I bought a Nepenthes at Lowes yesterday and opted to wait until morning to repot it. I did put it up out of reach of my cats and remove the little dome. I repotted this morning and it has a 1/2 (or less) inch black root. Although I am fairly new to carnivorous plants I am pretty sure that isn't good, I'm thinking root rot. I repotted it in a better medium but I suspect it's a lost cause. Is it possible it'll regrow new roots in a better medium? Or is it safe to say I bought a dieing or dead Nepenthes?
Also, I went through it's current medium which was moss and I cannot find any other roots. There is nothing resembling a root, of any color. I'm about to repot the Sundew now, I'm praying I don't lose it too.
Lowes Nepenthes has a short black root
I wish I could delete this post now. The Sundew was fine but I returned the Nepenthes. I bought three new plants that just came in a couple days ago - purple pitcher sarracenia, red pitcher sarracenia, and a second Sundew. I have them repotted but am now trying to figure out if I should put the pitchers outside or let them mellow indoors since it's November.
Your Nepenthes would have been fine. Most are easy to root. You may have had a cutting which may not have super well developed roots, but you are probably right if the medium was too wet, you may have had root root. Int hat case, you would just reroot it.
Let us know what Sundews you have, because it determines their care. :)
PS you were smart to repot the plants. Did you pot them in peat and perlite or peat and sand? Look at the package very carefulyl and make sure it doesn't have fertilizers added. For the Sarracenias and Sundews it should be just peat and perlite (or sand) No additives. For the Nepenthes, it can have peat, perlite, lava rock, orchid bark, . . . a more open mix.
No compost, miracle grow, garden soil, potting soil, . . . all will kill carnivorous plants.
I used peat and sand. The peat is from a nursery and I got it specifically because it had no fertilizer. Unfortunately my current perlite does. I will have to stock up at the nursery when I go there in January.
Good to know about the Nepenthes. The black root was squishy like how rotting roots get. Before learning to water properly I dealt a great deal with root rot. When you reroot something like that do you put it in soil or root in water?
I'm going to have to wait to get another because I don't have any available macrame hangers. I'm getting some 2 tier for Christmas, I hope, and then I can get one. (I have kitties and nepenthes are said to be toxic so most plants go in a macrame hanger.)
If the roots were rotted, I would cut the plant and root it like a cutting. How you root it, depends of the species. Can you a post a picture, so we can ID it? If it was labeled as N. alata it is actually N. Nevtrata (alata x ventricosa). They is the most common Nepenthes sold. Does it have any pitchers?
I am pretty sure my cats have eaten some of my Nepenthes. Hmmm . . .
The one I bought only said Nepenthes hyrbrid, which was a bit disappointing to me since I like knowing the actual variety. As someone new to carnivorous plants it's helpful to know the name so I can look up the specifics. A person on another website posted all the varieties she's seen at Lowes and posted some pictures of hers. She has one listed as "N sanguinea" that looks exactly like the one I had.
Looking on the plant files, it looked like this one http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/73394/
It did have pitchers and they were dieing, which I think is normal and will eventually regrow - right? I feel bad for returning him but at least I'm more prepared now. Maybe it if I see it there or another I'll get it.
I'm not 100% sure if they are toxic, I only saw it mentioned on a website that it was, so maybe it's best to say the macrame hanger is to keep the plant safe from cats heh.
This message was edited Nov 15, 2010 8:20 AM
Cats and plants need to be safe. :)
The pitchers do die. It is no problem. It will probably start pitchering again the spring. Keep it on a sunny warm windowsill. If it a N. sanguinea it is a highland, and likes it about 80 during the day and 60-50 at night. I can't keep them, because it is too warm. Many of the Nepenthes sold locally are N. ventrata or N. miranda. Both are hybrids and super easy to grow.
Don't feel bad for returning a plant. It is very difficult to grow unfamiliar plants, and having complications makes it more difficult. In a couple of weeks go back to Lowes and see if they will sell all the carnivorous plants to you that they didn't sell. I can usually get them for half price.
Nepenthes roots are dark, you sure they were even rotting?