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Post by cupcake on Jan 22, 2015 22:12:56 GMT
Hey everyone, I'm new to carnivorous plants and I am going through a bit of a problem right now with my new crested petioles (at least that's what the guy who sold the plant to me told me it was). It's been a couple of weeks since I got it and everything was ok until yesterday. It's traps began twisting and whithered within two hours. Some were old but some weren't even open yet. Today some other traps did too. I'm pretty scared since I don't know what I am doing wrong. It couldn't possibly be dormancy since it's mid summer in here (Chile) but it may be the harsh afternoon sunlight. It's not super hot temperature-wise since we get pretty similar temperatures as North Carolina, but the sun can hit really hard around here (ozone layer issues). If anyone could help me I'd be very gratefull since I don't want to mess this little plant up, I really like it. Some details about the way I take care of it: - Water: deionized water. I make sure at all moment that the soil is moist. - Soil: it came in a 100% green sphagnum moss soil and I don't know wether it's good for it but I'm not gonna try and change it since I'l do more harm than good. - Sun: I let it outside my bathroom window that gets LOTS of sun in the afternoon. I do this because I read in the FAQ that these plants require lots of it. - Humidity: I started to put the plant under a transparent plastic lid this week since I thought that it may be needing more humidity (Santiago's air is about 40%), this may have contributed to the trap's death but I don't know. If you have any advice that could save my little plant I'd be super grateful. Cup. Attachments:
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Post by jdallas on Jan 23, 2015 1:21:16 GMT
Hi Cup, Since you're in Chile, I'm assuming it's midsummer right now. The simplest thing to do with your plant right now is cut all the leaves off. After that place your plant in a full-sun location, preferably outside. Make sure it always has a small amount of water in the tray. This time of year it can be up to half-way up the pot, but it's better if it's not too deep. Just make sure the plant doesn't every dry out, since that may have been part of the problem. What cutting all the leaves off does is stop any transpiration from the rhizome, and will allow it to grow new, healthy leaves. They may be a little small at first, but as it catches bugs it will get bigger before it starts to go dormant in Autumn. When the leaves are in that bad a shape there is no saving them. It will also help if you can transplant it to a larger pot. Roughly a 15cm pot would be a good size. Here's a link to some helpful information: www.growcarnivorousplants.com/Articles.asp?ID=257 Standard soil media is 1/2 peat moss to 1/2 silica sand. If peat is hard to obtain in Chile, use long fiber sphagnum. Jeff
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Post by cupcake on Jan 23, 2015 3:00:07 GMT
Thank you very much for your advice, I'll get to it right away although I have read that keeping it always with water may make the roots to rot, I'll asume that won't be the case since it gets very hot outside. Also there are a few new leaves on the way that look healthy so I'll asume I shouldn't cut those off, right? Again I appreciate your advice a lot. I'll make sure it gets plenty of water.
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Post by hcarlton on Jan 23, 2015 15:12:12 GMT
Don't cut off anything that is still green. Your plant looks like it came from a low-light environment as the leaves are so thin and spindly, so it needs to be acclimated to a full-sun environment (they require 6+ hours direct sun a day). They don't need high humidity, mine experience conditions as low as 5% or less in summer, but again if this plant was in a high humidity environment it may need acclimation and the non-acclimated leaves will die off. And as long as the soil is somewhat aerated, using peat moss and sand, water is not an issue. The second photo looks like the plant has been allowed to dry which is a bad thing. They can experience flooding on occasion, and mine are always in 1-4" of water.
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fredg
Full Member
Posts: 367
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Post by fredg on Jan 23, 2015 18:15:56 GMT
I'm willing to bet that you've steam cooked the plant. A humidity dome in full afternoon summer sun is perfect for that wilted look.
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Post by jdallas on Jan 23, 2015 21:09:12 GMT
Don't cut off anything that is still green. Your plant looks like it came from a low-light environment as the leaves are so thin and spindly, so it needs to be acclimated to a full-sun environment (they require 6+ hours direct sun a day). They don't need high humidity, mine experience conditions as low as 5% or less in summer, but again if this plant was in a high humidity environment it may need acclimation and the non-acclimated leaves will die off. And as long as the soil is somewhat aerated, using peat moss and sand, water is not an issue. The second photo looks like the plant has been allowed to dry which is a bad thing. They can experience flooding on occasion, and mine are always in 1-4" of water. Over the years I've experimented with doing the hardening off process of gradual introduction to lower humidity if the plant has been in high humidity. The usual situation is plants mass marketed in the "Death Cubes" in big box stores, but this may apply to plants kept in a greenhouse too. If a plant is in good shape, and has been getting adequate light, the hardening off is often successful. However, if a plant is very pale and limp, such as the poor "Death Cube" specimens, I've gotten 100% better results from just total removal of the leaves. This is especially true if you still have plenty of growing season left. It seems that when the leaves are in bad shape, such as with our friend Cup here, they end up being more of a liability to the plant than any benefit they would get from photosynthesis. Given about a month they will be replaced with nice healthy leaves. They might be a bit smaller, but then you get to feed your plant, and it will actually be able to well utilize the nutrients.
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Post by cupcake on Jan 23, 2015 22:15:16 GMT
I've cut down the brown leaves and today a new one started sprouting. I'll let my plant sit in full sunlight with lots of water and see if it makes it better. Thank you all for your advice, it's very kind of you. hopefully my plant will get better thanks to you. Cup
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Post by cupcake on Apr 9, 2015 2:31:47 GMT
It's ALIVEI did everything you guys recomended and the plant is growing back nicely and even manage to catch a couple of flies on it's own! Thanks so much for everyone's help Cheers!
Cup
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