Tips on fighting algae (seedlings)

[jpcuy]

[glow=red,2,300]Hello Everyone!![/glow]

I'm growing cps from seed .. I need some help because when the seedlings are still very small algae appears and overgrow them sometimes .. This happen with small seedlings such as some drosera and VFT..

I'd like to know a definitely solution for this, I've fought fungus gnats, mold, etc. succesfully, but I don't know what to do to eradicate algae..

Any help will be welcome .. Thanks in advance..

PS: The media I use is peat+perlite

[Clint]

Your media has an excess of nutrients, either because it came contaminated or because your water is less than pure.

[jpcuy]

Thank you for the answer "JustLikeAPill" .. The peat I use is sphagnum fuscum peat moss, and the water is rainwater collected by myself .. I don't know exactly what to do.. Do you have any idea ..

[Clint]

You can call me Clint

Either the peat was contaminated, came from a contaminated bog, or your rainwater is contaminated. Take your water to a local authority (like a person who works with farmers or the company that supplies your water for example) and they should test if for free. If it's not your water, then try flushing your peat thoroughly before you sow your seed, or soak the peat in a bucket of pure water a couple times.

That's really all you can do. Might want to invest in a RO unit if you're serious about growing CP's and can afford it. Distilled water is another option if you can't use your rainwater.

[pitcherfreak]

A tentitive suggestion. With my sarra seedlings I killed liverwort growing with them using a paint brush to paint brown vinegar on the liverworts, I didn't touch the seedlings though.

Another thought is there is a product called Surrender that is supposed to kill algea and is supposed to be safe to use over NORMAL plants, it may be worth a trial.

Try everything Clint says first though it is good sound advice.

A final suggestion is if all else fails repotting seedlings can be a solution if nothing else works (if the seedlings are big enough)

[jpcuy]

Thank you very Much Clint and PitcherFreak.. First, I'm going to'wash' the media with pure distilled water .. and in the future I'll try to wash several times the peat to dillute the excess of nutrients..

Another thing I'm thinking to do is to substitute rainwater with distilled water coming from a chemical store that sell distillated H2O very cheap!!!

Thank you very much to both of you for all your help.