FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey everyone,
I just got this heli this week and it's been quickly detonating. Despite the great packaging and huge sign that says the package is fragile, USPS never fails to handle packages with as little care as possible.
Unfortunately several pitchers were snapped off when I received it but it was still looking okay. The last two pictures are from the day I got it after potting. Now it's looking extremely withered. Humidity has been around 65-70 so maybe that's a little too low? I have them covered in a plastic baggy to raise the humidity but I'm not sure what else to do. The first two pictures are what they look like currently

It's to dry. It's desiccating.
Humidity needs to be raised substantially. ASAP
Mist it and bag it off completely sealed after Filling the pitchers with water.

There is always root damage when transplanting. Put it in a water tray for awhile it needs wet media

Find out what it's previous conditions were if you can

Humidity needs to stay at 100% 24/7 until it starts growing again and then acclimated very very slowly back down

Thanks so much. Going to do that. I'll post any positive progress

Cory is spot on

Please keep us posted on its progress

Hey guys. I'm amazed at how quickly it's recovering. I did exactly what Cory said last night and just checked on it through the bag and it's already coming back to life. I'm going to keep the bag on for a week or so longer. Any tips on how to integrate it to lower humidity?

Leave it in the bag for a few weeks.... Slow down lol.

It needs to re establish it's roots before you should do anything or it will quickly be right back where you started.

Acclimating it down is easily done with just snipping small portions of the bag away until it's like Swiss cheese.

You can't do this to slow but most try to fast. Give it 10-15 days before you start snipping away. A week between snips is a good idea as well.

Helis grow in slow motion so anything done to them should reflect that..

Glad to hear it's doing well it should be fine now all you need is time.

It might help to tell us which species it is as well, since some wont tolerate 65% humidity.

For acclimatizing, i cant help since i always put them in my terrarium right away (80-100% RH), but if i had to wait, i'd wait untill a new pitcher has fully developed and then lower humidity over 1 month period.

Okay I'll leave it be and let it recover. It's just a H. Minor pretty small little guy. I'll do what Cory said and wait a few weeks before snipping off a bit of the bag.
This is my first heli so thanks everyone for all the help and tips

To me that doesn't look like a humidity issue. I've seen that before with my Heliamphora and it's normally a sign of complete collapse. I've never successfully saved a plant when it starts looking like that. I've saved parts of the plant, but normally you'll lose the crown that starts to die and causes all of the pitchers to wither.

In my experience, this is due to poor soil aeration. What kind of soil is the Heliamphora potted in? It looks like it's peat. I've have lost a lot of Heliamphora in peat that wasn't airy enough. Since switching to long-fiber sphagnum, I've not lost any.

Matt wrote:To me that doesn't look like a humidity issue. I've seen that before with my Heliamphora and it's normally a sign of complete collapse. I've never successfully saved a plant when it starts looking like that. I've saved parts of the plant, but normally you'll lose the crown that starts to die and causes all of the pitchers to wither.

In my experience, this is due to poor soil aeration. What kind of soil is the Heliamphora potted in? It looks like it's peat. I've have lost a lot of Heliamphora in peat that wasn't airy enough. Since switching to long-fiber sphagnum, I've not lost any.

u mean SDS?
I have to agree, this was the first thing that came to mind, but i have never had it so soon after shipping (only after prolonged periods of lower light and colder temperatures)

Sander wrote:u mean SDS?

Yes, Sudden Death Syndrome. That's what it looks like to me. I've never had it happen so soon after shipping, but I have had it happen a few times after repotting.

SDS

I highly doubt it
It's desicated. If it wasn't it would not have perked up As she said it has.

Being planted in peat is the least of her worries this second. It needed to be rehydrated. I have seen this many times with aw plants.
Especially after being repotted.

Once it starts growing or recovering a bit it can be transplanted into proper media and it will be fine

No heli is going to tolerate transplanting and low humidity unless acclimated to it prior

Hey Matt. I did put it in peat but it's only been in there since Wednesday. Do you think I should do a peat sand perlite mix? I could do that tomorrow if you think it'll help.

Sorry just read Cory 's last post. Yeah it does look a lot better today so I'll leave it potted then and see how it fairs in the coming weeks. I don't know if I mentioned I received it a day late and it wasn't in the greatest condition when I got it because the postal service doesn't have great service so it may be a little shocked from that as well.

Cory wrote:It's desicated. If it wasn't it would not have perked up As she said it has.

I missed that the first time I read the thread. If it is recovering after elevating the humidity, then it is likely only a case of repotting shock. Do you have an updated photo Megan?

Just looking at the most recent photos you posted, it sure does look like a classic case of SDS that I've seen several times with lots of my Heliamphora when I used to pot most of them in peat.