FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Got these two little lowland neps in the mail yesterday. They looked fine when they arrived, and I potted them up in rinsed LFSM and perlite, gave them water, put them in trays with a little water in the bottom, and stuck them under T8 grow lights. This morning they look like this. The one in the front is really bad. They were not bagged (I didn’t bag my other nep when it arrived and it was fine, so I didn’t think I needed to). Was it not bagging them? Was it putting them under the lights?
I assume it was my fault, because everything looked fine when it arrived, although the two Juthatip Sopers I ordered also ended up limp and floppy within a couple hours of being potted, but all the other sarracenia are fine, and so is the flytrap. I don't really understand what could’ve happened to just those two sarracenia that didn’t affect the others, because if it were the shipping process, I would’ve assumed everything would’ve been affected. In the photos of the limp sarrs you can see a perfectly healthy leuco x willisii I also got yesterday. Please help me learn what I’ve done wrong.

For nepenthes, I would always bag them and keep them out from under lights (to prevent them from cooking) for a couple of weeks until they adjust to having their roots disturbed. Sarrs i generally don't bag but I keep them in the shade for a couple of weeks after receiving them for the same reason. For the plants that you are having problems with, I would bag them and keep them out of direct light for a few days and see if they start looking better.

How do y’all bag taller plants? I’ve been using gallon ziploc bags, but the new sarrs are too tall.

Just bag the one that is wilting. You can just cover the pot with the bag. Definitely put them in the shade, though.

So I’ve had the two neps bagged for the last nine days, opening them 1-2 times a day for air exchange. The one that wasn’t too bad off looks much better. It got a couple moldy leaves, which I cut off without any ill effects I can see. But…the other one has just been getting worse. Is it salvageable? And what did I do wrong now, as this was clearly not how bagging was supposed to go?

That rough one is a goner. Perhaps in the future, bag them the moment you get them potted up? They likely came from much higher humidity environments and need to slowly adjust to lower humidity. Especially as they are lowlanders, with delicate, thin leaves.

Bluefire wrote: ↑Fri May 31, 2024 10:06 pm That rough one is a goner. Perhaps in the future, bag them the moment you get them potted up? They likely came from much higher humidity environments and need to slowly adjust to lower humidity. Especially as they are lowlanders, with delicate, thin leaves.

Thanks for answering, I appreciate it. I will definitely bag them right away next time. I didn’t even realize that lowlanders had thinner, more delicate leaves than highlanders, I just knew they required different temps.

Generally, lowlanders tend to have papery leaves. Some highlanders have thinner leaves too, it's not cut and dry. But with thin leaves, acclimation tends to take longer and the plants prefer high humidity. If you want plants for lower humidity, look for thick, waxy or hairy leaves (i.e. N. veitchii, N. ventricosa). These will still need to be bagged but will acclimate better to lower humidity. I have gotten some of the more delicate lowlanders to survive on the windowsill, but they do not pitcher due to low humidity.

One thing I've noticed on a lot of the lowlanders, especially when young, is that the leaf has a bit of a fringe around the edge that looks like hair but is not. A lot of them also have very obvious ribbing - you can see it on your healthier plant.

That’s really helpful, thank you, especially with the photos to help visualize. My remaining lowlander does have that “fringe” on a couple leaves.
I don’t suppose you could tell me what’s going on with my N. sanguinea? It’s getting a bit of a tan on some of the leaves (it’s under grow lights right now), but there is also a lot of yellowing.

I got something better then bagging. HomeDepo sells deep plastic water treys that make great domes, you can use 1 to cover a pot of the same size or 2 like a bubble to hold smaller pot(s)

Hedonista wrote: ↑Fri May 31, 2024 11:08 pm That’s really helpful, thank you, especially with the photos to help visualize. My remaining lowlander does have that “fringe” on a couple leaves.
I don’t suppose you could tell me what’s going on with my N. sanguinea? It’s getting a bit of a tan on some of the leaves (it’s under grow lights right now), but there is also a lot of yellowing.

Plants do naturally lose leaves over time. Doesn't look like it's sick or dying. The tan might be a sign of intense light, doesn't seem to be to a harmful degree. If you don't like it, maybe increase the distance between plant and light.