Expert: Sarracenia Northwest - 11/21/2010

Question
Hi, I'm growing a S. purpurea that is having some fungus issues. I unpotted it a couple weeks ago, cut off dead leaves, applied a sulfur fungicide, and put it in my fridge in a plastic bag for the winter. I checked it today for fungus and there was fungus growing on a few parts of the plant, most regrettably also on the main growing point of the plant. I then cut off most of the leaves, anything that had sprouted fungus, and I scoured out the portion of the growing tip that had gone rotten.
    So, here's my question. Can distilled white vineger be used safely as a fungicide for CP's? I know when making a culture medium for fruit flies (I'm culturing some now just for fun:)...) you can use 50/50 water and vinegar in the mixture to combat any fungus or bacteria that might otherwise grow in it. Apparently the acidity keeps them from growing. In all honesty, the sulfur doesn't always seem to work that well for me and I am looking for other possible solutions. I actually already put a couple drops of vinegar on the worst areas of fungus for my S. purpurea (along with spraying on more sulfur fungicide); probably not the best idea since I don't know for sure that it is safe, but I can take it out and rinse it off in the next day or so if need be, or learn a hard lesson. Either way, what are your thoughts on this subject?
    Thanks
Richard

Answer
Hi Richard,

I've never personally tried using vinegar.  It's very much worth experimenting with, but whenever I try something for the first time I try to experiment with something I can afford to loose.  I remember a couple years ago trying a new fungicide based on a bacteria that was touted as safe for all plants.  It wasn't safe on sundews.  Killed a whole tray of tropical sundew seedlings.

Sarracenia on the other hand tend to be fairly tough.  If your plant already had some botrytis mold growing on it, sulfur won't cure it; it tends to be better an inhibiting growth.  For something more curative I've had good luck with Bayer disease control.  The active ingredient is tebuconozole.  This fungicide is systemic, and has also been used in medicine, so it's not as toxic to handle as some other fungicides can be.

Good Growing!

Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com