Sudden leaf curling on P. ehlerisa

Silverskeejee

Silverskeejee

Seed
Hey, hoping people can help. I've noticed some sudden leaf curling on my Ehlerisae (Mighty Mouse variant) and I'm worried as to the possible cause. A photo I took 2 days ago had them fine - this seems to have happened practically overnight.

I have had them on a windowsill (which is probably too low light right now in Canada right now) and I've moved them under a growlight as of today. They also don't seem to have any mucus when I touch the larger leaves. Given I'm pretty inexperienced, I don't know if this is a symptom of something else, like too little (or too much) water, or a sign that they need repotting urgently.

Help would be appreciated!
 

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Regarding lack of mucus - looks like it is making smaller non-dewy leaves to prepare for the winter rest period (you can also see that the newer leaves are losing their drool edge too - another sign that they are winter leaves). I am in Vancouver BC, and my agnata and jaumavensis are all going dew-less since mid-November. See photos: http://www.carnivorousplantsociety....inguicula-winter-rosette-care.6135/post-54121

When it starts to make winter leaves you want to keep the substrate on the drier side, until it starts making bigger carnivorous leaves again, then gradually increase watering.

The blackened edges seem to be another thing though, but given 1) your substrate looking peat-heavy, 2) the presence of green moss, 3) the low light you mentioned, and 4) previous discussion of how the ehlersiae, esseriana, jaumavensis complex does not like wet peat based mixes. I'd be inclined to bet that it is too much water, rather than too little water.
 
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Hard to see from the pictures.
Early rot is possible.
Do you top water?
They don't like water sitting in the crown.

It also looks like it just might have been squished? Do you have any pets that might have been curious?

I grow most all my jaumavensis, ehlersiae and esseriana in a mineral mix, or a peat mix with 2-3cm of mineral mix on top.

Also take a close look for pests, specifically tiny tiny clear mites. They can produce leaf damage on crown growth.

I had some this summer that came on a new plant and they attacked the plants in my quarantine tray, and it took a lot to get rid of them!

Examples of mite damage.
After treatment these actually survived!

20241209_150427.jpg


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Thanks for the replies! Let me just go ahead and answer those questions:

It being the winter leaves would make sense. I'd wondered if they were changing over previously and had lowered the water a little; but unlike my esseriana (which seems to be doing really well) the soil for this fellow seems to be staying wetter longer. The esseriana also has a nice chunk of dragon stone in the pot that it's sitting on and that might just be keeping it drier for the winter. Attached a photo for comparison.

I generally don't top water, I generally pour it on the sides or nearby.

The mix I got was from a grower specifically made for pings, but it sounds like I could benefit from repotting those two into one that's got much more a mineral mix. I have a lot of spare pearlite so I think that's something I can look at easily.

I don't see any mites, luckily. Pets though, they are not out of the question! I have two cats that assume anything green is edible, and although they've left my pings alone one did help herself to a good bit of my Drosera Binata before I put it to sleep in the fridge -_- So cat is definitely not an impossibility. It would certainly explain why it seemed completely fine until suddenly those little blackened edges.

It sounds like repotting might well be the smart move to make sure it's in a better substrate for its needs.
 

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Silverskeejee said:
The esseriana also has a nice chunk of dragon stone in the pot that it's sitting on and that might just be keeping it drier for the winter.
Click to expand...
I agree with your assessment. The stone can make a meaningful difference - even if we ignore the fact that it is sitting on the stone, just the volume occupied by the stone means that much less peat to hold onto water, so it makes sense that it is drying faster.
Silverskeejee said:
I generally don't top water, I generally pour it on the sides or nearby.
Click to expand...
I might be wrong but I think ‘top water’ usually refers to watering onto the top of the substrate as opposed to ‘bottom water’, which means sitting the container in water to let it soak up into the substrate.

Silverskeejee said:
I have two cats that assume anything green is edible
Click to expand...
Relatable - my cats (especially the one in my profile pic) would eat anything green. But I don’t think your cats are responsible for the blackened edge in this case :) Probably early rot due to substrate staying wet for too long.
 
Aaah okay. Yeah I do water from on top - I don't have a tray for them, alas.

Sounds like repotting is what I need to do to keep this fellow drier. Thanks for the advice; I'll get that done tonight and see how it holds up.
 
Looks like you guys were right :D It's early days obviously, but after repotting into pure pearlite/dragon stone pieces with a little peat at the bottom (best emergency thing I've got to hand right now, I'll get some proper lava rock gravel in the spring when everything gets a repot) there's been no further wilting of the leaves, and the newer ones aren't showing any sign of the same fate. Fingers crossed!
 
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