Detailed nepenthes problem showcase

[DanyR]

Hello,
I'm new to this forum, this is my first post.
I will make it as detailed as possible providing pictures so you guys can help me with my nepenthes problem.
I've been owning a N.Rebecca Soper for 4 months now, and got another one after 2 months because i loved this breed.
I live in Lebanon.
Summer: Low-23ºC / High-37ºC Humidity: 80-90%
Winter: Low-2.5ºC / High-25ºC Humidity: 50-70%
Where i live, there is about 5 hours of direct sun on the balcony because i'm surrounded by mountain.

Before i get to the problems, here's a picture of my nepenthes, and some of the healthy parts of it:





At night i put my nepentheses indoors because its winter and it gets cold, and i use a white fluorescent light (Image below) at a distance of 40-50 cm of the plant:


The Problems
I'm going to give a small description of each problem and post a picture of it so you guys can take a closer look.
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1. Some leaves are growing too weak, curling on the sides to the center of the leaf, and the tip of it is turning black and ofcourse when there is a small pitcher growing, it dies.




Even the new leaves that are growing, are staying small and the shapes of them are irregular and unhealthy like so:


2. Some of the leaves are getting destroyed, without any physical contact made to them.




3. Dying pitchers (happened fast).



4. Small red and black dots on the back of the leaves.






5. I don't know if its a problem, but i had to take a picture of the surface of the soil, so you guys could see it and do the judging if there's something wrong with it or not (I will get to why there is some white things on my plant in the end...insecticide).



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These problems did not occur suddenly, i was noticing one after the other until i had to seek help, but what did i do meanwhile ?
I thought it was infected, so i bought this multi-function insecticide, please pay attention to the active ingredient which is Chlorpyrifos Ethyl.



I used this insecticide for 1 month, twice every 15 day, but the plant didn't get any better, there wasn't any changes in the problems stated above.
I spray my nepentheses with distilled water daily... the water that comes from the AC machine.
The white substance on the leaves and the soil are residues of the insecticide i used (I'm not sure on the soil though).

It took me a while to write this post to make it really clear for people who are willing to help, as for people who can't i wish they can spread the message so that people who can help, hear about it. It would be better if i get specific instructions and specific names of products to solve these problems.

Thanks in advance.

[strath76]

Welcome to the forum. I can help you with some of the problems. The damage in pitcher 2 is mechanical damage. By that I mean that it is caused by something contacting the leaf. It may be the leaf blowing into something or something hitting the leaf. nothing to worry about. As for the pitcher problem it appears to be a lack of humidity. The plants will grow but not pitcher if the humidity is too low. you could try placing trays of water around the plant to increase humidity for it. spraying them will help also but is only short term. Looking at the media I would suggest changing to a Sphagnum based mix. I use a mix of Sphagnum Moss, Perlite, Pine Bark and Charcoal. The charcoal helps to remove contaminates from the water if there should be any.

I think that if you can increase the humidity most of the other problems will be inconsequential. Cheers.

[DanyR]

Thanks Strath, I now feel a bit more reassured, I thought it was something more serious, but i'm going to start the work on the stuff you mentioned.
About the small black and red dots on the back of leaf, don't you think its some kind of insect creating them ( mites maybe, not sure... ) and if yes, is the active ingredient that is present in the insecticide that i used harmful ?

[strath76]

Not sure about the spots. It looks like there are only a few so I wouldn't worry about it. Clorpyrifos shouldn't harm the Nep's. Don't go too strong though and space the treatments out.