AboutSarracenia Northwest Expertise Got a carnivorous plant problem? The growers at Sarracenia Northwest can help! Carnivorous plant experts Jeff Dallas and Jacob Farin have helped thousands of growers around the world, and they can help you too. When you submit your question, they will diagnose your situation and offer a solution to help you get your carnivorous plant back on track.
Experience With over 40 years of combined experience, Jeff and Jacob has definitely taken a straight forward approach to growing carnivorous plants. Get the straight facts from the guys who grow and propagate thousands of these plants every year.
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?)
my flava have recently developed what looks like a white fungus. It looks like a very fine white soot or baking flour that rubs off easily and appears mottled-fashion across the whole tuber. One one of the plants there's a very small patch of the tuber where the green chlorophyll seems to have been "burned away" like a scald and I can see the grey cellular layer beneath and a red vein.
The plants are growing in full sun and are watered with some rain water every evening.
Do you know what might be causing this and should I cut off the affected tubers?
Answer Hi Steve,
Definitely cut away affected areas of the rhizome, and any dead leaves. This sounds like botrytis. I would also spray the plant and rhizome with a systemic fungicide such as chorothanil. Check a garden center for fungicides. Just avoid any that are based on copper, or copper sulfate. Also I would transplant the plant into fresh media. That will help get rid of fungal spores. Lastly, if the plant has any dead sphagnum as a top dressing on the pot, remove it. It tends to harbor spores.
I would act quickly on this. Once the fungus invades the rhizome it can kill the plant rather quickly. It's odd that this is happening on a Sarracenia flava. We usually have this problem on S. purpurea or S. rubra because of their dense pitchers.
