what's happening to my pilosa??
 

looks like it is my turn to ask for advice, as i have never seen this before. i like N pilosa or chaniana very much, nice looking pitchers and hairy stems. although they are highlanders, lots of people manage to cultivate them at lowland conditions, but i do find them very vulnerable. they seem susceptible to changes in environment and rot easily.

this plant that i have has been growing well but the sun recently shifted and it receive very bright 12-2 o'clock sun, and the leaves look a bit yellow. so i put it somewhere more shady and after a couple of days of really gloomy weather and lots of rain, the plant suddenly look like this.

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/P1010037.jpg

the lower leaves turned all black very quickly and the upper leaves seem to be going the same way. however the tip is still nice and green. the moss is very soggy but i dont dare to change the moss to avoid upsetting the roots. instead, i put it somewhere cool and shady and stopped watering them. the growth tip is still ok.

it will take a long time to recover, i think:crying:. what do you guys think? what happened? i never seen this occuring in such a short span of time. too much water, root rot? or too much sun?

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

ignore the small N sanguinea at the corner, it is totally unperturbed by what is happening to its big brother.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

I've not grown pilosa/chanania before and I am no expert in highlanders, but from the picture, it looks like the media is too soggy and does not look healthy. Perhaps a change of media. Also the plant does look like it does not have enough sunlight.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

agreed, media too soggy. will try to change without disturbing the roots. but it was only in shage for about 4 days, then it started turning black all of the sudden. and the leaves turn black at the sides whereas the spine of the leaves stay green. weird.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

Maybe it's root problem. We need help from other experts here.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

soonsuseong,

The two species, pilosa and chaniana are different. Try and see if you can get a positive ID so that you can grow your plant better.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

i think it is chaniana. not an expert but is there much differences in their cultivation? dont think anyone actually has pilosa, no one i know anyway.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

I think its a chaniana. Looks like my chaniana leaves.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...p/DSC00206.jpg
I think there's too much water. Mine is slightly drier.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

I am not an expert but ,it's look to me like root rot
(look if the stem it self turning black ,the rot devlop from the root up,so if I where you ,I would take a cutting from the top to save the plants.
if it is a root rot you dont have alott of time
Adi

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

That is rot. I don't think you can save your plant though, it has already spread too far.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

Next time don't keep it too wet. You should have posted this earlier. Hope your plant survive.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

Hi soonsuseong,

First, it's definitley N. chaniana.

Second, based on Lee's book, this species is often epiphytic. Like other epiphyte plant (ex. orchid), they like high humidity but good aeration too. So we (some who believe it) use orchid plastic pot that have many hole for ventilation and for media, we use full coconut chip.

Fyi, all my epiphyte neps grow with this condition.

But in lowland like my place, i suggest to add water tray to make high humidity.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

Aaron, do you grow your chaniana under direct sunlight? It's a very nice green pitcher!
soonsuseong, I think your plant just experienced a drastic shift of location from open sun to shaded. Your plant may have already suffered burns and then placed out of sunlight with wet conditions it probably turned into rot. Something similar happened to my reinwardtiana, which has been hardened to full sun already until a heat wave just scorched the leaves and the burnt tissue went black and soft. I don't know what's been causing this but just to share this with you. Btw the reinwardtiana didn't survive, as it's a smaller plant. Hope your plant can pull through.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

Ikeep mine in direct sunlight and rain. Hope your chaniana survives.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

thanks, everyone, for your advice. yes, i agree it is some form of rot, probably root rot. the sanguinea at the side also suffered from mushy leaves after all. the main stem has also turned black but so far, it has not gone mushy. i have repotted it sand + perlite + moss. i do not have high hopes for it but will leave it alone for now. from my limited experience, cuttings from highland plants dont seem to do so well here, so i will just take my chances leaving it alone.

i love this plant but find it hard to keep it alive. direct sun and rain? wish i can try that but am a bit scared to lose more plants. chaniana doesnt come cheap, and to me, very sensitive to environmental changes.

i am sure a lot of us have the same problem, plants growing well, then suddenly came a heatwave and some burnt leaves. we shift them to somewhere shady and water them too much, thinking it will compensate for the heat, and then the plant just rot. it is just that this chaniana (agree it is chaniana not pilosa) degenerated within 2 days. well, it probably has been rotting for a while, i guess.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

yeah, time to get pots with lots of holes. these pots that i am using, retains too much water.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

Just to share, I drilled extra holes on all my plastic pots for nep. I find it's easier to control the media from getting too dry than getting too wet especially when I'm growing all my plants outdoor during rainy season.

If a nep belong to a epiphytic species, I just drill more holes.... *biggrin2* and adjust the composition of the media accordingly.

Pot size also affect the natural rate of evaporation of water coz pot size is directly proportional to it's volume.

I feel all these factors are important points to successfully grow any nep species.

Re: what's happening to my pilosa??
 

It's look too wet for the media,that make the fungus attack easily. I think your plant can survive if the fungus didn't grow into shoot and you should to cut brown leaf off and treat your plant with anti-fungal.

Regards,Oat