Date: Sat, 17 Oct 1998 12:28:54 -0700 (MST) From: John Brownlee <jonnie@chronic.lpl.arizona.edu> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3307$foo@default> Subject: Dry nepenthes stems
Hello all, I've been growing Nepenthes in the Arizona desert now
for about 3 years with much success, until just recently. My collection is
not particularly exotic, mostly N. Madegasacarensis (which are seedlings,
not affected with below mentioned trouble and doing fine), N. gracilis,
and N. mirabilis. I grow them all in an aquarium tank with 6 40-watt
flourescent tubes on a 16 hour period, and the humidity is monitored and
regulated electronically with an untrasonic fogger providing the
humidification action, steady at 90%. I do not fertilize, just feed 'em
once a month.
For the first 2.5 years I've been in Tucson, I lived in an air
conditioned house andall my plants grew like gangbusters. Now, I've moved
to a place with evaporative cooling, and my nepenthes have begun a
frightening transformation.
Though they pitcher like healthy plants and continue growth, the
stems about 4 nodes below the tip of each vine have dried up and look
dead, save a little green bud at each node. Eventually, one of these buds
will grow into a healthy vine, but after the vine gets about 8 inches long
it too begins to shrivel and brown below the 4th or 5th node.
I have never had a problem with any of my plants before, and some
have been growing for over 5 years in the same tank and light setup. I've
run down all the lists of things I can think of, and I'm stuck. Anyone
else ever seen this sort of thing?
John
John Brownlee
Lunar and Planetary Lab
University of Arizona
jonnie @ lpl . arizona . edu
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