Deformed growth, what's going on?

[flytrapsandmetal]

Hello! I discovered earlier this year that some of the Sarracenia at my workplace were beginning to look a bit rough as the new growth was coming in a bit leggy and deformed. The pitchers that we have in our bog are as follows (forgive me if some of these cultivar/variety names are incorrect):

S. Scarlet Belle x3
S. flava 'Yellow Pitcher'
S. 'Doreens Colossus'
S. 'Daina's Delight'
S. 'Mama Cass' x flava v. rugellii 'Bob H'
S. purpurea 'Jersey Girl'
S. alata 'Purple Peeper'


We also have 1 flytrap, Dionaea 'BCP Titan' that I have attached photos of. They are all potted in peat moss + perlite with ratios ranging from 4:1 peat to perlite to 1:1. We messed up the ratios upon mixing so that is the only (and unfortunately poor) explanation for differing ratios, other than hoping for more drainage by adding more perlite. Upon initial inspection of these plants, we found small, orangish-tan crawling bugs that we are 99% sure were aphids in a juvenile/larval state. I treated these plants with Orthene by spraying the pitchers/traps, the rhizomes and a bit of the soil. I kept them in the shade until they were dry to avoid burn. Most of the plants continue to push new growth and some have even bounced back quite well like 'Jersey Girl' as well as 'BCP Titan', but I am still concerned by the look and lack of vigor in the other plants. The 'bog' where the plants reside is filled with pebbles or what I think is river rocks and the water comes from a basalt fountain that flows directly into a 1000+gallon goldfish pond which is then recycled through a filtration system and then back through the basalt fountain. I was told that the bog itself also recycles water back to the basalt fountain as well. Im confused on wether the damage I'm seeing is from insects still, which I would then ask If I should apply more Orthene, or if the damage is from something in the environment of the plants and if so, how to diagnose this? The bog is also home to some calla lilies, irises, and a small equisetum. Iris photo added just for fun! Thanks in advance for the help!

Images won't upload, I can email these photos to anyone who is willing to help or check out the post I made on reddit, I had a much easier time uploading photos through their website. 

www.reddit.com/user/flytrapsandmetal/comments/vzsocc/deformed_growth_on_sarraceniadionaea_whats_going/

[e-mail]

[meizzwang]

Good questions, although going through the pics, there are several different things going on, so it's probably better to address each symptom separately. This is a very loaded question, and nobody can give you quick, accurate answer without going through a lot of questions. That said, let's at least get you started and thinking in the right direction by asking a bunch of questions.

Leaf tip burn on current years' growth:
1) how long ago did it start, and did it happen right when you received the plants, or while the plants were already fully acclimated to the environment?
2) how are the plants watered?
3) if chemicals were used, which ones, what strength, and what time of the day was it applied
4) how was the weather 1-2 weeks before you saw the leaf tip burn? How was the weather 2-3 days before you saw the leaf tip burn?

Deformed growth: note: deformed growth caused by environmental factors can have very similar looking symptoms to insect damage, so we really need to ID the cause before doing any treatments:
1) are the new pitchers that are emerging right now showing signs of being deformed, or did a few leaves get deformed weeks or months ago and that's it?
2) HOw was the weather 1-2 weeks before you started seeing deformed growth?
3) can you physically see any insects on the traps that look deformed? Do you see any symptoms, like browning or discoloring of the young, new traps? Here's an example of thrips damage:
and a thread on the subject: sarracenia.proboards.com/thread/3132/all-thrips

BTW, I see pictures of old leaves/stubs from the previous season's growth that have some spots on them (most likely some fungal infections). If you don't like them, chop them off, that's totally normal! Those old, infected leaves could be "overwintering" fungal populations which then spread to the spring/summer traps prematurely, so it's best to cut them off at this time if they don't look good.

Fungal infections are to be expected, they're typically caused by environmental factors (eg. high humidity for long periods of time), luke cold weather for weeks on end, cloudy days, fungal pathogens overwintering in the nearby environment or weeds, etc. Sanitation and keeping the local environment in check is really important in managing oubreaks, but no matter what, if you're growing outdoors, you can only control so much.

For perspective and just to make you feel better, during the fall, right when S. leucophylla traps open up, they're absolutely pristine. A week or two later, it's not uncommon for outdoor grown leucos to have spots all over them and then a few months later, it's not uncommon for them to look completely infested with fungal/bacterial spots. It's not typically fatal, mostly cosmetic. If it's super bad though, it can weaken the plant and eventually cause it to die, but plants can get light infections year after year and still remain healthy.

Here are some plants in the wild, I've visited several sites where the entire field had plants covered in spots, but it was late in the season. years later, I went back to the same sites right when the traps opened in the fall, and they were all pristine.


1) S. leucophylla Washington Co, AL:





Baldwin Co, AL. new traps are pristine, older one is messed up:


Baldwin Co, AL



Just for fun, a huge patch of leucophyllas! This image is high quality so hopefully you can zoom in and see all the traps that are infected. This level of infection is what I'm talking about, completely harmless:

Anyways, feel free to email me at [e-mail] and I can work through it with you and help get down to the root cause of the issues!