Question
N. Burkei
Hello, I have repotted my 2nd half of neps 2 weeks ago and some of the plants had the pitchers dry out; however, N. Burkei is showing sings of death. The bottom leaves are turning yellow and now I have almost all leaves with yellow tips except the upper 3. The 2 offsprings are growing fast and look healthy producing a pitcher with each leaf. Did I maybe damage the roots while separating the orchid bark from the roots? I noticed that it is very difficult to remove orchid bark when repotting neps because the roots grow into the bark.
So my question is, when repotting nepenthes, should I not separate old soil from the roots to avoid damaging the root system..
AnswerHello Ilya,
I just repotted one of my Nepenthes last night and I understand your concern about the orchid bark getting stuck to the root system as i had some problems with it too. What helps is having a tray of distilled water standing by to soak the roots in. Just shake the plant gently in the water and work the root ball gently with your fingers and some of the old material will fall away. If a few roots are damaged, it is generally fine. Nepenthes do have brittle roots, so too much pressure can break them.
Your Nepenthes burkei looks to be dropping a few of its lower leaves. Is the plant still producing new growth at the top? As long as the newest leaves are still unfurling and lengthening, the plant is fine. Only time will tell if the plant was adversely affected by the repotting. Most species of Nepenthes are very resilient and tough, so just give it time to recover and see what transpires.
Best bet when repotting is to only remove the old material that can easily be removed after that rinsing occurs. Anything stuck to the roots firmly can be left there.
Christopher
