Question
S. Flava Brown Spots
1. S. Flava
2. New pitcher growth was going great, about an inch per day up to 10" and then a brown spot suddenly appeared on its neck and rapidly spread. The other pitchers are 14" and 17" and going strong with no similar spots. Its mini-bog neighbors are an S. Leucophylla and an S. Rubra and neither are showing similar spots in their new growth. Is this possibly aphids or slugs or a water issue?
3. Lighting is full 6-7 hours daily of strong Colorado sunshine. Soil is 1/2 peat, 1/2 perlite in an 18" planter bowl. Water is 25ppm tap water, and I top-water and let drain once or twice daily due to low humidity here. We did go on a trip for 2 days, but I put the bowl in a large tray of water during that period, and placed some long-fiber sphagnum moss across the top to keep the soil cool.
4. Region is Front Range of Colorado.
Thanks so much for your insights! Very much appreciated.
AnswerHi Kirk,
Thanks for including good information an a picture. This always helps.
Two possibilities come to mind since the rest of the plant looks fine. The first is some kind of damage to the developing leaf. A slug or snail is a good possibility, and if they took a bite out of the leaf early on it could cause this kind of damage depending on where they bit it. You should also dig down around the rhizome crown and inspect it some to make sure there is no damage or fungus present. If you had a botrytis infection this could be an early sign. Look for grey/white fungal patches, browning on the rhizome, or brown roots. (Roots should be white.) If you see some you'll need to treat. Write me back for specifics on that.
Good Growing!
Jeff Dallas
Sarracenia Northwest
http://www.cobraplant.com
