FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I'm not sure what's going on. Nothing has changed, humidity has stayed relatively the same. I did turn on a new fan but the humidity monitor shows it's always around 80-95%



This is what the plant looked like on June 12th 2015



BUT, i don't i'm wrong when i say this plant looks like it's drying out. What do i do? Help please and thank you!

I'm not an expert of diagnosis, but the plant appears to have gone through some very extreme stress and will likely lose all of the effected foliage (perhaps the entire plant)

I don't think that's drying damage, unless the sphagnum has ever gotten completely dry, which does not appear to be the case. Some sort of infection would be my guess, sudden collapse might be what we're looking at. I would inspect the base of the plant carefully for any signs of infection. If it's botrytis fungus the fruiting bodies should appear in a couple of days, little white hairlike and evenly spaced protrusions will invade the surface of the plant.

Matt, these plants are from your store, I've had one division in my pot die similarly, and another member recently experienced a plant that looked very similar which I also believe you replaced. I think you may have some type of systemic fungi in your plants that is exacerbated during stress of the plants.

I could be wrong, but looking at ps3isawesome's growing conditions look impeccable to be losing a fairly established and not recently unpotted plant.

should i remove it from my terrarium to stop the spread of the infection if it is indeed an infection?

Also, i've had this plant since March 2015

I don't think it will be easily transmitted to your nepenthes, considering their waxy cuticle. And if it is botrytis or similar it will need to produce fruiting bodies before it can spread.

It should be kept away from other cephalotus.

The pitcher dehydrated look is because the crown is rotting-pitchers are not being supplied with moisture. As a last ditch effort you can un-pot it and see if there is healthy rhizome below the main growth point that can be salvaged. Toss out the existing LFS that it's planted in and use fresh if you choose to go with LFS again.
I grow all my ceph's in a 40/60 peat/silica sand mixture top dressed with sand. It's fast draining so it allows me to keep them moist without worrying about rot issues.

thanks for all the knowledge and suggestions guys! I'll be a better grower next time

my poor plants

Hard to tell from the pictures but is that brown area down along where the roots branch off spongy or firm? If it's spongy but everything up above it still looks good, you could make a cut well above the brown area, soak it for a a few hours in distilled/R/O water to rehydrate, then pot up the cuttings and bag it till you see new growth. Check the base of the main growth point to see how that looks. If it's firm that's a good sign.

Everything is firm.

Do you mean I cut everything above this green line?

If everything is firm, don't cut it. Soak it for a bit, then repot in fresh medium. Then keep it bagged, cool and under good lights till it resumes growth

thanks nancy will do!

Looks like you're getting this sorted out, but, yeah, I'd say it looks like the problem isn't that this Ceph was too dry, but more likely too wet.

Matt hasn't chimed in here yet, but I'm guessing he has these growing in his greenhouse, with a lot more air circulation and a lot less humidity than in your terrarium. Your new fan will probably help.

I'm no expert ... yet ... I just got my first Ceph maybe a month ago. My strategy has been 1) Sunniest window. 2) Only water from below. 3) Don't leave sitting in water. I may 4) Top it with sand to keep the wetness/moss/algae/etc. down near the top.

Good luck!

Eric Millikin wrote:Looks like you're getting this sorted out, but, yeah, I'd say it looks like the problem isn't that this Ceph was too dry, but more likely too wet.

Matt hasn't chimed in here yet, but I'm guessing he has these growing in his greenhouse, with a lot more air circulation and a lot less humidity than in your terrarium. Your new fan will probably help.

Eric is correct, our Cephalotus are grown in conditions with far less humidity (think 20% range) and with good air movement.

As others have already said, the little Cephalotus looks like it was too wet for too long and started rotting. It might be able to recover from that, but once they start down that path, it's hard to get it stopped.

Eric Millikin wrote:I'm no expert ... yet ... I just got my first Ceph maybe a month ago. My strategy has been 1) Sunniest window. 2) Only water from below. 3) Don't leave sitting in water. I may 4) Top it with sand to keep the wetness/moss/algae/etc. down near the top.

I agree with everything here. I know many people have success growing Cephalotus in terrariums, but in my experience, they do much better in open air. It's always ended badly for me. er..the plants, when I try to grow Cephalotus in a terrarium.

Matt wrote:

Eric Millikin wrote:Looks like you're getting this sorted out, but, yeah, I'd say it looks like the problem isn't that this Ceph was too dry, but more likely too wet.

Matt hasn't chimed in here yet, but I'm guessing he has these growing in his greenhouse, with a lot more air circulation and a lot less humidity than in your terrarium. Your new fan will probably help.

Eric is correct, our Cephalotus are grown in conditions with far less humidity (think 20% range) and with good air movement.

As others have already said, the little Cephalotus looks like it was too wet for too long and started rotting. It might be able to recover from that, but once they start down that path, it's hard to get it stopped.

Eric Millikin wrote:I'm no expert ... yet ... I just got my first Ceph maybe a month ago. My strategy has been 1) Sunniest window. 2) Only water from below. 3) Don't leave sitting in water. I may 4) Top it with sand to keep the wetness/moss/algae/etc. down near the top.

I agree with everything here. I know many people have success growing Cephalotus in terrariums, but in my experience, they do much better in open air. It's always ended badly for me. er..the plants, when I try to grow Cephalotus in a terrarium.

They come out of the nursery with humidity that low?? Cool! I just got mine a few days ago and was acclimating it to my window from something way higher. It's about 35% in my window most of the day. I guess I can step it down a whole lot more today. It had the green slime around the plant real thick (not mold though) so I did opt to repot it so I could rinse it all off. It's my first cephalotus so I'll be patient with it. Good luck ps3isawesome, keep us updated! I want to know whether they can live through that!

David F wrote: Matt, these plants are from your store, I've had one division in my pot die similarly, and another member recently experienced a plant that looked very similar which I also believe you replaced. I think you may have some type of systemic fungi in your plants that is exacerbated during stress of the plants.

I've wondered the same thing since Matt mentioned he's experienced it as well & suspects a bacterial issue. A couple years ago I ordered a second FTS ceph shortly after ordering my first. After only a few weeks it suddenly started looking like the one above and died. Both were in identical conditions and the first continues to thrive today. Maybe it's shock from shipping that just has a delayed appearance? Sucked to be out the cash, but I didn't complain because there's no real way of knowing if it picked something up after it arrived, but they seem very fragile either way. FTS may want to consider letting them mature more before selling them if this occurs with any frequency. It didn't take long at all before my other one put out mature pitchers.

AaaaNinja wrote: They come out of the nursery with humidity that low?? Cool! I just got mine a few days ago and was acclimating it to my window from something way higher. It's about 35% in my window most of the day. I guess I can step it down a whole lot more today. It had the green slime around the plant real thick (not mold though) so I did opt to repot it so I could rinse it all off. It's my first cephalotus so I'll be patient with it. Good luck ps3isawesome, keep us updated! I want to know whether they can live through that!

Mine really thrives in the winter when it gets 40-60% humidity, however the real factor might be the cool to cold nighttime temperatures. It sure likes the combination though. It also gets plenty of air circulation at the same time.