Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 08:13:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Perry Malouf <pmalouf@access.digex.net> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1806$foo@default> Subject: Re: Is smoking dangerous to your Nepenthes?
Chia-Chern Chen wrote:
> I have many nepenthes. They have been well until 2 weeks ago....
> My question is 1.Is smoking dangerous to my nepenthes?
>
> 2.Is pesticide poisonous to my nepenthes?
>
> All the 25 nepentheses die within the same week.
Ouch, sorry to hear about this. Such an event in my collection
would leave me heartbroken, too. :-(
Your first question is an interesting one, and I have no answer
from experience. I'm not a smoker, and so my plants are not exposed
to smoke of any kind. I would find it hard to believe that the
smoke from a neighbor's apartment, seeping in through the walls,
would be so toxic to your plants. If this is really the case,
then you yourself might consider breathing from a scuba unit
while you're at home. If it affects your plants to such a degree,
then it probably will also affect you.
There must be some other cause. Has some change occurred in the
water you are using for the plants? Are you using colored
styrofoam in the bottom of your pots? For the latter case, the
plants wouldn't show symptoms until their roots grew into the
styrofoam. But even then the symptoms would become manifest
over a couple of weeks before the plant died (depending on the
size of the plant).
You should examine the dead plants to see where the damage occurred.
Are there roots on the dead plants? Does the potting media smell
anaerobic? Is there evidence of fungus or other pests?
Regarding your second question, I've used Orthene, Subdue, and
Zyban on my plants with no ill effects (to me or the plants).
Regards,
Perry Malouf
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