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Post by tschwarz01 on Sept 4, 2011 18:54:08 GMT
I need some advice / help. I purchased some seeds from a guy in Poland about 3 months back. It was hot as all hell here and took a good three weeks for delivery. I was worried that the seeds were probably bad, if even D. regia in the first place. That said, I took the approach of layering dry / dead long lfs in a 6"x6"x5" dish. I topped it with some living lfs and spread the seeds around, soaking most of the mixture with distilled water. Covered with plastic food wrap except for one corner for ventilation. After about 6 weeks I sort of gave up waiting, though the dish remained under a 1k metal halide light with my other plants. Today I checked the dish and I have babies! That is the good news. The bad news is, I have white crap everywhere - which can only be mold. Should I just throw this entire dish away and get it away from my other plants asap, or is there some way to save it? Pics (I know it's bad):    |
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Post by turkeypig on Sept 4, 2011 19:27:13 GMT
I think that if not saved the plants will certainly die. What i do with my dews if theres a fungal problem is i pluck them out with forceps or tweezers (WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORCEPS AND TWEEZERS?!  ) and put them in new medium, preferably sterile peat, made sterile by washing or baking, or whatever be your method. I don't know about regia, but if capensis are any indication, they should do fine, especially at this stage. Put them in new sphagnum, same conditions, minus mold. There probably wont be any new fungal growth in the newer medium after transplant, but if you want to be sure, wait till someone tells you about fungicide because i don't know anything about it. I hear neem works well. But don't take my word for it. Regia seems to appreciate transplanting, but only when it's an adult. Maybe the root systems on these youngsters will be underdeveloped enough that they wont experience a shock. PS: Oh, and its almost certainly regia. Methinks. |
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Post by bluemax on Sept 4, 2011 19:36:03 GMT
It looks as though the germination chamber could use some drainage and better air circulation. I would repot the seedlings using care to take a plug of the existing medium along with them so as not to disturb the roots much. Fine tweezers work well. The new container should be drained, though kept moist not wet, and have decent humidity. Too much humidity can cause a repeat of the current problem. Some soil depth in the new container, say about 3" or more, will also help. You might want to keep the present container going in case there are more sprouts to come. You can pluck out the fungal patches and get some air flow.
Those look like pretty healthy little ones. They certainly look like D. regia to me. Congratulations and good luck with them!
- Mark
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Post by tschwarz01 on Sept 4, 2011 19:40:39 GMT
Thank you both.
The camera makes the little guys look bigger than they are. I'm afraid if I were to try to pluck them out that I would break them. They are only about 1/2 a centimeter tall.
I'm going to try to tweeze out as much of the mold as possible, leave the container completely uncovered and hope I can get some more growth out of them before transplanting them.
If anyone else has other tips, please keep them coming.
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Post by John Brittnacher on Sept 4, 2011 21:11:24 GMT
Notice there are entrance holes in the white fibers. I think what you are seeing is spider silk and you will find spiders underneath.
There is also an insect larva that does things like that.
I would remove the fibers and totally submerge the pot in water for a day or two.
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Post by Not a Number on Sept 4, 2011 21:56:26 GMT
The openings do suggest entrance holes for insects or arachnids. I have seen similar looking mold/fungus on my Sphagnum before. You could try dabbing some hydrogen peroxide on the white stuff. If it's mold/fungus H202 will usually dissolve it. Silk should be untouched by 3% or lower concentrations of H202. I wouldn't try treating with anything stronger than 3% diluted 3 parts water to 1 H202. Maybe start with 10 to 1.
I tried Physan 20 but it killed the Sphagnum almost instantly.
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Post by tschwarz01 on Sept 5, 2011 1:53:37 GMT
Notice there are entrance holes in the white fibers. I think what you are seeing is spider silk and you will find spiders underneath. There is also an insect larva that does things like that. I would remove the fibers and totally submerge the pot in water for a day or two. Just to verify... I should leave the sundews as they are, but submerge them after removing the fibers? This won't adversely affect the sundews? |
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Post by peterhewitt on Sept 5, 2011 10:11:15 GMT
It should not adversely affect the sundews to submerge them.
Please, please resize your photo's before posting them, as is in the rules for posting pictures. A lot of us use the "Last 40 posts" function.It really ruins the whole page and browsing experience. This problem will persist until 40 more posts have been made, and even longer if anyone replies to your post..
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Post by clasby on Oct 4, 2011 3:44:59 GMT
If it is indeed mold and not spider silk then try to increase the circulation of air around your plants.
I had white mold almost cover my entire VFT tank and a nearby fan took care of it.
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