Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 13:21:33 PDT From: "Chris Teichreb" <cteichreb@hotmail.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2159$foo@default> Subject: Re: Sarracenia rotting
Hi Susan,
High humidity and temperatures along with poor air circulation
and low light definitely don't help, no matter what type of infection
it may be. My S.purps do a similar sort of rotting procedure when
they're digesting large meals (slugs, snails or the occasional rodent
the cat brings in). They definitely stink too, so I'm glad they're
at the back of the yard! Anyways, once they start to rot away too
much, I generally cut the pitcher off and dispose of it. They're
definitely healthy, producing lots of offshoots and flowers.
Overall, my point is that my plants are experiencing similar
symptoms as yours, but seem to cope with it because they are grown
outdoors in full sun with lots of air circulation, etc. I think the
rotting is natural, just the conditions you have them under make
them susceptible to infection.
BTW, the smell isn't the bacteria itself, but the byproducts
of bacterial decomposition, respiration, etc. and is produced under
anaerobic conditions.
Happy growing,
Chris
>
>For the past three years, I've had a recurring problem with
>Sarracenia purpurea ssp. venosa mostly where the pitchers turn
>orangish, then brown, and rot away at the connection to the rhizome,
>and the plant can completely die. This occurs only in our conservatory
>where we have a carnivorous plant bog display. Other species, like S.
>leucophylla, don't seem bothered with this at all. If I rotate potted
>plants back and forth to an outside growing area, I can generally keep
>the plants alive, but if I leave them too long in the bog, they die. No
>sign of pests, in the soil or above. I had suspected fungus before, due
>to the poor air circulation in the conservatory, coupled with less than
>ideal sunshine, and very high heat and humidity. But now I'm
>suspecting a bacterial infection, having noticed that plants I pull out of
>the display smell bad, like bacteria. The fluid in the pitchers seems to
>stink as well. Granted, kids could be putting stuff in the pitchers that
>doesn't belong there, but this happens even to plants that are too far
>from the edge for kids to reach. So... anyone have any ideas how to
>deal with this (other than constantly rotating?). When I pulled the last
>group out, I tipped them upside down to remove all the stinking fluid,
>and flushed them all very well with fresh R.O. water.
>
>Thanks for any help,
>Susan
>
-- Chris Teichrebhttp://www.geocities.com/cteichreb ("Coastal Carnivores", my homepage)
http://www.nurserysite.com/clubs/pnwcarnivorous (Pacific Northwest Carnivorous Plant Club)
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