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Post by vraev on Jan 23, 2007 1:16:27 GMT -5
Hi guys, If you had read my earlier threads...I was talking about building a nice simple enclousure for my nep. My friend has agreed to help and I am planning on doing a 2 x 1 x 1 foot enclousure. Framed using simple wood.....plastic for sides....cut at 2 positions for watering and misting. Now the issue is this:: I have just checked and noticed that my sarr which I bought has DIED. I noticed it was overriden by white hair. On opening the bag I could get a strong odor of like burnt stuff...I am guessing tis the fungal spores and so on. I regret opening and trying to touch it with a tissue to see if the bottom is still free....however, even the fungus has reached the root material. I just threw it away. I am now concerned about the enclousure I will be making.....I dont plan on having too many ventilator holes or so....so air WILL BE STAGNANT. It will be high humidity and light from a single GE gro & Sho light. I know insectivore and titom grow their neps this way.....inside a mini greenhouse of sorts. I want to find out that are nepenthes more adapted to this conditions and can survive without fungal outbreak?? cheers, varun
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Post by insectivore on Jan 23, 2007 7:28:17 GMT -5
Hey Vraev! I've never had any fungus problem but yet its not quite the same setup as you... If you wan't to make sure just put a little computer fan to get tthe air moving around! Have fun building! Cya
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Post by vraev on Jan 23, 2007 8:32:57 GMT -5
hmm........but how do u power the computer fan???
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Post by mabudon on Jan 23, 2007 9:52:49 GMT -5
Varun- Where was the Sarr when it croaked?? Was it in the fridge?? I find that if a plants is too dry and not cold enough, that kind of thing will happen, I lost a nice clump of D.filiformis this winter in such a manner, I think if I'd kept it more moist and much colder nothing would have gone wrong (I supose fungicide would have helped too but whatever ) And also, keeping things as uncontaminated as possible will help avoid a lot of problems with your Nep enclosure. As insectivore suggests, something to make the air move is essential tho, and I'm sure there's some kind of instructions for wiring up a PC fan out here on the Net
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Post by vraev on Jan 23, 2007 10:08:05 GMT -5
actually, I think the sarr was too wet. I don't want to use fungicide as I don't want that to contaminate the food in the fridge. I guess next ti me, I will try something on the lines of cinammon powder. lol! interesting forums which I came across : www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/4105-computer-fan-wiring.html
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Post by lloyd on Jan 23, 2007 13:47:44 GMT -5
My nep terrarium has a glass lid and I arrange a little crack to get minimal air movement. However the air is super-humid and warm. I've never had any fungus. Even the older dried leaves never get fungus. They must have natural anti-fungal properties.
I also don't like using fungicide in the family food fridge. This is the first year I've had dormant plants in the fridge and the basement cold closet. I put sphagnum in zip lock bags with lots of dehumidifier water and made sure the roots are in contact with the wet moss or water. So far everything in the fridge seems alive and green. I did prune off a certain amount of fungus infested dead leaves and I sort of brushed the fungus off the stems and roots of others. The fungus doesn't seem to be causing any real problem. All the leaves on the big S. leucophylla in the basement closet have dried out but the rhizome looks healthy. I made an arrangement of dried leuco. leaves for the closet door. I'll see how things do in the spring when I bring them out.
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Post by vraev on Jan 23, 2007 17:31:54 GMT -5
interesting account lloyd. Can you please post a pic of how a healthy sarr corm looks like ?? The one which I "had" was full of peat in between roots which were hard to remove and all. I couldn't notice a distinctive corm.
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Post by lloyd on Jan 23, 2007 21:51:03 GMT -5
Vraev, I think Sarr's have rhizomes and not corms. Anyway the rhizome just looks like a sort of a fat brownish thing with a few reddish dormant growing points mostly covered with soil medium. I hope it will spring forth with new growth in the spring when I take it out. This is my first year with dormancy so I'll see how it goes.
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