Question

My Truncata 2  
My Truncata   QUESTION: Hello:

I received a lowland nepenthes truncata on February 22 and it's been about a month now but the plant seems to be doing poorly. When it first arrived it had one pitcher that was brown on the top due to cold transportation conditions to get to my house and a few leaves were cut to fit it into the plastic cup. I could tell that the pure long fiber sphagnum moss was packed too tightly for the roots so I bought a gallon of your nepenthes mix and re-potted it about two weeks after it arrived. I recently noticed that there is browning occurring and little bumps on different leaves that looked like an insect infestation so I have been spraying Fungicide 3 on it once a week. However it still is not producing any new leaves and two of them are starting to yellow. Am I doing something wrong or is this just unavoidable with lowlanders during the winter months especially if it has recently been delivered? I will provide pictures of the plant since I take pictures of them from day one to see how they develop.

Thanks,
Patrick

Growing Conditions:

Water= distilled, watered every other day or when soil is only slightly damp.

Sun= Indoors with a south west facing window with other house plants.

Humidity= 40-65% at the dirt level of the pot, pebble tray is under it to catch excess water and to provide a little extra humidity. Misting only twice per week.

Temperature= about a constant 70 degrees

ANSWER: Nepenthes truncata grows very slowly, even in the best of conditions.  Since you received the plant less than a month ago, I wouldn't even at all expect any new growth just yet.  It takes time for this species to acclimate to its new growing conditions.   During the winter, all Nepenthes slow down, and N. truncata is no exception.  Even in our greenhouse we might see only one new leaf, if any, during the entire winter season.

Based on your growing conditions and photos, I don't see any major health issues.  A lot of it is acclimation issues, including the yellowing and browning you see.  These symptoms are occurring on older leaves, and it's very normal for plants to drop some of their older leaves when their environment changes drastically.  The newer leaves look healthy.

As for the the bumps, they could be from pests.  You could spray with a contact insecticide.  (A fungicide will not have any affect on pests.)  Watch our video podcast on the topic for proper applications of insecticides.
http://youtu.be/lbRCdJ8ZNF0

As for misting, it has no affect on ambient humidity whatsoever, particularly when done only twice per week.  For misting to affect ambient humidity, it needs to be done every 15 minutes.  Nepenthes truncata also acclimates just fine to normal house humidity.

Good growing!
Jacob Farin

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello Jacob:

First and foremost thanks for the quick response. That is twice today you have answered two separate emails. My follow up question is that what I am spraying it with is Fungicide 3 but it is mainly a neem oil extract that acts as an organic fungicide, insecticide, and miticide which is in the exact same spray bottle as the two organic sprays in the video. So do you think it will still get rid of pests Or do you think I will be better off getting a different insecticide?

Answer
Neem will be fine.  You'll need to saturate all parts of the leaves to make sure the product comes in contact with the pests.  As a warning, neem has a hideous odor.  Spray your plant in a well ventilated area, and leave it there for at least 30 minutes before moving it back.  You may need to repeat the application if he see new bumps occur.  Generally you should spray every 5-7 days until you're confident the pests are gone.