FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

hello all; it's been a while (which means everyone's been doing well, thankfully). unfortunately, the S. leucophylla have started exhibiting some frightening behaviour lately. I'll just start at the beginning here: I (and the plants) have recently moved, and the climate has been pretty all over the place lately; I've also got no thermostat or control of humidity where I'm currently living. The plants were doing well for the first couple weeks, then I had some issues with lighting (long story) and they had to more or less go without sufficient light for about a week and a half. Everything has been up and running again for about a week, but they don't seem happy still (the drosera have little dew, etc).

most concerning, however, are the leucos... I have several plants in one pot. All of them are starting to show these blackish dots, and while there is still new growth, the openings of new pitchers are deformed and they develop brown patches within days. I've had these plants about a year and a half, and they've never done anything like this before, even during dormancy. could it just be shock from all the changes in conditions? I'm worried it's more serious than that.

I don't know whether this makes a difference, but one of them is flowering (and has been for a while). tarnok flowers are such a treat when the plants aren't sick! ):

last week, I found a single aphid in the room (and subsequently freaked out and double-treated everything with neem). however, I've never had aphids before, so I don't know what kind of damage to look for in terms of them.

here are a couple visuals:

a pitcher from early summer

one that just opened this week

ideas?

my guess it that the sarr is trying to adjust and prepare itself for dormancy

In my experience Aphids seem to twist and mishape the pitcher, also sometimes making patches of it go a very dark green. (Not good on Antho free plants) As the new growth is twisting, i would advise looking on hte soil for shed Aphid skins, or around the bottom of the plant for Aphids.

This crisping around the lid looks a bit like burn to me, so maybe the humidity is a tad low, or they don't have enough water (I leave mine sitting in it)
I don't think it would be going dormant yet, as autumn is the best time for Sarracenia Leucophylla pitchers, so, if you can see any Aphids, kill em'
Or, if you've already treated with neem, maybe it's just the after affects, wait a while for a bit more new growth, and see if it's still twisted.
If not, then (And this is a long shot) It may, just may be fungus, see if you can wipe it off with a damp cloth

Now, these are all possibilities i can think of, if it's none of those, then i'm sorry, but i wont be able to help

thank you Daniel!

Daniel_G wrote:This crisping around the lid looks a bit like burn to me, so maybe the humidity is a tad low

I would not be surprised if it's burn from either cold or low humidity; both of those have been issues. I'm not sure how to raise the humidity, unfortunately (I keep the other CPs in a terrarium, but these would never fit in there). any ideas on how to do that?

I haven't found any other aphids, but I'll keep an eye out for them. what's scariest is just how fast this has happened, which is why I was worried it might be some kind of (invisible?) infestation. hmm...

I leave mine sitting in water as well, so I know that's not the issue. I'm quite sure it's not dormancy time either, especially since there's still a flower open. I guess I just need to work on improving the conditions, then. thank you

in my opinion is that is going dormant

stitz25b wrote:in my opinion is that is going dormant

even though it's flowering? that's why I figured it wasn't dormancy.

even though it's flowering? that's why I figured it wasn't dormancy.

Well a few of my VFTs are flowering and going dormant!!!

yeah
often ust before dormancy a sarra will flower for no apparent reason

There aren't many practical ways to gain humidity, a greenhouse is the best way, but if not, maybe just put some wet sphagnume or something on the soil, or spray the plant every so often.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was due to cold, when some new pitchers open see if they have the crisping too. If they do, then i have no idea what's causing it.

stitz25b wrote:often ust before dormancy a sarra will flower for no apparent reason

haha, how interesting! this is the first time this plant has ever flowered, so I admit I don't really know how this kind of behavior works. if there's no obvious problem, I suppose it's possible that they're just not used to all the recent changes yet. in any case, they're still making new pitchers, so perhaps it isn't life-threatening? I wasn't able to find any more evidence of aphids, so I am going to guess (and hope) that's not it. I've been misting the pitchers, but I'm not sure how much of a difference it's really making, other than making them very sticky... :T
I've been thinking of getting a humidifier, actually...the excuse is that it's for persistent winter respiratory issues, but I bet the plants would like it even more than I would. does that sound like something that might help?

thank you, everyone

A mister may help, bit if you don't want overly sticky pitchers then i don't advise it.
As i said, wet sphagnum on the soil will increase the local humidity a tad, and possibly enough.
You don't want to overly complicate things