Sick Sarras
Nexus User elliott (elliott@nexus.edu.au)
Mon, 29 May 1995 11:29:43 +0930
>Hello all,
> I have the same problem this year. My S. rubra's and oreophila (sp?)
>twist and warp as they grow. It gets worse the farther up the pitcher
>you go. On the S. oreophila many of the lids are deformed and open
>half way. In fact the flowers on them (oreophila and x catesbei x
>oreophila) are deformed as well. I had thought that oreophila is
>an ugly plant that's all twisted (as it grew like this last
>year) but others tell me how beautiful their's are. I have noted
>aphids on nearly all Sarr's this year but I have been spraying w/
>Safer's Insecticidal Soap and squishing them. They don't seem to be
>the problem anyways.
> 1)If you are having this problem do you see aphids?
> 2a)Is S. oreophila a good looking plant?
> b)If it's looking twisted is something worse than lack of humidity?
> Or aphids?
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Dave,
It sounds like you may have an aphid problem. They can really wreak havoc
on
Sarras, severely deforming the pitchers and flowers as they emerge. I just
finished removing aphids from my D.peltata seedlings, which had such a bad
infestation, they were growing in every direction, instead of upwards! If
possible, I don't use chemicals, so what I do instead is get my pressure
mister, change the flow into a direct stream, and blow them off my plants.
This is effective, but you need to be persistent to wipe the aphids out
completely.
As for your question on S.oreophila, I find them to be quite attractive,
and
they can develop spectacular red veining down the pitchers. This is quite good