Nepenthes ventricosa Problems

It keeps putting out new leaves, but they don't grow fast at all, like they did back when it was in the window, and one leaf grew all crinkly. I looked at the plant more closely and saw a lot of globs under the leaves. After posting on TerraForums.com, it sounds like that's just nectar, and the problem with it putting out tons of new leaves that don't develop is because it's too hot for the plant. It's probably partly due to my bad sleep schedule, and since it's wintry, I keep the heat on when I'm awake. So the days have been cooler than the nights. I'm an IDIOT.

Ah, at least I learned before I killed it.

Some pics:

Lots of new leaves that don't develop on N. ventricosa.

What I thought were eggs or something insect-related are hopefully just nectar.

Another shot of the nectar on N. ventricosa.

A weirdly formed leaf from too much heat on N. ventricosa.

I Think I Killed My Cobra Lily

Darlingtonia californica, March 8, 2011.

I don't think I'll be trying my hand at these again. I guess it's because I missed some days of pouring new water over the top of the soil, even though it was sitting in water. Or because the LFS they ship them in isn't what it wants to sit in.

It was healthy and grew some while under my care; it looked like this not too long ago:

Darlingtonia californica, February 16, 2011, showing a new, healthy pitcher.

Darlingtonia californica, February 16, 2011, showing a baby pitcher starting to grow.

New VFT I Bought for Parts

I bought a VFT in January just to try propagating new plants from via leaf pullings. I was too scared to try it with VFTs I already have and am attached to. So I bought it and put it under my lights. They say VFTs don't do well indoors.

Well I knew it would happen. And it happened. I'm attached to it. I should repot it and/or do some leaf pullings, though.

VFT I bought for parts in January, 2011.  March 8, 2011.

I'm going to snip the flower stalk to help the health of the plant. I'll stick it in some peat and see if it will propagate a new plant.

But look how nice and red the insides of those traps are!

First Sign of Growth in Sphagnum?

In that same container covered in Saran where a D. capensis seedling is growing I spotted what looks like the first sign of sphagnum growing.

Sphagnum starting to grow.  I think.

Closer look of a small piece of growing sphagnum.

Box Elders

I find several of these in my basement every day. I used to feed them to my N. ventricosa, but then I moved that, and it doesn't have any open traps right now. They're as abundant as stink bugs here. I took a picture of this one before introducing him to Mr. Sweeper.

Box elder in my basement.

Follow-Up of D. capensis Feeding

It looks like I used a piece of food too big. The leaf is stressed a bit. Kind of burnt.

D. capensis after being fed too big of a piece of a betta pellet.

My best D. capensis typical form is one that I didn't even sow myself. It's in the pot with the mama plant.

Nice seedling in my D. capensis pot.

You can see a bunch of other out-of-focus red seedlings there, too. They get everywhere.

Fungus Snow

I've had lots of mold in my pots before, but it never looked like snow like this.

Fungus in D. capensis seedling pot.

I don't know if my sulfur-based fungicide is only preventative, but I guess I'll give these moldy pots the ol' scraperoo with a toothpick and then spray them a little. It's almost like these plants are made to be kept indoors. I need to look into getting smaller fans that I can put on the lower shelf instead of one kind of aiming down between the lights.