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Carnivorous Plants/Bleaching and unhealthy color in sarracenias
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Question
Hi, I'm Marco Acuņa, from Costa Rica, I grow carnivorous plants for 4 years now, but until this year, specifically starting this year, I started to notice in my sarracenias Dainas delight that the leafs are getting a really ugly color, bleaching and getting purple spots on them, the new leafs merge ok, but as they grow they get bad, and this really has had me in concern because it seemed to stay in a single group of sarracenias, but now its spreading to other plants in the area, mostly the Dainas, but some leucophyla are getting like he same simptom.
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Hi Marco,
Thank-you for sending the photo. That always helps. It looks like you may have leaf miners. This is a pest that commonly affects plants like Beets and Swiss Chard. This is caused by a fly that lays an egg on the leave of the plant, then the larvae gets into the leaf tissue and begins to feed. You can tell if it's this by holding one of the pitchers up to the sun and looking into one of the bad spots. You should see a dark shape somewhere, that being the larvae. Curiously, I've never seen this on Sarracenia, but it could be different in a tropical area. It could be some other pest, but it does look like insect damage.
What you need to do is first cut off all of the affected leaves and destroy them. If you can burn them that would be ideal. You'll need to spray the plants, even the healthy ones with a systemic insecticide. I'm not sure what you have available in Costa Rica, but an insecticide based on either imidacloprid, or acephate (Orthene) will work well, and is safe on Sarracenia. Just follow label directions.
I'm curious about how the Sarracenia go dormant in your area. Do you see a seasonal leaf die-off?
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
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| Rating(1-10) | Knowledgeability = 10 | Clarity of Response = 10 | Politeness = 10 |
| Comment | Thank you very much, I'll look for the insecticides avaliable here, hoping I find some like that ones to cure them, and cut-burn all those leaves and see how do they go! The seasonal die off of leaves never has ocurred to me, they only stop big growing for some months, not only in winter, and continue after that period, and only then, when they grow again, I have to prune bad leaves. | ||
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Answers by Expert:
Sarracenia Northwest
Expertise
If your plant is showing poor growth, discoloration, abnormal leaves or possible infestation, the growers at Sarracenia Northwest can help! Carnivorous plant experts Jeff Dallas and Jacob Farin will help you diagnose the problem and get your plants on the right track. Their no nonsense approach has helped thousands of growers all over the world. They can help you too!
Experience
With over 40 years of combined experience, Jeff and Jacob has definitely taken a straight forward approach to growing carnivorous plants. They have encountered many types of diseases, abnormal growth and infestations related to carnivorous plants, and they know what it takes to get plants looking beautiful and healthy again.
Education/Credentials
Authors of Secrets to Growing Beautiful Carnivorous Plants for Your Home and Garden and producers of the Grow Carnivorous Plants! DVD Series. They also produce a monthly video podcast to illustrate how plants cycle through the seasons.
No terrariums. No myths. No nonsense.
Just the straight facts from guys who grow and propagate
thousands of carnivorous plants each year.
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PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR QUESTION: We no longer answer how-to questions (i.e. How do I propagate...?; How do I grow...?). Instead, we help growers by diagnosing a specific plant problem and offering solutions (i.e. Why is my sundew not producing dew?; Is now a good time to divide my Sarracenia?; Why are the traps turning black?; What's a good substitute for perlite?; Why didn't my seeds germinate?; Can you identify this carnivorous plant for me?) For general plant care, please read our care sheets on our main website: http://www.cobraplant.com/caresheets For business questions: http://www.cobraplant.com/contact |
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