FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi all. Several weeks ago I bought a couple of ventratas and until recently they seemed to be doing well. Both are now starting to show a general "yellowing" of the leaves and one (see pics) is getting some reddish spots on some of the leaves. They're both putting out new, healthy leaves but no pitchers yet.
They get watered every 2-3 days, get direct windowsill sunlight for 4-5 hours and LED grow lights for another 4-5 hours each day.
I haven't been able to find a cause for the yellowing other than *could be* too much water or not enough water. Same with the light; too much or too little will cause yellowing. There were a couple of articles that talked about red leaves resulting from too much light, but there were no pics I could find. It's confusing.
I'm definitely on the uphill side of the learning curve with Neps, so all advice is welcomed. TIA

Is the LFSM topdressing or is it what you are using for the entire pot? It looks pretty moist.

I'm using a LFSM/Perlite mix in the pot, about 50/50. It was watered this morning.

I was thinking it might not be draining as well as it should, but I dunno...I don't know what to make of those red spots and red edges. If you wiggle your finger down into the mix opening it up a bit and put your nose close to it how does it smell...earthy?...not much smell?...rank? When you water it does the water drain through it pretty good? I'm no expert, that's for sure...just throwing thoughts out there. My ventrata has been looking a bit anemic lately, too. I'm wondering, though, whether I haven't been keeping mine watered well enough. Tonight I moved it outside and it will get some morning sun then be in shade the rest of the day...I watered it good and misted it. It's got several pitchers on it but they're not looking as good as they were. So, I'm kinda in the same boat with you. I've got it (two plants from cuttings) in a small 4" pot with something like a 40:60 peat/perlite mix. I'm thinking about unpotting it and checking the roots and putting it in a slightly larger pot with a sphagnum/perlite mix. Hopefully we both can figure these plants out.

DewsandTraps wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 12:10 am I also have a problem with my nep. I think that it is getting sun burnt but I can't tell for sure. Is it getting red possibly from bad soil or is it just getting burnt?

Looking at the leaves my first thought would be sunburn. But, as I mentioned to Gary...I'm no expert.

The LFSM is fresh and drains very well, so I think that's not a problem. It could just be that the plant is still in it's settling-in phase and will come around in few weeks. I'll continue the research and keep an eye on it.

Yeah, sometimes ya just gotta sit back and let the plant sort itself out.

Update: I backed off on the watering frequency and the red spots gradually disappeared and the yellowing stopped. I may have found the sweet spot for the watering frequency.

So, what's your watering frequency?

So far, not less than five days apart. Humidity varies a lot here so the top of the LFSM can stay damp for a few days. And I'm giving them less water than I used to. At first I would drench them then let them sit in the water tray for a few hours. Now I slowly add water until it it comes out of the drain holes, then stop. As soon as the drainage stops, I dump the tray. Seems to have helped quite a bit.