Green "slime" growing with my plant?

[buapo]

Hey everyone. I had some trouble growing my venus flytraps until I read through the Carnivorous Plant FAQ over at www.sarracenia.com.

Well, my plants have been growing fine and have been healthy for about two years. Recently, I noticed a strange greenish/translucent slime that has developed in one of my mini-terrariums. The plant seems to be very healthy, with very red traps.

What is this slime, and is it anything I should worry about? I tried going back through the FAQ but I couldn't find any mention of it (though I didn't re-read the WHOLE thing, so it might be there somewhere).

[stevestewart]

buapo,

Algae and Cyanobacteria (blue green algae) are usually a sign of excess nutrients building up in the media. I prefer to have a healthy amount of live moss growing with my VFT plants.
You can remove the slime by hand or tool, which will help in the short term. Re potting in fresh media is also an option, but if your plants are growing it may be best to wait until they go dormant.
I hope this helps.

Take care,
Steven Stewart

[mmlr38]

Anytime that I grow plants in a terrarium setting I always get the green slime and it seems to hinder growth a bit. I'd recommend repotting anytime it gets pretty bad.

[buapo]

I'll scoop some out, but the plant itself seems to be doing just fine. I read in the sarracenia FAQ that repotting is dangerous and the plant often dies - so would that just be a last resort?

[chloroplast]

I wouldn't worry too much about the slime.

Though it may look ugly, it typically won't harm the plants unless they are very small seedlings.

For a more aesthetically pleasing topdressing, you might try adding some live LFS. This would also absorb excess "nutrients" that may build up in your terrarium over time. You just have to prune it every so often so that it doesn't smother your CPs.

[Alexis]

Repotting does not kill plants and isn't dangerous.

[mmlr38]

I'd like to second Alexis' statement. I've never lost a Dionaea due to repotting. I've heard of people that claim that it can put the plant in shock and that it can possibly kill it, but I've never had this happen.

[sarracenialover]

Feb 16, 2009 0:19:41 GMT mmlr38 said:

Anytime that I grow plants in a terrarium setting I always get the green slime and it seems to hinder growth a bit. I'd recommend repotting anytime it gets pretty bad.

Yes, but in this case we are talking about about a temperate plant, which can only be repotted without much distrubance in a dormant period.

[Not a Number]

Feb 24, 2009 2:14:43 GMT @sarracenialover said:

Yes, but in this case we are talking about about a temperate plant, which can only be repotted without much distrubance in a dormant period.

Some species don't seem to mind them much when you repot them.

I find that it's better to repot most temperate Drosera when they are actively growing.

Tuberous and pygmy Drosera are best repotted while dormant.

It also depends on how you repot them and how gently or roughly you handle the plants.

[Not a Number]

I have a pot of Drosera hilaris seeds that I've been trying to germinate. I had the pot outdoors during the winter as the seeds supposedly need cool temperatures to germinate.

The pot was covered with green slime. Although the pot is on a covered balcony a few weeks ago we had a heavy rainstorm with strong winds. The wind drove the rain into the pot and washed away the green slime (and probably the seeds). The slime hasn't come back.

So I'd say just wash it off with the help of a spray bottle.

[buapo]

I decided not to repot, as I don't have the proper mixture right now and nobody spoke too unfavorably about the slime. I took a Q-tip and got as much of it out as I could. I used to take the dead traps out, but lately I have just been letting them pile up - perhaps this is the cause of this slime building up.

I've had these venus flytraps for over two years now, and I'm proud that I was able to take care of them so far. They've never gone dormant, though.

[jfoley]

I was just reading about Cyanobacteria. It appears it fixes nitrogen (creates it's own), like beans or clover do.

I would think it would help the plant to eradicate it.

www.answers.com/topic/cyanobacteria

[Richard Davion]

Cyanophyta R-'Good' ... and-Grow according to The-Redfield-Ratio IE When N-is Close to-P ... The-'Spread' of The-Genera-&-species of so-called Blue-Green Algae Progresses and Climaxes When N-becomes Larger-than Mid-to-late-Teens ... Then Progressively other-'Algae' Come-In to-Occupy The-Niche.

BGA Can-Actually Be: "RED" and There-Is Some-Contention that CP-Roots and Leaf-Bases as-Well-as Sphagnum-Moss can Actually 'House' BGA in-Conjunction with-an External Mycorrhizal-Sheething or 'Hartig'-Net-type-of-Arrangement.

ALL-Algae Have-R 'Special'-Relationship with-Iron and The-Fact that COPPER (Cf: Calcium) is-So-Injurious to Cyanophyta-Housing Liverworts & Mosses as-Well-as CPs Appears to-Be Its-Influence on The-'Form'-of-Iron.

It-Appears that Copper is-actually 'Required' by These RED-BGA in The Reduced GREEN I-Plus-Form &-that CP-Roots Seek-OUT Reduced Forms-of-Iron that-R 'Incorrupible' to-The-Above-Action of Copper-II Compounds that Tend-to-Reduce and Force Iron to Oxidise-UP Due-to-REDOX. This-Pathway is Very-Suggested by The-Fact that Copper is Normally Very-Low in Coastal-Plain soils and Relatively-Abundant as GREEN-Insect-Haem!!! >(*U^)<

The-Underlying Karst of-Calcium Along The Atlantic & Florida-Plains in-These Very-Reductive-Environments Suggest that Calcium is-Actually Required for-Optimum-Growth of CP-&-Related-Plants ... but is-in-Fact Present in-an Equally Speciallised-form that-Presents none-of-The-Ills but-Rather many-'Benefits' ... In-Otherwords that-Is in-Fact There-Is and There-Has Never-Been A-Calcifuge-Barrier in-These Circumstances and Locations ... Just-R Lack-of-Knowledge &-R Whole-New Area-of-Horticulture and Its-Associated-Benefits to-Be Uncovered. >(*U^)<