you!

sorry for the late reply been quite sick , ok there is signs of some small amount of mite occurrence there but not a lot, the explode when there is a hot spell from ones and twos to thousands in a mater of weeks then from there 5 times the amount , so act now with some miteaside spray , and treat once a week for up to 4 weeks to kill off the breeding cycle breeding cycle is every 4 to 5 days be sure to spray under the leafs and the under the rim of the pot too and any stands or area that they can hide near or around the plants
j