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[Blazemedown]

I’m trying to grow banisteriopsis caapi but need help. I currently have 3 living plants: 2 of them of are barely alive and the 3rd was doing fine until it contracted the same problems as the other 2. Whatever it is, the first sign is brown splotches on a few leaves that spreads and eventually all the leaves die (with the distal leaves last to be affected). I believe the cause is a virus that came with an Alicia Anisopetalia I got from an online vendor.
If anyone has any treatment ideas or diagnostic info based on the pictures, I would greatly appreciate it. The first pic is the most recently affected plant, the second is another caapi plant that lost all leaves about 1 month ago (except the most distal), the 3rd picture is an older plant that recovered (somewhat) a few months back; but has grown VERY SLOWLY since getting sick.

Cheers.

[Hopfrog]

Too much water or too cold?
Going out in the spring tends to improve a lot of my wintered plants, even if only for a single early warm day.

[Blazemedown]

Thanks for the feedback. Too much water is always a possibility. I hope they will improve when I move 2 of them outside- I’ve been keeping them separate to hedge my bets.

1 Like Hopfrog likes this.

[jbz711]

What zone are you in?  I've tried my caapi's in the ground here in 8b and they come back stronger every year, even in an unprotected position, so if that's an option I'd recommend it, or if you're a zone colder or so you could try a glass cloche all winter.

1 Like SKUNK likes this.

[Mandelbrot]

Whenever I have unknown deficiencies, I start with a good flush (3x the volume of soil) of nutrient solution.

That is, as long as the problems don't stem from overwatering.

I've seen that before in caapi. I think you'll be fine with a flush and proper attention from there.

1 Like SKUNK likes this.

[Blazemedown]

Zone 6
a cloche might carry it through the winter outside...not sure

For a flush, just distilled water 3x’s the volume of the container? I’ll wait until it dries completely then give it a shot.

Thanks for the help.

[Bach]

I'm in 9a and mine are practically uncontrollable planted out. They have weathered mid 20'sF easily. As long as the ground itself doesn't freeze and the crown is protected (cloche, mulch, leaves, blankets...) I'm sure they will do fine in Zone 8. The key is to plant them out early enough for them to get a good start and have an entire growing season to get established. That said you might want to grow them out in pots for their first year or two so they'll be ready to explode when you do get them in ground.

I agree that the pics show that they were too cold or too wet. Spring should perk them up along with that fert soak you are contemplating.

EDIT: To be clear, mid 20F temps will freeze the aerial part of the plant, but if you protect the base it will reliably resprout in the spring.

1 Like cactusman likes this.

[ConstantCuriosity]

I've been having the same issues with brown splotches expanding outwards and leaves shriveling. Initially guessed it to be a fungal infection but after reading through similar old threads I've also decided it's likely due to over-watering.
I doubt it to be a lack of nutrients as I've added both seaweed solution and blood&bone fertilizer recently

[cactusman]

Give them Fish Emulsion fertilizer at least.

They need nitrogen as caapi grows very fast and seaweed is very low to no content on nitrogen and phosphorus which plants need but they do contain 60~ other trace elements which is why it's a good supplement to a main fertilizer regime that would not have those elements.

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[valec]

Digging this up again: I've observed a very similar problem.

Started with 8 B. caapi from seedlings. One grew very well to about 50cm size, the others up to 25cm height. At that point growth stopped almost completely on all of them. Leaves start to have brown spots, then holes. New leaves form but shrivel and dry out and drop when still smaller than 5mm. They survive like that for some months now, but are not growing anymore. I've potted them up, in different mixes (for example compost + coco choir). Gave them a Neem oil treatment. Tried different fertilizers and different amounts of water. Brought some of them to the bathroom for higher humidity. Still no growth.

Anyone having hints on how to make B. caapi happy? How much light, how much water, how much fertilizier? It is lack of humidity, do they need a green house?

[valec]

Caapis are loosing more and more leaves now. Now matter what the conditions are, humid places, less humid places, lot of light, not soo much light. Do they maybe have special soil requirements? Should I try a soil for acidophile plants, something with a rather low pH? Maybe rhododendron soil with pH ~ 4.5? Or rather the opposite? Heavy fertilizing? In general I suppose they also prefer relatively humid substrate, or not?

[aal]

I have the same problem with mine, purchased through an online vendor.  Did you have any luck sorting yours back to health?

[valec]

At some point they looked really bad, but just in the last days they showed some sign of new activity. A few small leaves are growing back. I hope that with temperatures getting warmer and more light they will come back to live. By the way, they seem to be ok down to 0°C outside in a slightly protected location. Patience, let's see what spring brings .

1 Like SKUNK likes this.