Trichoderma and rhizome rot

[chrysamphora]

hi,
i have repeatedly lost plants to rhizome rot the past two years and am looking for a solution;
consequently i have heard about this 'new' beneficial fungus trichoderma and was wondering if it could solve my problems with rhizome rot?

thanks,


-james

[coline]

It does not solve ryzome rot problems caused by bacteria, which is the most common for sarracenia, if your case is a fungal destruction it might help, but also, the Trichoderma has to be a strain capable of attacking that specific fungus.

[jdallas]

Hi James,

With Sarracenia cultural control helps the most. What varieties do you tend to loose to this, and how are you growing your plants? Generally they are among the toughest cp. We only tend to have mold problems when they are kept in greenhouses over the winter where lack of air circulation an encourages mold.

Trichoderma products can be useful. I've used is successfully on Cephalotus to prevent Pythium. Here's a couple links to more information: www.aqph26.dsl.pipex.com/cephalotusfollis.html
www.growninmyownbackyard.com/RootShield.php

Jeff

[ICPS-bob]

Here is a link to useful article about dealing with Sarracenia rhizome rot.
thepitcherplantproject.com/blog/tag/trichoderma/

[chrysamphora]

hi,
sorry it took me so long to reply!;
IDK if it's fungal or bacterial but i dont see any sign of fungus so I'll assume the latter...
the plants i keep losing are; Psittacenia, Alata, Rubra, Minor, Jonessi, and Judith Hindle (may the rest in peace).

i'm now hopeing it doesn't spread to the rest of my bog garden....

[chrysamphora]

hi,
thanks for the responses!!!
my growing conditions are as such;
100+ degrees in the summer with lots of sun (all day ) and extremely low humidity 5%-15%. it cools down into the lower sixties at night.
and in winter it is 40 degrees in the day and down into the teens at night. there is also about two feet of snow on the ground at any one time.
my potting mix is as follows;
~1 bale of peat, ~2 liters of pearlite, and ~375 grams of long fibered sphagnum moss (dead)

the soil is usually pretty damp but never sopping and the first half centimeter or so is completely dry.

thanks!!,



-james

[jdallas]

Hi James,

Thanks for the information. What is your water source? Is it tap water? Does it have a high mineral content (hard water)? Also, do you protect your plants in any way during the winter? What kind of containers do you have them planted in? Could you send a photo of your planters/growing area?

My suspicion is that your plants are getting damaged during the winter, which leaves them open to fungal attack. Hard water damage could also be a major contributor here. Also, for your climate, you probably need to keep them wetter. In nature Sarracenia are not found in dry soil at all. Some, such as S. psittacina, are actually submerged during the winter.

Jeff

[chrysamphora]

hi!,

i only use store bought Distilled water or self collected rain water.
this was their first season in the bog garden and they were transplanted after the snow melted off. (no protection from frosts).
they are in one large pot (it was originally intended as a horse troft i think)

only the the very very top is dry (and only for a quater centimeter or so).

the soil below isn't that dry and it's got two inches of water reserve at the bottom of the pot (its got drainage holes on the side)


pics coming soon...



thanks!!!,




-James

[chrysamphora]

how do i upload pics?


-james

[John Brittnacher]

Jul 11, 2013 3:55:45 GMT chrysamphora said:

hi,
IDK if it's fungal or bacterial but i dont see any sign of fungus so I'll assume the latter...
the plants i keep losing are; Psittacenia, Alata, Rubra, Minor, Jonessi, and Judith Hindle (may the rest in peace).

I presume since you talk about snow you mean growing plants in Quincy, CA. At 3500 feet you are not going to be able to grow Sarracenia psittacina or S. minor without a greenhouse. Unprotected S. alata and S. rubra will be problematic depending on the source location. S. 'Judith Hindle' should survive but might be ugly. S. jonesii should do OK. The problem is early and late frosts, especially if you are in a major cold drainage on the canyon floor.

I live at 2000 feet and am off the valley floor and out of a cold air drainage in southern Oregon (at times I can walk 3 blocks and it is 10 degrees colder). I can not grow S. rosea, S. psittacina, S. minor. and certain S. leucophylla clones. (OK. I probably could but it was too much trouble so I gave away the plants that didn't die.) I have had plants turn to mush in the late fall and late spring. Most winters they just lose the growth points and come back from secondary buds or begin to think about growing in July after getting scared in the spring. It isn't the cold during the winter, it is the early and late freezes when the plants are not fully dormant. We will have a month of "nice" weather then a surge of cold air will dip down and kill back anything that trusts the ambient temperature to decide on dormancy. No amount of Trichodema will save plants from freeze damage when they are not dormant.

On top of freezing issues, my growing season is too short for Sarracenia that have their nicest pitchers in the fall. So S. alata and most of the S. rubra complex are not worth the growing space. What I am left with are S. purpurea, S. flava, S. oreophila, S. jonesii, certain S. leucophylla, and hybrids among those species (yes, some of those have their best pitchers in the fall--some winters they will last the whole winter). A friend here who has two large unheated hoop houses can grow things I can't and his plants are generally a month ahead of mine. (He is in a cold air drainage and can lose plants left outside in an exposed location so he has little choice about how to grow his plants.)

The bottom line is you need to choose plants that work in your climate zone unless you want to spend a lot of money and time fighting nature.

[ICPS-bob]

Jul 12, 2013 23:21:14 GMT chrysamphora said:

how do i upload pics?

We recommend you post a link to your photos rather than uploading them. We have only 200MB of free upload space on this forum. Once that is used up, we either have to buy additional space or disable this option.

If you file your photos elsewhere and link to those photos using the "Insert Image" button, we do not use up attachment space. For detailed instructions see
icps.proboards.com/thread/1401

The forum now automatically reduces over-sized photos.

[chrysamphora]

Jul 13, 2013 2:26:11 GMT John Brittnacher said:

Jul 11, 2013 3:55:45 GMT chrysamphora said:

hi,
IDK if it's fungal or bacterial but i dont see any sign of fungus so I'll assume the latter...
the plants i keep losing are; Psittacenia, Alata, Rubra, Minor, Jonessi, and Judith Hindle (may the rest in peace).

I presume since you talk about snow you mean growing plants in Quincy, CA. At 3500 feet you are not going to be able to grow Sarracenia psittacina or S. minor without a greenhouse. Unprotected S. alata and S. rubra will be problematic depending on the source location. S. 'Judith Hindle' should survive but might be ugly. S. jonesii should do OK. The problem is early and late frosts, especially if you are in a major cold drainage on the canyon floor.

I live at 2000 feet and am off the valley floor and out of a cold air drainage in southern Oregon (at times I can walk 3 blocks and it is 10 degrees colder). I can not grow S. rosea, S. psittacina, S. minor. and certain S. leucophylla clones. (OK. I probably could but it was too much trouble so I gave away the plants that didn't die.) I have had plants turn to mush in the late fall and late spring. Most winters they just lose the growth points and come back from secondary buds or begin to think about growing in July after getting scared in the spring. It isn't the cold during the winter, it is the early and late freezes when the plants are not fully dormant. We will have a month of "nice" weather then a surge of cold air will dip down and kill back anything that trusts the ambient temperature to decide on dormancy. No amount of Trichodema will save plants from freeze damage when they are not dormant.

On top of freezing issues, my growing season is too short for Sarracenia that have their nicest pitchers in the fall. So S. alata and most of the S. rubra complex are not worth the growing space. What I am left with are S. purpurea, S. flava, S. oreophila, S. jonesii, certain S. leucophylla, and hybrids among those species (yes, some of those have their best pitchers in the fall--some winters they will last the whole winter). A friend here who has two large unheated hoop houses can grow things I can't and his plants are generally a month ahead of mine. (He is in a cold air drainage and can lose plants left outside in an exposed location so he has little choice about how to grow his plants.)

The bottom line is you need to choose plants that work in your climate zone unless you want to spend a lot of money and time fighting nature.

ok then. with that said does anyone have a favorite brand of greenhouses or know of a company that builds really good quality greenhouses???




-james